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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2006)
œi’1 IJa rtlan b (©hserucr luly 12. 2006 Page A3 Camps Balance Brains and the Game “Life After Sports” sends message of success to youth by S arah B lount T he P ortland O bserver Hoop dream chasers see the glitz o f the NBA lifestyle, but rarely catch aglim pse of the other side o f superstar athletes. With skills that generate m illions o f dollars, professional sports stars c a n 't survive w ithout practicality and savvy business skills, and a solid education only helps. T hat’s the m essage found in Life After Sports, a m otivational speaking tour that em phasizes the balance between academic success and athletic dream s. Even though m ost o f us w on’t becom e professional athletes, athletic goals can be healthy, character-building pursuits when com bined with academ ics. The cam p ’s creator, Billy M oore, is a Jefferson H igh S chool graduate w ho started his own com pany. G lobal Sports M anagem ent, after playing basketball in college and the m ilitary, follow ed coach ing. He adm its he m ade som e bad deci sions that led him o ff track, but it's that experience that helps him teach a younger generation that there’s more to life than basketball. M oore w orks with form erT rail Blazer Jam es 'H ollyw ood' R obinson, and to gether they travel throughout the country photo by M ark W ashington /T hf . P ortland O bserver F orm er Trail B la zer J a m e s 'H ollyw ood ’ R o b in so n (left), a n d m e n to r Billy M oore (right) jo in T re' V ionte R iley (cen ter) during th e Life A fte r S p o r ts s p e a k in g tour, w hich s to p p e d in P ortland la s t m o n th a t S e l f E n h a n c e m e n t Inc. - not to discourage dream ers, but merely to present the realities o f the situation. “ It's not our position to dow nplay sports in society, but to provide a dose of reality o f the ups and dow ns," M oore said. "It's going to be m ore im portant what you do academ ically than what you do athleti cally. T hat will g o o n and on, where sports Higher Education Post Filled New Gang Task Force Formed Operation covers entire metro area enforcem ent team will be housed at the Portland Police Bureau's North east Precinct. Supervision o f the group will com e from a board o f directors co n sisting o f a representative from each A new gang task force w ith offic law enforcem ent agency, the four ers from six local police departments elected district attorneys and the and two federal agencies will com United States A ttorney for the D is bat gang crim e in the entire Port trict o f Oregon. land m etro area and both sides o f O fficials announced the form a the C olum bia River. tion o f the task force on Friday as an The M etropolitan G ang Task effort to com bat gang-related vio Force will consist o f officers from lence under the U. S. Dept. o f the B eaverton,G resham , Hillsboro, Justice’s Project Safe N eighbor Milwaukie, Portland and Vancouver hoods gun violence reduction ini police departm ents; the Bureau o f tiative. Alcohol, T obacco, Firearm s and The overall goals are to detect Explosives; and the FBI. T he law and apprehend members o f gang- related organized crim inal enter prises and their leadership by gath ering and sharing inform ation and expertise am ong local, state and federal law enforcem ent agencies. G ang officers in the Portland m etropolitan area believe that in order to com bat the gang problem effectively, officers must be able to track and investigate gangs in the four-county area. "G angs d o n 't care about state lines or city limits; this task force erases the boundaries, so law en forcem ent can work together to re duce g an g -related crim e," says Special A gent in C harge Kelvin N. Crenshaw , Bureau o f Alcohol, T o bacco, Firearm s and Explosives. w o n ’t." The to u r's curriculum cuts through the com m on conceptions, and illustrates the differences between basketball at high sch o o l, co lleg e and p ro fessio n al levels M oore calls the high sc h o o l level rea lity , becau se stu d en ts are fo rm in g rela tio n sh ip s. He says co lleg e b a s k e t ball is a fantasy, becau se u n d erg rad s face tough ch o ices w hen ath letic re sp o n sib ility becom es a m ajo r d is tra c tion. He says p ro fessio n al b ask etb a ll, w ith its m illio n -to -o n e o d d s, is ju s t dream ing. "It can go from being the g am e you love to the gam e you love to h ate,” he teach es. He says the m essage is n ever easy , but he keeps pounding that point home. R o b in so n ’s role on the to u r is to en h a n ce that m essage by sh arin g the ups and d ow ns o f his real life e x p e ri en ces. He played ball at the U n iv ersity o f A labam a, before the B lazers se lec ted him in the first round, the 2 1 “ o v erall pick, in the 1993 N BA d raft. He spent seven years in the N BA , fo llo w in g w ith a b asketball career o verseas. So how does a p la y er w ho found elu siv e su ccess co n v in ce y o u th to value ed u catio n as m uch as sp o rts? "T h e N BA is m ore o f a b u sin e ss.” R obinson said. " I t’s not w hat they think it is, fun and gam es. T he asp ec t is you w anna be paid and you w anna be c o m p en sated w ell for it.” R obinson also k eeps it real w hen e x p lain in g co lleg e b ask etb all, sim ply s ta t ing, “ if you d o n 't have the G P A , you c a n 't play". G o v . K u l o n g o s k i 's no m in atio n o f Dr. D alton M iller-Jo n es to the S tate B oard o f H igher E d u ca tion has been con firm ed by the O regon S tate S en ate. M iller-Jo n es is a p ro fesso r o f p sy ch o lo g y and c h a ir o f B lack S tu d ies at Portland S tate U niversity. B oard p resid en t H enry L orenzen p raised him for his w ork in classro o m s and w ith teach ers, ad m in D alton M iller-Jones istrators and parents to a s sist inn er-city sch o o ls and c o m “H av in g the trust and respect m unity c o lle g e s to ach iev e th eir o f his co llea g u es m akes D alton acad em ic goals. an effec tiv e co m m u n icato r, and w e look fo rw ard to his c o n trib u tio n s to the b oard on b eh a lf o f all O re g o n ia n s,” L orenzen said. M ille r - J o n e s h as b ee n p ro fesso r o f P sy ch o lo g y at PSU since 1991, and w as ap poin ted ch air o f the Black S tudies D epartm ent in 2004. He served as vice pro v o st for acad em ic affairs at PSU from 1992 to 1996. Recently, he w o rk e d w ith th e C h a n c e llo r's O ffice to e s tab lish d iv ersity in itiativ es to assist all O U S cam p u ses in th e ire ffo rts to recru it faculty fro m d iv e rs e c u ltu ra l b a c k g ro u n d s. NORDSTROM a n n i V e r s A E The biggest fashion event of the year starts Friday, July 14 at 7:00 a.m. men, women and kids. Receive Twice the Rewards points on Nordstrom credit card save on new fail looks for X I and Nordstrom MOD' card purchases made at Nordstrom July 14-16 * Shop in store. Online. By phone.