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March 2, 1979
The Panther
Page 7
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WAOK and WIGO
Sports Wins Approval
at Clark
By Lillie M. Lewis
Panther Staff Writer
“There is a difference
between sports and black
sports,” said Chico Renfro,
WIGO sports announcer, at
the first annual Sports
Journalism Workshop, in
Davage Auditorium. The other
featured guest speaker was
Hal Lamar, WAOK sports an
nouncer.
Before the initial workshop
began, an informal discussion
on sports reporting was
opened by Valarie Doyle, NFL
Scholarship recipient.
Osker Spicer, a Clark
College journalism instructor,
said that bad press and bad
copy are the results of unres
ponsive news in sports.
“Sports should be con
sistently redefined as sports
news,” he said.
“The sociology of sports
depends on what happens on
the court,” said Spicer.
Keith Wenfry, assistant
coach of Morehouse’s basket
ball team, said that if a
reporter only interviews one
athlete of a winning team,
then it is unfair.
“At least four of five team
members and the coach should
be interviewed to have a more
developed story,” he said.
Floyd Donald, SG A
president, said that broad
casters are not supposed to
present bias while they are
covering sports.
“It’s really a chemistry
among sports broadcasters,
they try to get you into the
mood of the game,” he said.
If Clark College is to con
tinue to receive the National
Football League Scholarship
award for its students in com
munications, then it is neces
sary that we place youth in
radio stations across the coun
try,’’Chico Renfro said.
Renfro also said that the
score of an Atlanta University
Center game is not announced
too often on area television
stations. “We stand alone in
sports,” he said.
Renfro suggested that black
youth should sit down and
write letters to radio stations
and television networks to re
quest more coverage of black
college sports.
“We’ve got to quit playing
second fiddle in society, and
stop letting society stereotype
us,” he said.
He also said that if Atlanta
area high schools were
intergrated, then WIGO would
probably air black high school
sports. “The reason we do not
air black high school sports
now is because our program
director feels that this may
destroy WIGO’s ratings.”
“Somewhere down the line
blacks have got to stand tall,”
he added.
“I’m black, I’m not a racist,
and I’m going to continue to
fight for black sports,” said
Renfro.
Hal Lamar, sports an
nouncer for WAOK said that
he has been accused of being
bias when writing sports.
“My main reason for cover
ing A.U. Center sports is to
recognize schools who do not
get exposure.”
Lamar said that he thinks a
black reporter’s responsibility
is to expose the angles of a
story that are not usually
exposed.
“In some instances you have
to be subjective, if you’re black
because you’re writing a story
about blacks,” he said.
When asked about what em
ployers are looking for in
sports writers, he said, “They
are looking for the mastery of
the English language.”
As you can see black sports
writers are needed today to get
more coverage and a broader
aspect of black college sports.
Regular Sports News Will Return
In The Next Panther.
BASKETBALL INTRAMURALS
1st ROUND OF TOURNAMENT PLAY
Omega Psi Phi 25 Alpha Phi Omega 48
Health Club 26 Alpha Phi Alpha 35
Faulty Falstaff 39 Kappa Alpha Psi 38
Brawley Hall 25 City Style 55
Chargers 40 Connection 59
Goove Phi Groove (forfeit) Phi Beta Sigma (forfeit)
Westview (forfeit) 0 Corporation 2
Express 2 Freelance (forefit) 0
Renfro Writes Ticket For
Morris Brown Telecast
Nearly three-million basket
ball fans as far away as
Hawaii saw the Morris Brown
College Woverines defeat
Bethune-Cookman College 67
to 63, thanks to the nationwide
broadcast of the event by Ted
Turner’s “super station”
WTCG channel 17.
Through an affiliated cable
television network, the
Atlanta-based station broad
casts to 656 cities in 45 states
across the country. At the time
of the broadcast over 2.82
million viewers were tuned in,
according to Dan Anderson,
station cable relations direc
tor.
The Wednesday night game,
played January 24, 1979, in
Morris Brown College’s John
H. Lewis Gymnasium, was
aired largely as a result of the
efforts of a veteran Atlanta
sportscaster — Chico Renfro.
Renfro, along with Floyd
Laisure, former basketball
coach at Alabama State
University, broadcast the
play-by-play action for the
game.
Chico, as he is affectionately
called by his many friends,
fans and admirers, hosts a
weekly sports show on WTCG
during the football season, is
sports director for WIGO radio,
and writes a sports column for
the Atlanta Daily World
newspaper.
“Write a letter,” to Channel
17’s management, is Chico’s
advice to basketball fans
across the nation who would
like to see more black
collegiate games aired.
“If the students, faculty and
fans from the Atlanta
University Center alone would
write, it would have a great im
pact on the broadcasting of
future games,” Renfro said.
The sportscaster gave praise
and thanks to WTCG
Executive Director Sid Pike
and station owner Ted Turner
for allowing the game to be
aired.
Their agreement came
following a long, persistent,
and persuasive one-man
promotional campaign for
Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference (SIAC) basketball
waged by Renfro.
“He (Pike) said if I could find
an open night in their
scheduled broadcast of sports
events (which includes
Atlanta Hawks basketball,
Atlanta Flames hockey and
major college basketball) that
matched with an Atlanta
University Center team game,
then the station would broad
cast the contest. Fortunately
the Morris Brown — Bethume-
Cookman game matched an
open date,” Renfro said.
The close, action-filled
game, together with a spirited,
banner waving, rhymthic, roc
king crowd provided all the
ingredients that make for
“glued - to - the - set” television
viewing.
“Not only Morris Brown
students, but students from
Morehouse, Spelmar , Clark,
Atlanta University and the
Interdemoninational
Theological Center all turned-
out to make the game the
success that it was,” Renfro
said.
The televising of the game
and the half-time slide presen
tation, which featured various
activities and aspects of
Morris Brown College, gave
people in far-flung areas of the
country an all too rare chance
to witness life on the black
college campus, Chico said.
“A kid in New York or
Oregon watching a game like
this could be inspired to con
tinue his education at a black
college that he otherwise
would not have thought of, or
even heard of,” Renfro
observed.
Also the talents and abilities
of the players on black college
teams are given more exposure
which increases their chances
for professional contracts, he
added.
This latest achievement by
Chico Renfro is but one in a
long history of trailblazing
that has characterized his
career. He has been cited and
honored as a media pioneer by
the Atlanta Association of
Black Journalists and was
awarded their prestigious
Community Service Award.
Chico said his next objective
is to get SIAC games broad
cast on a scheduled basis.
“We can get SIAC games
scheduled just as Southeast
Conference (SEC) and the
Atlantic Coast Conference
(ACC) games are scheduled,”
Chico concluded, “But it will
have to take vocal community
involvement. I can’t em
phasize, enough, the im
portance of writing that
letter.”