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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: WL DANNON YOGURT NAME _ ADDRESS . ACE SEX BEST 5,000 METER TIME ENCLOSED IS S - .T-SHIRT SIZE S_ XL . , 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: Signature WAOK Radio 75 Piedmont Avenue, N.E 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 THE 601 601 Fair Street Fine Food In A "Home-Like" Atmosphere Meat and two (2) vegetables $3.00 Vegetable Plates $2.00 Lunch (Mon.-Fri.) I l :30-2:30 P.M. Dinner5:30 P.M.- 10:00 P.M. Sunday - Open 2:00 P.M. - 8:00 P.M. FREE DELIVERY FOR GROUP ORDERS ( 5 or more) TELEPHONE: 688-5715 Melvin’s Hair Styles 320 Ashby Street, S.W., Atlanta, GA 30310 Serving A.U.C.for 10 Years 404-753-9453