a.,
Page 8, Portland Observer, July 10, 1986
bv Nov
Lee Jrrnigan
Sports td u o r
•
• SPORT TALK • SPORTTALK•
•
Around the world In sports
In order to talk sports this week we
must start halfway around the world
and work our way back to Portland.
London, England, must be our start
ing point because o f the fabulous
performance o f West Germany’s
Boris Becker The grass courts of
Wimbleton proved to be the world's
stage for the 17 year-old phenom as
he captured the men's singles title
from Australia's Kevin Curren.
The fact that Becker did not have
to face any o f the top four seeded
players at Wimbledon should in no
way diminish his accomplishment.
When you play single elimination
r a n of the Hawaii Ironm an, rtaa to the top of a «harp
pro-am field that outnum barad 800. M ora than 1.000
oompatad hare on July 7.
T h . 1 « Portland Bud Light U .8
reos at Hagg Lake aaw national champion Scott M o
in a and Sytviana and Patríela Puntoua. tw o-d m e w in
*7
I
Morning day-camp for kids
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The backroada of Waahington
County w aa the acana for the Port
land race of the Bud Light U .8. Trt-
i on July 7 at Hagg Lake
drove. CycSata
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klom atara tM .8 mSeei
tacking a 1.BK aw kn (.8 mlteal and
before running a MM 18.2 m laa).
Last year'a winner. Scott M o ln e of
San Diego, broke tw o hour« on the
couraa. flnlahlng In one hour. 88
mlnutaa and 88 aaconda.
A week-long morning day tam p for
children, ages 6 - 1 2 years, is sched
uled by the Forestry Center for A u
gust 5th through August 9th.
The day camp will cover different
hands-on topics ranging from paper
making to edible forest products.
Youngsters will have the opportunity
to be a "forester-for-the-day" as
they explore the interesting world of
treelore. A highlight of the campe
will be a field trip to the Magness
Memorial Tree Farm to hike trails
and climb the fire lookout tower.
An experienced camp counselor
will be leading the sessions. Group
size will be limited to insure a fun and
learning environment.
Cost for the Day Camp is $25 for
W ET’ members. $27.50 for non
members and it includes the five ses
sions which run from 8:30 a.m. -
12:30 p.m daily. Meet at the Exhibit
Hall
For more information, contact the
Forestry Center, 4033 S .W . Canyon
Rd., Portland. 228-1367.
ponent on Centre Court and Zina
pul (»rest her disappointing perform
ance of last year. Zina is a 21-year-old
Black lady who is ranked No. 8 in the
world and her continued good play
can conceivably push her higher up
in the rankings. Zina lost to Virginia
Wade in the second round o f W im
bledon last year after blowing a huge
lead. Zina couldn’t stop Martina
but she sure made M artina ready for
Chris Evert Lloyd in the women's
final. M artina captured her fourth
singles championship in succession
and her sixth Wimbledon title with
her victory over Chrissy.
tournaments the object is to whip
whoever they put in front of you and
that's what young Boris did. Becker
is a big, strong kid with a solid fore
hand and the determination o f a Pit
Bull In the four matches that 1 w it
nessed, he seemed oblivious to every
thing short o f getting the ball back
over the net. There's a new kid on
the block. Let's see how John M c
Enroe and Jimmy Connors handle
him when they get a crack at him.
On the women's side o f the net, it
was once again the M artina Navra
tilova show. America’s Zina Garrison
was Martina's semifinal round op
Wilson's Traci Thirdgill fuels controversy
Traci Thirdgill has decided that
she wants to attend St. M ary's Acad
emy in downtown Portland and com
plete her high school education there
The coaches at Wilson H .S ., where
she attended last year want to block
tier transfer and immediately began
to fight their battle in The Oregonian.
Traci was on The Observer’s first
team All-Star team for basketball last
year. She was totally overlooked and
placed on the 1985 honorable mention
A L L -S T A T E team by the state's
coaches. Suddenly she is a threat to
hand St. Mary's another state cham
pionship and the controversy beegins.
Supposedly that is the crux of the
situation, but don't believe it.
Traci says that her transfer is be
cause she wants a better education
and if you know anything at all about
public education in Portland you
know that she has a sound argument
Jim MacDicken, head coach at W il
son says (hat Traci wants to transfer
because of basketball and that she is
not being loyal to her teammates and
Wilson H.S. MacDicken said, " I t ’s
funny. I've already written about 100
letters to colleges about Traci. In the
would want to attend (he Academy.
I f the public schools want to compete
for these kids then they should up
grade their schools, both athletically
and scholastically. Get some coaches
that don’t resort to brow beating their
charges when personal decisions are
in confict with coach. O ffer better
academic programs so that private
education doesn't appear so appealing.
Traci has decided to work with
John Philips to improve her game and
charactger. That decision alone shows
tliat the young lady has an insight into
herself and wants to improve herself.
John knows the game of basketball
and the game o f life and I ’m sure he
will guide Traci well. Stick to your
guns, Traci. There are a lot o f us that
are behind you and understand what
is being done to you; you have
friends that you can count on. M ac
Dicken wants you for MacDicken
and that translates into Traci for
Traci.
Portland, Oregon, is too cold.
When they can’t kill enough o f us
with guns and choke holds, they re
sort to assassinating our children's
characters with the written word.
letters I talked about her loyalty and
dedication. Now this puts me in an
awkward position. I don't want to
damage her chances at a scholarship,
but I don't want to destroy my own
credibility, either.” The word loyalty
has become a buzz word for coaches
throughout the country; they want it
but they don't want to give it up. I f
MacDicken got an offer to become
the head coach at USC do you think
that he would pass it up because o f his
loyalty and dedication to Wilson?
The rules, as they exist, permit
Traci to transfer without her reasons
being tried in the newspapers and her
character challenged by a distraught
coach. I f you don’t read it anywhere
eLse, you will read it here, the bottom
line to (his whole mess is that racism
has once again raised it's ugly head.
I don't think that any o f this contro
versy is directed at Traci; she's being
used to get to Lindsay Strothers at St.
Mary's. Here’s a Black man that
has a great program that attracts
good players because he makes them
better. St. M ary's offers a far better
education than does the local public
schools, so it's only natural that a
kid who wants to better him or herself
8 5 SUMMER EXPOSURE CLASSES
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