Newspaper Page Text
March 19, 1979
The Maroon Tiger
Page 8
Black Sports Need More Coverage
!>y Curtis Sharif
“Give exposure to people and
stories that otherwise would not be
exposed,” was the advice two
Atlanta sportcasters gave to
Atlanta University Center mass
communications students recently.
Chico Renfro, sports director
for W1GO radio and Harold
Lamar, sports director for WAOK
radio were featured speakers at a
sportswriters clinic held in Clark
College’s Davage auditorium
February 15, 1979.
Clark College journalism
instructor Osker Spicer, WCLK
student sportscaster Floyd
Donald, and Morehouse College
student coach Keith Winford
joined the two professionals on the
program hosted by mass commun
ication students Valarie Doyle and
Michael Roland
Spicer presented as a topic for
discussion the problem student
journalist have obtaining meaning
ful information from athletic
departments, coaches and athletes.
Donald and Winford presented
opposing viewpoints to the
problem.
Access to information through
interviews with coaches and play
ers is vital to the student reporter.
Donald pointed out.
“Bad team morale is promoted
when reporters spotlight star play
ers and ignore other team mem
bers,” countered Winford. Coach
es, therefore, often instruct their
players to be tight-lipped with the
press, he said.
The student coach noted that
athletes tend to hold suspect the
objectivity of student reports from
other schools.
Winford’s reasoning and views
were hotly contested by a number
of mass communications students
in the audience.
In contrast, the professional
sportcasters were very much in
agreement as they explained the
role they felt the young black jour
nalist should be performing today.
“It is the black journalist duty to
expose angles that would not oth
erwise be exposed,” said Lamar.
“Look at the story from the black
perspective...and give exposure to
people who deserve it but don’t
have it,” he said.
Noting the traditionally poor
coverage that Atlanta University
Center teams and inner city high
school teams receive from the
major daily newspapers and non
black oriented TV and radio sta
tions, the journalists said they
make special efforts to feature
these games and their players on
the air.
“A lot of it is our own fault,” he
said to the students. “We’ve got to
quit blaming white people forall of
our troubles. You’ve got to fight
for what you want.”
'There is a difference between
sports and black sports,” Renfro
said. “They are separate but not
equal.”
This lack of equalization has
caused him to fight for black sports
throughout his career at both black
and non-black oriented stations,
Renfro stated.
Media management, both black
and caucasion, has stereotyped the
black audience, Chico explained.
“They have us sterotyped as a
group of very ignorant individuals
who only want to pop their fingers
and listen to soul music.”
“Write a letter,” Renfro admon
ished. “It is the intelligent college
student who must stand up and let
the station owners and program
directors know that you appreciate
and are interested in other forms of
programming besides music.”
Young journalists could expect
sacrafice and hard decisions in
their future, the veteran newsmen
said.
Both Renfro and Lamar said
that, on principle, they had passed
up opportunities to earn higher
salaries in order to continue to pro
vide sorely needed coverage to pre
dominantly black Atlanta teams.
When questioned whether pass
ing up the higher position without
compromise was indeed his best
decision, Renfro pondered
seriously. “Maybe I should have
given up something...” He paused
as he thought. “But I didn’t,” he
said smiling.
Why Not Support
A Winner?
by Jerome Walker
Now that the popular sports are
over, students are assuming that
there are no more athletic events to
support. However, this is not the
case. As a matter of fact, the
winningest team at Morehouse is
in the process of getting ready to
defend the SIAC championship.
That’s perfectly correct; the Tennis
team is number one at Morehouse.
Although the students do not come
out to support the Tennis team nor
does the college give much support
to the team, the members continue
to win.
The Tennis teamforthe past’two
years won the SIAC in its division.
In fact, in last year’s conference
tournament, the team won four of
the six flights in singles and two of
the three flights in doubles. The
Tennis team also finished runner-
up in the Fisk Invitationals.
On March 9 and 10, in the
FAMU Sports Carnival, the team
placed second only to Johnson C.
Smith University. In this tourna
ment, four members finished
second in the singles finals and in
the doubles competition the
number three position players won
the championship. To further
illustrate the team’s excellence, in a
dual meet on March 15, against
Clark College, the team totally
dominated the match, winning 9-0.
Every member that played came
out victorious. Just three days
sooner, the team traveled to
Florida to trounce Bethune-
Cookman 9-0.
The team has a very difficult
schedule this year. The team has
already competed against Emory
and Georgia State and is presently
working to schedule a match
against Georgia Tech.
Coached by James Haines, the
members of the team include three
seniors (Michael Mitchell, McNeil
Brown, and Christopher Booth),
two juniors (Carl Hodges and
Christopher Newborn), two sopho
mores (Lannie Henderson and
Charles Francis), and six freshmen
(John Brown, Irvin Lewis, John
Robbins, Anthony McKenzie,
Wesley Curl, and Leroy Ander
son). Currently the most outstand
ing player is John Brown, a
freshman who plays the number
one position in singles and, along
with Christopher Newborn, he
plays number one doubles.
Finally, although the team won
the SIAC last year, the team was
weak in the top positions. How
ever, this year the team is strong in
every position and is expected to
win the SIAC tournament for a
third straight year.
A professional tennis player
can serve balls at speeds
greater than 100 miles an hour.
'Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.
/
"COLLEGE NIGHT”
Wednesday, April 4 at 7:35 P.M. — The OMNI
ATLANTA HAWKS vs MILWAUKEE BUCKS
"TWO-BIT BEER”
College students are invited to attend “96 ROCK College Night” at the
Atlanta Hawks game on Wednesday, April 4th, when they meet the
Milwaukee Bucks. Beer will be sold for “Two Bits” and college students
will receive a $2.00 discount off the $7.00 or $6.00 seats. Just bring a
current I. D. to purchase your discount tickets at the special college night
sales window.