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The Maroon Tiger
February 1, 1979 Page 9
SPORTS” My Turn
Alumni Shun Financial
Responsibility
By Jerome Walker
Last semester the Board of Trus
tees of Morehouse College con
vened in New York and discussed
an issue that concerns all of More
house but especially the athletes.
The Board was to decide
whether or not some of the athletic
organizations were to move up a
division. Presently, the teams com
pete in division three.
In order to find out the “real
story,” various persons were inter
viewed. One board member, who
prefers his identity unknown, said
“All the athletic organizations will
move to division two except the
football team. According to this
member, the Board felt that the
football team could not compete
with division two teams.
One of the coaches at More
house College, who also prefers his
identity to be unknown, added,
“the problem is money. If an
athletic scholarship is given, it will
have to come from an outside
organization. The alumni gives
about $8,000 a year and we need
about $72,000 a year.”
In agreement to that, Board
member H. J. Cobb stated that
black folks want to be big and play
big but do not want to pay big.
Dr. McAfee, Athletic Director
and Head Basketball Coach at
Morehouse college added that
there are three possible alterna
tives. First, all the teams could
remain in division three. Secondly,
all the teams could move up to divi
sion two, and lastly, some teams
could move up to division two and
others could remain in division
three.
Dr. Gloster, President of the col
lege stated that if the alumni would
resume financial responsibility, the
teams could move to division two.
However, the alumni will not.
Consequently all the teams will
remain in division three. Dr. Glos
ter also added that most division
two schools have at least 5,000 stu
dents and for a school our size to
move to that division would cause
an enormous financial burden.
Finally, the most important
thing was brought out by a coach at
Morehouse College who would not
like his identity known. He stated
that whether the teams move up a
division or not, Morehouse will
not give athletic scholarships. They
must come from the alumni or
outside:
Although we are in the middle of
Basketball season, I can’t help but
think about the ending of winter
and the beginning of spring and the
sports that accompany that season.
Here at Morehouse we have three
teams which participate on the
Varsity level in the Spring. The
sports are Baseball, Tennis, and
Track. However, I choose to think
of the Spring season as the season
of question.
The sports played in the spring
season are those which aren’t big
money makers for Morehouse. In
fact, the Baseball team, Tennis
team, and the Track teams are the
teams which create more expense
and less revenue than the other
sports at Morehouse. Neither the
players nor the coaches are to
blame, however. I would be hard
put to find one person or one group
of people at which to point the
guilty finger. But what are we to
do? Should we charge people to
see the Baseball games, or not
allow anyone within viewing dis
tance of the Tennis courts without
paying? That would be ridiculous.
The athletes who participate in
the aforementioned sports are to
be commended for their persever-
ence and love of competition. As
this time of the year approaches
people start walking around wond
ering whether or not there will be
baseball, track, and tennis teams.
Morehouse offers no athletic scho
larships. The athletes who play the
Walter Parrish
Sports Editor
sports in the spring season are in
more cases than not going to
Morehouse with no financial aid.
To rob these students of possibly
the one thing that keeps them at
Morehouse could be detrimental
to not only the individual but also
the school.
As I mentioned before, all year
long people wonder whether we
will have a spring season, but con
sider the coaches. For example,
Michael Gray, the football coach,
was asked only a couple of weeks
prior to the start of the track sea
son if he would assume the role of
coach. Gray stepped into the posi
tion amidst confusion, took con
trol, and kept the track team a solid
contender all season. Coach Gray
led his team into the divisional
championships and had quite a few
division champions. Furthermore,
this year William McFarlin, direc
tor of housing, took over the reigns
of the Baseball team. The team
started practice on Jan. 10. It is
nothing more than fair to say that
neither man knew the full implica
tions of the position he assumed,
and personally I don’t feel it is fair
to expect a person to step into such
positions and expect immediate
results.
So as we approach the Spring
season with expectations of seeing
track, baseball, and tennis teams,
let us approach it with open minds.
-We must remember that it takes
time to build a contender in these
sports and that in two out of three
cases the coaches have one and no
years of coaching experience
behind them, respectively. How
ever, athletes, we expect nothing
short of the best you have to offer.
With the support of the student
body, and a good effort on the part
of the athletes, 1 believe this year’s
season of question will be a suc
cessful one. Of course, we are all
waiting for the administration to
respond. Good Luck!
Tennis Anyone
By M. Lavell Sanders
Morehouse College, often
referred to as the home of men such
as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr.
Benjamin Mays, and Julian bond
is also the home of the S.I.A.C.
Tennis Champs. The Tennis team
has been the champions of the
S.I.A.C. from 1976 to 1977 and
1977-1978. The team will be striv
ing to maintain it’s reign of supre
macy this season. Under the
dedicated leadership of Coach
Haines the team is undergoing
preparation to defend that title.
The team officially begins prac
tice on January 17th. The Tigers
lost only one player from last year.
The present captain is Michael
Martin. Coach Haines informed
me that there is much talent among
the incoming crop. The returning
players are as following: Chris
topher “Franchise” Newborn, Chi
cago, Charles Francis, Dayton,
Ohio, Lanny Henderson, Auburn,
Ga„ Carl Hodge, Douglas, Ga.,
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Michael Mitchell, Boston, Mass.,
David William. Dayton, Ohio.
Kyle Mattison, Detroit, Michigan,
and Christopher Booth, Philadel
phia, Penn.
Coach Haines spoke very highly
of the freshmen in a recent inter
view. He is quoted as saying “They
are a very promising group of indi
viduals.” The incoming freshman
are as following: John Brown,
Hampton, Va., Luis Erving,
Washington, D C., Leroy Ander
son, Charlotte, N.C., John Rob
bins, Chicago, Wesley Curl,
Maryland, Keith R. Jones, Cleve
land, Ohio, and Anthony McKen
zie, Memphis, Tenn.
Coach Haines spoke of the play
ers as being “A group of individu
als who come from excellent tennis
background.” He mentioned some
as being of a caliber where their
future is unlimited. Some players
who were specifically noted as hav
ing unlimited futures if “everything
falls into place” are Louis Erving,
John Brown, Charles Francis, and
Carl Hodge. One key reason for
the success is the actual record of
the individuals. Christopher New
born has not been defeated in three
years in the conference. The invin
cible doubles team of Henderson
and Hodge are undefeated in con
ference play. These two facts alone
are evident of the talent on the
team. As for the results of this
year’s play, only time will tell.
The key factor for the success of
the team is the closeness of the
team embers. The players act as a
family. Coach Haines felt that the
closeness and the stock of talent is
attributed to their success. A
standard that is stressed by Haines
is that each player “do the best at
whatever he does whether it be on
or off court, and that if he is not
extending his best effort he should
discontinue his effort.”
. Another reason for success is the
depth of the team. The top six play
ers are of a caliber that they could
each on a given day play the top
spot. Because of thisdepth they are
often accused of “stacking.” A per
son who will contribute greatly to
the success of the team this year is
the co-coaching efforts of Vice
President Mr. Paul Smith.
Something which must be
brought out in an article of this sort
is the environment within which
the championship team must play.
It has been my belief in the past
that in order to be a championship
team it always helps to use good
facilities, and that once a group of
individuals have become cham
pions some effort should be made
to see to it that these persons are
provided with adequate facilities.
If one were to view the courts, one
would not think that this is true.
Coach Haines stated that efforts
were being made to settle a con
tract to get the court resurfaced.
During the recent interview with
Coach Haines, a phrase which was
particularly stressed was that
“There is no substitute for winning
fairly.” The Champions will surely
be busy trying to abide by that
guideline all season as they play
their toughest opponents such as
Alabama State, Georgia State,
Johnson C. Smith University, and
Emory University.