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Page 10
The Panther
April 11, 1980
Olympic Hopefuls Seem Gloomy
5,000 Meters/3.1 Miles.
Saturday April 12th, 1980. 12:00 Noon
(Runners Must Be Present by 10:00AM to Enter.)
$2.00 PRE-REGISTRATION. $5.00
DAY OF THE RACE. Trophies to
3 Top Winners in Men's and
Women's Divisions. WAOK
T-Shirts to the first 1,000
Finishers.
Mozley Park on Martin Luther
King Drive 1Z? miles west of
Ashby Street. All Profits to be
donated to the Afro-American
Patrolman's League.
The WAOK Fun Run is sponsored by:
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ACE
SEX
BEST 5,000 METER TIME
ENCLOSED IS S -
.T-SHIRT SIZE S_
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, FOR MY ENTRY. (Make Check or Money Order to WAOK Fun Run)
in consideration of acceptance of this entry, I waive any and all claims of myself and my heirs
against officials or sponsors of the WAOK Fun Run, for injury or illness which may directly or
indirectly result from my participation. I further state that l am in proper physical condition to
participate in this event.
Send Fee and Entry to:
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Parent Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(If Runner is Under 18 Years of Age) Phone: (404) 659-1380
Celtics, Hawks, Kings and Lakers
Predicted To Be Division Champions
by Veverly Y. Byrd
Panther Sports Editor
“The Soviet Union mu.,t
realize that its continued aggres
sive actions will endanger both
participation of athletes and the
travel to Moscow by spectators
who would normally wish to
attend the Olympic Games...”
These words reflected the
warning of President Carter to
the Soviet Union preceeding the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
which has since then become a
reality for Olympic-bound
contenders of the U.S.
Carter recently told an
audience of 150 past and present
Olympic athletes, who had.
gathered to hear why the Ad
ministration was convinced that
the U.S. must not participate in
the Summer Games, that he
could not say what other nations
would not go, but ours would
not. . '
He also stated that if anyone
tried to attend Moscow that he
had the authority to stop travel,
in other words what the
President is saying is that he has
decided against the attendance
of the Summer Games and he
will stop at nothing to prevent
the U.S. from participating in
Moscow.
I am not so much against the
reasoning and decisions of the
President to boycott the
Olympics as so much as I am op.-'
posed to his manner in handling
the situation.
He did not consult the
Olympic bound athletes, who
will suffer the most, before
publicly denouncing the Games.
Instead, he consulted his
political advisors and reached
what he feelsistheonly solution,
besides the grain embargo, to
the Soviet invasion problem.
It is obvious now that the
threat of a boycott is not going to
move the Soviets out of
Afghanistan. It is also fair to note
that the U.S. may be the only
team to boycott since eight
national Olympic committees,
including France, Italy and Great
Britain, pledged to participate in
Moscow no matter what their
government wants them to do.
For so long there has been op
position to political intermed
dling with the Games, which
have been a constant factor in
the Games.
In 1936, Hitler’s scorned
treatment of Jesse Owens, an
American black, was flagrant
political intervening as well as
the Russian-Hungarian water
polo match in 1956 that left the
pools bloody.
In 1968, two American blacks
used raised fists to protest social
injustice and in 1972, Israeli
athletes were the assailants of
PLO guerillas which ended in
murder at Munich.
There seems to be little hope
left that the 1980 Games will be
depoliticized, especially with the
threatening absence of the U.S.
Olympic Team, the Western
leader of sports today.
It is interesting to note,
although, that the Soviet in
vasion of Afghanistan was not
enough to stop the world from
coming to America for the
Winter Games.
Was it that the United States
had too much at stake in Lake
Placid? Couldn’t the U.S. have
gotten the same message over to
Russia by refusing admittance of
its Athletes here; or for that
matter canceling the Games as a
whole? Isn’t it wise to think that
perhaps the USSR has just as
much at stake in Moscow as the
U.S. had at Lake Placid?
Whatever the reasons for
boycotting the Summer Games,
our athletes who have trained so
hard for so long will surely be
tainted. For their sake, and theirs
alone, I pray that the Games will
be allowed to convene as
scheduled with full
participation.
BY AL RICHARDSON
My choices for the top two
National Basketball Association
teams in each division are as
follows:
In the N.B.A.’s Eastern
Division, The Boston Celtics and
Philadelphia 76ers have run away
from everyone and are shoe-ins
for the top two spots.
For Boston, this season hasjus-
tified a number of off-season
moves. By acquiring the likes of
M. L. Carr, Rick Robey, Don
Chaney, and Larry Bird through
trades and the draft, the Celtics
have solidified themselves in key
positions and have the best
record in all of basketball.
Philadelphia is led by the
amazing Dr. J., Julius Erving. His
26 points per game average ranks
him fifth among all N.B.A.
scorers.
Butthere are otherfactorsthat
have led to the 76ers surprising
record, which is second only to
Boston’s as the best in the N.B.A.
Darryl Dawkins, the self
proclaimed “Doctor of Dunk,” is
finally living up to the expec
tations of most critics, scouts,
and writers. He has become a
truly dominant player.
Another plus for the Sixers has
been the development of
Maurice Cheeks, their 6’1”
playmaker from Chicago,
Illinois. Cheeks has risen from a
relative unknown at West Texas
State to the fifth leading assist
man in the N.B.A., averaging 7.7
per game.
The Atlanta Hawks are sitting
comfortably atop the Central
Division of the N.B.A. with an
eight game lead over both the
Houston Rockets and San An
tonio Spurs while the Indiana
PAcers are just 8V2 off the pace.
The Hawks are led by Eddie
Johnson, Dan Roundfield, and
John Drew and are a safe bet to
finish first in the Central. The
Hawks bench strength and fun
damental style of play have been
key factors in their surge to the
top.
The battle for second in this
division is shaping into a real
dogfight, with Houston and San
Antonio sputtering and the In
diana Pacers on a definite
upswing.
My choice for second palce in
this division would to to Indiana
because they’re hungry, young,
and extremely talented.
Mickey Johnson, Billy Knight,
George McGinnis and Johnny
Davis are all great one on one
players who were brought ot In
diana via the trade route.
Add 7’1" James Edwards to this
group and you have, on paper,
possibly the best starting five in
all of basketball. Even with
notorius ball hogs Knight and
McGinnis, this team plays very
well together and their bench,
led by Mike Bantom and Joe
Hassett, has proved its metal
under fire.
As is in the East, the Midwest
Division has boiled down to a
two team race.
The Kansas City Kings lead the
Milwaukee Bucks by 2Vi games
with third place Denver almost
14 games back. It is safe to say
that Kansas City and Milwaukee
will be the top two finishers in
the division, the question is in
which order?
Kansas City is led by guards
Otis Birdsong (22.5 pts. per
game) and Phil Ford (7.2 assists
per game) and are the defending
division champions.
The Kings get consistently
strong performances from Scott
Wedman and Sam Lacey and also
have one of the best young
forwards in all of basketball in
Regiie King.
The biggest question mark for
Kansas City is their bench. Ernie
Grunfeld and GusGerard supply
offensive punch but neither has
developed as fast as pro scouts
had hoped. The Milwaukee
Bucks are led by Marques
Johnson (22.4 pts. per game) and
a host of others including newly
acquired center Bob Lanier.
Before the season even began,
experts were labeling the center
Continued on page 11
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