Page 4 - T h e Portland Observer—April 17, 1991
ÄElfeTHE LOCKER ROOM
Hank Aaron's book about racism, not HRs
Blazers Prepare For Sacramento
Clyde Drex 1er
Karl Malone
BY ULLYSSES TUCKER, JR.
With Orlando and Houston out of
the way, the Portland Trail Blazers are
looking to complete their home sched­
ule against the Sacramento Kings this
Friday night. The Kings, led by Way-
mon Tisdale (20.9) and Antoine C app
(18.7), are the worst road team in the
National Basketball Association. The
Blazers conclude the regular season
against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday af­
ternoon.
The Blazers, winners of 15 straight
games and the only Pacific Division
team to win the title outside of the Los
Angeles Lakers the last two years, also
own the best record in NBA. Star guard
T erry P o rter says that the Blazers are
right on schedule for making a run at
the NBA title and peaking at the right
time of the season. “ We are playing
real well right now” , he said. The bench
has been playing good and it’s good to
have Big M ark (B ryant) back. All
along, our goal was to win the Division
and have the best record in the league. ’ ’
My chai Thom pson, the former
Blazer and Los Angeles Lakers center/
forward also believes that the Blazers
are the team to beat right now. “ If any
team is going to get to the NBA finals,
they have to beat Portland,” he said. “ I
think the only team that can stop them
from making a championship run is us.
I think that we have the experience,
talent t< play with them, determina­
tion, and bench. The Lakers are the
only team standing in their way. We
feel that if we get another shot at them,
we can earn another title shot.”
Standing in the way of a potential
rematch between the Lakers/Blazers is
the Houston Rockets and Hakeem
Trail Blazers To
Host Second
“ Hoop Heaven”
Basketball Camp
After overwhelming success last
summei with their first-ever compre­
hensive summer basketball clinic, the
Portland Trail Blazers have announced
that they will host their second basket­
ball camp this summer. “ Rick Adel­
m an’s 3 rail Blazer Hoop Heaven Bas­
ketball Cam p” , sponsored by Bank of
America, is open to boys and girls, age
8-18, and will take place at Lewis and
Clark College.
Campers will receive personal
instruction from Trail Blazer head coach
Rick Adelman. Throughout the camp,
Adelman will be assisted by leading
college and high school basket ball
coaches. In addition, current Trail Blazer
players will be on hand to discuss and
answer question about the fundamen­
tals of basket ball and specific game
situations.
Three sessions are scheduled this
year, with “ day camp” and “ over­
night & ommixlations’’ offered at each
session Two boys camp session will
run from Monday, June 24 through Fri­
day, June 28 and Monday, July 22
through Friday, July 26. the girls camp
is scheduled from Monday, July 8
through rriday, July 12. The camp fee
is $190 per person for day camp and
$295 pc person for overnight. Depos­
its of S 100 for day campers, or $ 150 for
overnight participants, is required with
their application.
All tam pers will receive a Hoop
Heaven sports bag, a camp handbook,
an official tam p t-shirt and a camp
photo. Pnzcs and trophies will e awarded
for individual and team champions.
Meals will be provided for all campers
v> ith osem ighl accommodations.
Applications for “ Rick Adelman’s
I tail Biazer Hoop Heaven Basketball
Camp ’ areasailableatthcTrail Blazer
olii ' "D M M ultnom ah,Suite600.
For moie uitorniation, tall (503) 231-
5275
*
Olajuwon or K arl M alone and the
Utah Jazz. Both teams could present
the Lakers with match-up problems in
the first round of the play-offs. More
than likely, Portland will open up at
home against the Seattle Supersonics.
The Blazers will have home court
advantage as long as they are in the
play-offs.
* Magic Johnson on the shooting
of Clyde Drexler shooting in Portlands
118-113 victory over the Los Angeles
Lakers. “ Ahhhh man, I told him he was
just hitting” , laughed Johnson, who
justrecently broke the NBA’s All-Time
Assist record held by Oscar Robertson.
“ He was hitting from every where. That
first quarter was unreal, three pointers
and everything.” Drexler scored 31
points (14 of 20 shots), grabbed 5 re­
bounds, dished four assists, and had
three steals.
* Former NBA veteran D arryl
Dawkins, now playing for Auxilium
Torino of the Italian league, has taken
to coaching a local women’s club bas­
ketball team in his spare time. “ I like to
coach women” , said Dawkins. “ For
once, they’re giving me the impression
that they are listening to me and doing
what I want them to do. Not bad.”
Dawkins, the former Philadelphia 76er
center, is averaging 21.5 ppg, ranking
10th in scoring in the A-l division....Did
you know that five current NBA head
coaches were coached by Sacramento
Kings Coach Dick M otta? These prod­
ucts are Rick Adelman of Portland,
M att Guokas of Orlando, Jerry Sloan
of Utah, Wes Unseld of Washington,
and Bob Weiss of Atlanta. All of the
coaches have better records than their
former mentor, but they are still in the
rebuilding stage as franchises say when
Terry Poder
they simply stink...
Tim Hardeway of the Golden Stale
Warriors donates $5 for every one of
his assists to the American Cancer
Society. Hardeway became a supporter
of the ACS after losing his high school
coach, Bob W alters of Chicago Carver
HS, to cancer over four years ago. To
date, Hardeway has racked up 756 as­
sist at a pace of 9.7 per contest. That
totals 53,780 as of last Sunday or $48.5
per game...
Last year, Utah Jazz forward Karl
Malone finished the season averaging
31.0 points and 11.1 rebounds per game.
Not bad, you say? Well. Malones feat
was more impressive than you realize
considering he became the first person
in the NBA since Moses Malone, in
1982, to average more than 30 points
and ten rebounds per game. This year,
Philadelphia 76ers forward Charles Bar­
kley was in reach until his injury. Bar­
kley rebound totals (10.1) were in line
to break the record, but his 28.8 scoring
average would not have qualified him
to be listed with K .A dul-Jabbar, Bob
McAdoo, W alt Bellamy, Elgin Bay­
lor, W ilt C h am b erla in , O scar
Robertson,Bob Pettit, Moses Malone,
and “ M r. Mail M an” Malone...Had
the chance this weekend, Lawrence
Taylor of the Super Bowl C ham ps
New York Giants. Taylor, in town for
a card show to sign autographs was im­
pressed with the beauty of Portland and
the Trail Blazers. “ I don’t keep up with
basketball as much as Carl Banks (Giant
teammate), but I know that Portland is
the team to beat. I might come back for
the NBA Finals...” Does Taylor know
something that Portlanders don’t know?
“ It has to come through Portland,” he
said.
Auction/Portland
Saints Basketball Team
The Portland Saints Women’s
Basketball team, a non-profit organi­
zation coached by John Phillips and
Jeff Gamble, will host an auction at
Champions Sports Bar in the Marriott
Hotel (downtown) this Saturday, April
20th at 4 P.M.
Auctioned off will be sets of Blazer
tickets for all play-off and champion­
ship games. There are 15 possible home
games. Autographed basketballs will
also be auctioned off. For more infor­
mation, please call 282-5494.
Blazers To Air
Third Prime Time
Special
The Portland Tail Blazers will wrap
up their highly successful 1990-91
regular season with a 60-minute prime
time special entitled: “ Blazer Trail...The
Second Season” , scheduled to air Tues­
day, April 23 from 8 to 9:00 p.m. on
KOIN-TV (channel 6).
Hosted by Bill Schonely, game
action highlights will center on how the
Blazers fared from the NBA All-Star
Game through the end of the regular
season. Fans can look forward to pro­
files on Cliff Robinson, All-Star Terry
Porter and assistant coaches Jack Scha-
low and John Wetzel. Mike Rice will
host an in-depth, one-on-one interview
with head coach Rick Adelman, focus­
ing on the just-concluded regular sea­
son. Pat Lafferty will update fans on
the community activities the Trail
Blazers have been involved with, while
Steve Jones hands out his regular sea­
son awards and handicaps the 1991
NBA Playoffs. A segment on how team
physician Dr. Robert Cook and trainer
Mike Shimensky have kept the Trail
Blazers on the court and off the injury
list is also planned.
The Blazer Broadcasting special
will also air on TCI in Medford (which
feeds to Grants Pass and Klamath Falls).
Blazer fans in the greater Eugene area
will be able to catch this special pro­
gram on KLSR-TV.
In A a ro n F e n tre s s
Hank Aaron appeared on ESPN’s "UP Close With Roy
Firestone" last week. But not as a legendary baseball star to
talk about past glory. Aaron appeared to talk about his book,
“I Had a Hammer.”
It has become fashionable and almost expected that
former star athletes put down their memories of their great
playing days on paper and sell them. But unlike Joe Montana’s
“Audibles”, which recounts every game winning drive engi­
neered by the San Francisco quarterback, Aaron’s book isn’t
necessarily about how many homeruns he hit or how great a
baseball player he was. In fact it’s not about being a great
baseball player because in the days Hank Aaron played
baseball he was not considered a great baseball player. He
was considered a great black baseball player. And he was
treated as such.
Aaron was born the same year Babe Ruth retired from
baseball. Aaron’s dad wasn’t allowed to attend the games of
the man who’s homerun record his son would break some
day, due to the racial segregation of the times. Aaron did
indeed shatter Ruth's homerun record, hitting 755. Aaron
also became them ajorleaguc’sall-timeRBl leader, total base
leader, won an MVP and a World Series, But Aaron's road
to the record books wasn’t as glorious as that of Ruth’s. And
not because Aaron was a bad person or had problems off the
field like Ruth's alcohol problem. But because Aaron was
black.
“At some of the hotels we stayed in there was an
assertive effort to always put blacks on the other side,” said
Aaron. “You would never get on the side of the pool where
you could have a good view. You were always put on the side
where you could see nothing but walls.”
Although looking at walls and playing baseball was a
long way from working in the fields Aaron’s recollections
serve todemonstrate the indignitiesofbeing black even if you
were successful in the white man’s world. You can run,
sw ingabatandthrow aball, butthat’sit. Blacks still had their
place.
“ I remember staying in St. Louis where they said we
could stay in our rooms but they didn’t want us to come down
stairs and cat dinner or breakfast in thccafctcria,” said Aaron.
If it wasn’t bad enough being treated differently in
encounters with everyday people Aaron said that there was
some problems with teammates. Who despite wearing the
same uniform, were not all together willing to act like they
were on the same team. But according to Aaron, he always
knew where he stood with his teammates.
“ You knew exactly where most of your teammates
were coming from,” said Aaron. “I knew where they stood,
what their thinking was.”
In the midst of the equal rights activities of 1953-54
Aaron was asked one day by a teammate, “What do you
people want ?” According to Aaron he responded by saying,
“The same thing you’ve had all your life. The freedom to do
the things you want to do.”
The few examples noted by Aaron on “Up Close” only
give brief insights into the way Aaron dealt with life in a game
in which he was the superior but treated as an inferior due to
his skin color. The true impact of Aaron’s life can be found
From The Pits To Prosperity
Profile Of A Black Man Who Fell, But Got Up
Fund-Raisers Offer
Scholarships
The National Society of Fund-rais­
ing Executives (NSFRE) is offering a
limited number of scholarships to under­
write the costs of memberships in the
Oregon Chapter of NSFRE. These
scholarships are open to all fund-rais­
ing professionals in the Portland metro
area.
The purpose of these scholarships
are to extend professional services
designed to encourage and enhance the
development of sound fund-raising skills
for persons working in a non-profit
organization which need but cannot
afford this expense in their operating
budgets.
These scholarships would give the
recipient one year’s membership in the
Oregon chapter of NSFRE, attendance
at the annual NSFRE Philanthropy Day
Conference, and subsidized rates to
attend monthly NSFRE programs and
educational roundtable discussions.
Scholarship recipients will also benefit
from a mentoring relationships with
experienced professionals to provide
introduction and networking opportu­
nities.
Applicants must be full-time em­
ployee of a 501 (C)(3) and one who has
full or significant responsibility to fund­
raising. Preference will be given to
applicants from small agencies with
limited fund-raising programs whose
programs arc targeted for underserved
populations. Applicant organizations
must be able to agree to pay a portion of
the recipient fee to the annual NSFRE
Philanthropy Day Conference.
To apply interested parties should
send a brief proposal describing the
need for assistance, the organization
and how NSFRE membership will
benefit the recipient. Application must
also contain an endorsement by the
agency’s director indicating their will­
ingness to commit to the NSFRE Phi­
lanthropy Day conference. Interested
applicants can obtain more informa­
tion by writing NSFRE, PO Box 9339,
Portland, OR 97207,9339.
Bruce Feathers had a great life
ahead of him! Having just graduated
from one of the most prestigious lib­
eral art colleges in the county (Carle­
ton College, Nersfield, MN) he was
destined for a white collar career op­
portunities. He was well on the road to
begin a lifestyle much different from
the way he grew up in Oakland, Cali­
fornia. He graduated from Carleton in
1975 then in 1978 arrived in Portland
to start his career with General Motors
as a District Sales Manager for the
Chevrolet Division. He stayed 5 years
at G.M., then went to work for KGW-
TV8 as the only black television ad­
vertising salesperson in the city. Bruce
admits that up until this point in his life
he had no belief in God. His first year
with KGW he doubled his salary from
what he made his last year at G.M. He
seemed to be on the way to climbing
I
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in the book, “ I had a Hammer.” But despite Aaron’s portrayal
of the world the way it was during his playing days some
critics looked to the book for other things besides the truth.
Los Angeles Times reviewer, Jim Brovnan, a former
pitcher, stated, “ T had a Hammer’ is a frustrating book, it’s
an irritating book. It’s lacking wit and Grace. Il s a hash of
unappetizing grievances difficult to swallow. If your an
African-American you’ve got a bitch about the while society.
But if you beat the odds and achieve success shouldn’t there
be a useful lesson learned, a positive to be passed on. Aaron’s
chief complaint is that the African-American big leaguers
have a tough lime getting jobs in baseball when their careers
are over. But so do whites.”
Aaron responded to this quote by saying,“I don’t know
where Jim Brovnan’s been living for the past few years. I
wish somebody would tell me where he can compare blacks
gelling jobs compared to whites once their careers are over
with.”
In response to Brovnan also saying that the book lacked
humor Aaron put it simply, “It wasn’t supposed to be a fun
book. It wasn’t supposed to be that because I didn’t laugh a
lot in ’53.”
How does Brovnan expect Aaron to laugh at people
breaking dishes in restaurants after Aaron ate from that. Is
this the humor Aaron should have delivered in his book. Or
maybe anything to derive from the realities of black life that
many people simply don’t want to hear about anymore. But
for young people, like myself, these are the things we need to
hear about. From people like Aaron and from our parents
who weren’t athletes but did experience the same things
Aaron did but under different circumstances.
Hearing Aaron's stories gives me a different perspec­
tive on the game of baseball when I watch it today. You
realize the road travelled by blacks to get to the point where
players like Rickey Henderson complain about three million
dollars. Times have changed, but not much. Aaron offered
one more story of more recent note.
According to Aaron, when the Braves hired Bobby Cox
year ago as a general manager Aaron was the Vice President
of the franchise and sat on the board of the Braves. Along
with such a job came the customary parking spot along side
all the other board members for the Braves. With the hiring
of someone knew there became a need for an extra parking
space. But there was only one. A small one at the end of the
line of spots.
One day Aaron had left work and when he came back
his spot had been moved down on the end in the smaller spot.
Aaron confronted controller Charles Sanders who made the
parking decision and asked him about it. Sanders responded
by saying ‘will who’s spot should 1 have moved.” Aaron
being the vice president and of higher authority then anybody
who parked in the line of spots said, "Why didn't you move
your own damn spot."
While Aaron's book is read by baseball fans around the
country' one has to hope that the realities of the past and the
reoccurrence of racism in the present can give the fans of
baseball a closer look at the game so commonly labeled,
America's game. White America’s game which allowed
blacks to play as equals between the foul lines. But didn't let
them live as equals outside the foul lines.
vation, “ ....Seek ye first the Kingdom
of God and all other things shall be
added unto you.”
Five years later, Bruce is Board of
Trustee chairman for the church, Sun­
day School teacher, free from debt,
and will reaffirm his wedding vows
this summer celebrating his 10th year
anniversary. He has 3 young boys ages
5, 4, & 2. Bruce also bounced back
from almost being let go at KGW-
TV8 to recently resigning to become
Director of Sales Development for
AVIA Athletic Footwear.
Possible Questions?
-What happen to Bruce?
-What really changed his life?
-What specifically did God do?
-Should his story be encouraging
to others?
-What lessons did he learn?
-What is he doing to help others?
the corporate ladder of success. How­
ever, the next year things were much
different. His financial success became
ill-fated. Like so many of our young
black men he fell deep into alcohol
and drugs. Suddenly he saw his life be­
ginning to fall apart. He was close to
losing his job, his family and the many
opportunities he had worked so hard
for. Then it happened. Bruce had a
spiritual experience. He met and ac­
cepted Jesus Christ as his personal
Saviour.
However, the problems he had
were still staring him in the face. He
was in financial ruins, owed 15,000 to
the IRS, had liability in a civil matter,
also totaling 15,000 while his social
and family life stagnated. Despite these
obstacles, Bruce put his total trust in
the Lord. He cites the Bible verse in
Matthew 6:24-36 as his constant moti­
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