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Sports Page 11 Clark Atlanta University October 4, 1990 MATHEWS PHOTO BY RODNEY Sports equipment manager Melvin Geter Lee folds football uniforms. Geter Keeps Team In Stitches By BILLY BLACKBURN Staff Writer It takes a special athlete to play football, a gifted person ality to coach it, and a talented man to know it. Melvin Geter Lee is that man for the Clark Atlanta University (CAU) Football Team. Although Geter holds the title of sports equipment manager, he means much more than that to the team and the athletic department. He is also a friend, advisor, and inspir ation to the athletes. This is evident by the fact that he likes to be called Geter and not Mr. Lee. “I like for the athletes to be comfortable around me and treat me like one of the fellows,” said Geter. Every Saturday during the fall season when the football teams line up for another day of gridiron action, the important people who made it possible for those teams to compete are forgotten. How ever, at CAU Geter is not easy to forget. A stellar performer for the sports department for five years, Geter is now a fixture at the University. The special accomplish ments of Melvin Geter Lee, a native Atlantan, started long before he became the CAU sports equipment manager. He was first introduced to athletics in high school when he tried out and made the varsity football team. As a three-year starter at offensive guard and defensive tackle, Geter was named to the All- Southern and All-South eastern Prep teams all three years. After graduation, Geter enrolled at CAU (called Clark College at the time) in 1939 and immediately made his presence felt on the football team. Once again becoming a starter on both the offensive and defensive lines, Geter played so fearlessly that he earned Black College All- American honors for two consecutive years. Playing against and with the likes of Sad Sam Jones (Morris Brown), Biff Jones (Clark), and Pinky Haynes (now Dr. Haynes at Morehouse College), Geter earned the reputation of a hard nosed, aggressive player and was nicknamed ‘The Derailer’. “We were playing one of those powerful Morris Brown teams and they had the All- American running back Big Train Moody,” said Geter. “Well, the score is tied early in ths game and Morris Brown is on our one yard line. They give, the ball to Big Train who comes rumbling through the line carrying with him about 225 pounds, and I laid every inch of football ability I had into him and he went flying back wards.” After his startling perfor mance that day, Geter became known as “The Derailer” and Big Train Moody could offer no argument to that. In 1942, World War II would take Geter out of football, but it didn’t take the football out of Geter. He enlisted in the Navy, and also pursued his football career by playing for the Navy Civilian Team for one year. In 1944, Geter was sent to Hawaii where he would again line up to play football, but this time it was in the Hawaiian Semi- Professional Football League. There, Geter played with several future National Football League (NFL) players such as: Judge Atkinson, Indian Jack Jacobs, and John Jaren Kimbro. Not to be outdone, Geter won acclaim as a hard worker and was rewarded by being the first black all-star in the Hawaiian League. He played eight years in the semi-pro league before becoming a Navy Utility Man in the Military Seal Command „ until his retirement from the service in 1984. Steadily, throughout the years the football fire never burned out in Geter. “I love football like I love these kids,” said Geter. To talk to Geter Lee about football is like talking to Jesse Jackson about the Civil Rights Day: thorough, historical examination of the facts. Geter is a staunch supporter of the football era of the 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. “If football would revert to the older days, it would be a much better game because today’s football game is super ficial,” said Geter. Melvin Geter Lee is a unique individual. He starts his day by arriving at the gym at 7:30 every morning. During the course of a day he’ll wash uniforms, clean up the locker rooms, sort uniform pieces, prepare the equipment and check inventory all the while, he is also attending to the wants and needs of the athletic department. Sports infor mation director Kevin Moses said, “Without Geter things around here would be in such disarray that I don’t even know if the football team would have on any clothes come game time Saturday.” Sports, The Way It Is\ By PIERCE W. HUFF Sports Editor Sticking Up For The Falcons I’m not going to change my prediction about the Atlanta Falcons, because that would be stupid, but I think it should be known that Jerry Glanville and his coaching staff are doing a helluva job. Granted, the Falcons are still losing, but they’re losing close. This team has a toughness and a competitiveness that I’ve never seen out of a Falcons team, and I’ve been watching them play all of my life. Overated Dolphin It pains me to write this, but let’s face it Miami Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino is the most overated quarterback in the NFL. The only thing in Marino’s game that has seen an increase in recent years is his number of interceptions. So he threw for 48 touchdowns in 1984, last year he threw for 24 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. What makes this even harder to swallow is that he is throwing the interceptions at a time when NFL announcers like Monday Night Football’s Dan Dierdorf say “rejuvenated” and “Dolphins” in the same sentence. I know to err is human, but for an NFL quarterback to throw for more than 16 interceptions in a season simply isn’t divine. Tire Busting Broncos I’ve got an old Super Bowl joke that I’ve been meaning to write. Let’s say you’re driving in a city that’s hosting the next Super Bowl, and you get a flat tire. How many Denver Broncos will come and help you change it? Give up. One, unless it’s a blowout, then the whole team will show up. So Far So Good J ust in case you were wondering, most of my predictions have been on the money. I told you the Chicago Bears would win the NFC Central Division, and they’re 3-0 to lead the division. I also told you to expect the L.A. Raiders to play the Denver Broncos tough, and they beat them 14-9 in the season opener. I even told you to keep an eye on the L.A. Dodgers, and at one point they cut the Cincinnati Reds lead down to 3 1/2 games. Let’s face it, the old boy knows something. Soccer Team Kicks For Dollars By PIERCE W. HUFF Sports Editor It’s the summer of 1994 and Atlanta and the rest of the U.S. States is preparing itself for the World Cup. The Cameroonian soccer team, fresh off of their success in the 1990 World Cup, comes to Clark Atlanta University to use the Panthers’ soccer fields. Then Clark Atlanta University player-coach Dr. Carlos Handy, wakes up. “I envision CAU having a soccer program that can play host to Cameroon and other third-world soccer power houses when the World Cup comes to the United States,” Handy said. Before CAU can dream about having third-world countries use the Panthers’ soccer fields, it must have a soccer team that has the support of the athletic depart ment. Despite having won the Atlanta Soccer League Championship last fall, the CAU international soccer team still finds itself in -a battle for funds from the athletic department. “We’d like some support from the athletic program,” Handy said. “We’re still having to pay some registration fees out of our pocket.” According to Handy, the soccer team has received some support from student organiz ations. Last year the Student Government Association presented the players with a plaque during the halftime of a CAU basketball game, and this year provided the money for the team uniforms. “I think that we could attract support for the school,” Handy said. “There’s an increasing desire for varsity soccer programs in Georgia.” As the soccer team, currently 1-1-1, attempts to defend its championship, Handy thinks of ways to increase funding. “The thing that might do it is to have an Invitational Cup hosted by CAU,” said Handy. “That would set the ball rolling.”