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Hage 6***1 he Portland Observer*"February 20, 1991
Couch Kids
Photo by Veronica Green
NBA all-star K arl Malone o f the Utah
in town
Friday n ig h t to lead h is team against the Portland Trail
Blazers. Matone scored 30 points and grabbed 11 re­
bounds to beat the Jazz 117 to 105.
Place your advertisement in the
Portland Observer
Office # (503) 288-0033
Fax# (503) 288-0015
Sir Charles Barkley: A Competitor
Am erican children are fatter
and less fit than a generation ago. They’re
not eating more, but what they are eat­
ing is higher in fat; and they’ re exercis­
ing less. Asaresult, doctors sec increas­
ing numbers o f children-as young as
five years o ld-w tih risk factors fo r heart
disease like high blood pressure and
elevated cholesterol levels. W hy are
our childrfen so out o f shape?
The adult fitness boom o f the
past twenty years seems to have passed
our youngsters by. Television is one o f
the culprits. The average American child
spends 25-35 hours per week in fro n t o f
the set. Plus, kids today have other
seductive, sedentary diversions: video
games and computers. Busy fam ilies
w ith two-career marriages leave kids to
fend fo r themselves more than ever, re­
sulting in unsupervised,high fat, fast
food snacking. A t school, physical edu­
cation is often treated as an extra-not a
p riority. And an overemphasis on com ­
petitive sports in school can dull a child’s
interest in participating in athletics ju s t
for the fun and health o f it.
W hat’s to blame fo r the in ­
creased numbers o f obese children? How
im portnat is the example set by par­
ents? Should schools provide more
physical & health education? H ow can
we raise healthier kids? Join Jack Faust
and his guests fo r this tim ely debate on
Thursday. February 28th from 8:00-
9:00 p.m, For seat reservations, please
call Frank Mungeam, Alison Highberger
or L iza McQuade at 231-4620, Guests
should arrive at K A T U studios (21st &
Photo by Veronica Green
NE Sandv Blvd) between 7:00-7:15 p.m.
Charles Barkley has been racking
The public is welcome, but reservations
up
some
impressive stats since he won
are required. This program w ill be broad­
the
M
V
P
award in Charlotte a few
cast on Sunday, March 3rd from 6:00-
weekends
ago, but the Philadelphia
7:00 p.m.
76er’ s have been fading fast in the A t­
lantic D ivision. Road woes, trades, and
The
the loss o f guard Johnny Daw kins have
Urban League all contributed to their demise. C u r­
rently, Barkley is averaging over th irty-
of Portland
points per contest and ten rebounds. He
10 North Russel St.
is also among (third) the N B A leaders
in fie ld goal percentage. B ig numbers
(Urban Plaza)
and being an A ll-S ta r is fine w ith Bar­
Portland, OR 97227
(503) 280-2600
Our tremendously successful Express
Bid program makes the process of bidding
for and buying a HUD home faster and
easier than ever. That's because now
when you bid full price* or better on any
HUD home, that bid will be opened at our
daily (Tues.-Fri.) 2:00 p.m. bid opening.
Express Bids end the usual 10-day
wait, speeding up decisions on every full
price or better bid submitted. (If more
than one Express Bid arrives for the
same property at the same bid opening,
the highest net bid is considered for
acceptance. I
So if you're looking for a real home­
buying bargain, and you're in a real
hurry, then ask your real estate agent to
Express your bid on a HUD home. It's
another great reason to go with The
Home Team* advantage!
For a listing of HUD homes available
now, check the real estate classified
section of the Sunday Oregonian.
*A minimum full price bid is list price less a
maximum 6% broker commission and a
maximum 3% closing cost paid by HUD if
requested.
HUD nr
OCPAfrnMENT OF HOUSMG
ANO URBAN O F V F lO rM O iT
©1991 by HUD. Portland Office
kley, but he would trade it a ll away fo r
the best record in the league and some
consistent team play. Barkley says his
team needs to concentrate on finishing
strong down the stretch and securing
home court advantage fo r the p lay­
offs.
“ W e ’ ve had our share o f ups and
downs,” said Barkley. “ We can’t worry
about catching Boston i f we can catch
them, it w ould be fine and i f not, our
goal should be to finish in the best
possible position. You always have a
chance in this league i f you play hard
sometimes, the best team does not al
ways w in . T hat’ s why its very importan
to be com petitive every night and sta;
m entally prepared. W e ’ l l be a lrig h t.’
Philadelphia is com ing o ff a brutal wes
coast swing where they lost to Portland
Golden State, and Sacramento.
Now It Can Be Told Department
Portland T ra il Blazers players had vary
ing reactions to their coach earning th
A ll-S ta r assignment, R ick Adelman,
Continued to page 1
Cunningham could become best ever
by A a ro n i ’c iitiy s s
Buy a HUD home
in a hurry
with Express Bid!
RICK ADELMAN
Last season Cunningham did the
How they could do it I will never unthinkable for an NFL quarterback.
know. To vote San Francisco quarter­ He led his team in rushing finishing
back Joe Montana the NFL’s Most fifth in the NFC w ith 946 yards and five
Valuable Player should put a stain on touchdowns. Unprecedented. No one
the Associated Press’ respectability for has ever passed for over 3,000 yards and
football seasons to come. But it won’t. rushed for over 900 yards. He’s simply
Because Montana is a darling of sorts. the best in the game today. Someday
Whisked away through an enviable ride the press will have to give him that
as the NFL’s prized superstar. But credit. So far his peers have.
luckily not everyone agrees with AP.
In voting that was reported last
They were the only ones to vote Mon­
tana die MVP.
In January of this year the AP
sports writers voted Montana the MVP
lor the second consecutive year. With­
out a doubt Montana deserved it last
year as he compiled a 118.2 quarterback
rating. But to receive the award for his
1991 performance is nothing short of a
travesty. His 89.0 rating simply did not
deserve it. Randall Cunningham ,
Warren Moon and Jerry Rice all had
belter years. Montana shouldn’t have
been in the top three.
As a football fan who watches
every season unfold ascarcfully as I can
with the handicap of not living in the
NFL city, I can surely cast an educated
vole as to who should have been MVP.
And although the sports writers of AP
(who may be the most prestigious when week in the USA Today Cunningham
it comes to voting for MVP) may dis­ was voted the NFC offensive MVP.
agree with me. I at least have the The award was voted for by the players
comfort of knowing that the United themselves. There was no award for
Press International, Sports Illustrated, overall MVP but the fact that Montana
The Sporting News, and the NFL play­ plays offense in the NFC shows which
ers do agree with me. They all voted for player the NFL players thought was
cither Cunningham, Moon or Rice.
more valuable.
My pick is without a doubt
But how long will it take for
Ctinningham. The next great superstar Cunningham to get the national respect
ol professional football. The next great he deserves, primarily from the media.
quarterback. I he next Graham, Unilas, CBS analysis and former NFL superstar
Namath, Starr, Bradshaw, Slaubach, Terry Bradshaw stated that Cunningham
Tarkenton, Stabler, Marino and Mon­ was not a great quarterback but a great
tana. The lirst black quarterback to athlete. Is that jus, like saying Michael
even be spoken in such context.
Jordan is a great athlete but Larry Bird
He passed lor 30 touchdown
is a great basketball players who uses
passes, more than Montana (26), 13 his superior white intellect to overcome
interceptions, less than Montana (16), his athletic ability ? I hope not. In fact
and over 3,400 yards. Although Mon­ I think not but what is Bradshaw's point.
tana passed lor over 3,900 yards he did
Upon hearing o f Bradshaw's
so with more attempts and with less comments Cunningham and several of
ellective results as his touchdown to his teammates confronted Bradshaw
interception ratio and rating shows. before a game. Cunningham asked
Cunningham rated out at 92.0
Bradshaw, "Why do you keep dogging
II that wasn’t enough Cunningham me ?". Bradshaw simply stated that he,
look the quarterback position to another
was an analyst and I'm going to say
level. He did so with his rushing.
what I'm going to say." So what is
Bradshaw trying to say '.’
First off lets understand that to be
a q uarterback i n the NFL is not to be real
athletic. Try and think of one "great"
quarterback in NFL history who ran a
4.5 forty. I'm stumped. Now try to think
of a past NFL "great" quarterback who
jumps several feet in the air when he
dives into the end-zone. I'm stumped
again. Now try and think of a "great"
NFL quarterback who possessed the
athletic skills to succeed at running back,
receiver or even defensive back if he so
desired. Try and imagine Graham,
Unitas, Starr, Namath, Bradshaw, Sta­
bler, Tarkenton, Marino or Montana
doing anything else except throwing the
football. Un-imaginable isn't it ?
Cunningham's handicap which
keeps him from being great, at least
what seems to be his handicap in the
eyes of Bradshaw and other analysis, is
that he is twice the athlete that his pre­
decessors were. He doesn't always stay
in the pocket, read the defense and take
what's there. Sometimes Cunningham
drops back, sees that nothing is devel­
oping, says screw it and improvises.
B ut despite the results that's what makes
Cunningham a great athlete, not a great
quarterback. Quarterbacks aren’t sup­
posed to do those kind of things. Quar­
terbacks aren't supposed to avoid three
lacklers in his own end-zone, duck from
the grasp of a defensive end then throw
a 95 yard touchdown like Cunningham
did against Buffalo this season. Quar­
terbacks are supposed to be smart, stay
in the pocket, fall down and take the
safety to avoid fumbling. Or they are
supposed to dump it off to the tight end
for an 8-yard gain. That's what the great
quarterbacks do under pressure in their
own end-zone. Will that was in the past.
There's a new Sheriff in quarterback
town. And his nam e is Randall
Cunningham.
"I enjoy running the ball," says
Cunningham "I have the ability tomake
something out of nothing and when I
sec those opportunities I use that ability
to make something happen and it's
usually good."
Cunn ingham has more ability then
any quarterback in NFL history. And
before his career is over his place in
history will undoubtedly be right there
amongst the other great quarterbacks of
all tunc. Who of which will all look in
envy at a man w ho did what they once
did. And mtuh more.