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.
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