Newspaper Page Text
February 26,1985/The Maroon Tiger/Section A
Page 19
SPORTS SPORTS
Black Athletes To Receive Marketability In The Future
by Lori Boyer
Sports Writer
When George Orwell enter
tained questions of the con
ditions that would inevitably
come about by the year 1984, he
neglected to raise a very perti
nent issue; the situation of the
black athlete. We pardon Orwell
for his negligence, and in
recognition of Black History
Month, we will address the
question concerning the future
of black athletes. In doing so,
one outstanding note of interest
gains our attention — money.
With the advent and infiltration
of talented black athletes into
the professional market, the
future for them almost certainly
promises megabucksl
It is no secret that black
athletes are becoming fast com
modities in a society versed on
competition and excitement. For
example, in the world of boxing,
former Olympian Sugar Ray
Leonard’s debut as a professional
boxer in 1976 earned him ap
proximately $40,000. Eight years
later, along comes another
Olympic hero by the name of
Mark Breland, who collects over
$100,000 in his first professional
fight.
College athletes with the
potential to turn pro are ex
pected to reap large benefits for
themselves as well as their in
vestors in the near and distant
future. Karl “the mailman"
Malone, at 6’9", 225 lbs., plays
center and forward for the
Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech. A
junior, Malone led his team to a
surprising 26-7 record last
season, and a first round tourna
ment upset win over Fresno
State. Appropriately nicknamed
"the mailman” because of his
constant delivery, Malone is
predicted to earn both
marketability and respectability
in the NBA.
Black women also have a
bright future ahead in sports. A
precedent has already been set
by women athletes that could
change the game of basketball.
Georgeann Wells of West
Virginia was the first American
woman to dunk in an official
game. The 6’7” junior stuffed the
ball and helped her team to a
110-82 win over Charleston on
December 21,1984. She made an
encore performance the follow
ing week in a 109-76 victory over
Xavier of Ohio.
Back to males, Freddie John
son could very well be the
by Marie Roberts
Sports Writer
The Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference (SIAC) will
hold its Division II Basketball
Tournament at Morehouse
College in Archer Hall March 1-
2. Participating teams will be
announced after the league’s
playoffs at the end of the season.
All of the teams within the
dominant figure in collegiate
track and field competition. The
Hampton Institute junior ran the
60-yard dash in 6.08 seconds at
the NAIA Indoor Track and Field
Championships in Kansas City.
This was the fastest 60-yard dash
recorded in NAIA history.
Blacks have shown potential in
other sports, such as bowling.
Ninth grader Marcus Hall of
Warner Robins, Georgia became
the first junior bowler in the state
Atlanta University Center (AUC)
are good prospects for the tour
nament.
Ernest Lee, a Clark College
squad member, continues to
average 33.8 points a game and
lead Division II in scoring.
"Lee’s the most consistent ball
player that we’ve had at Clark
College, both mentally and
to bowl a perfect 300 point game.
His average had been 159, but
during a Young America Bowling
Alliance Tournament in his
hometown, he was, shall we say,
"on the ball!"
Indeed, the future looks
promising for blacks in sports.
Blacks will undoubtedly gain the
overdue marketability they so
"richly” deserve.
physically,” said Robert
Pritchett, Clark’s coach.
Insisting that his talent did not
come easy, Lee tells of long and
hard practice. "I've been playing
since the sixth grade. I wasn’t
good at first, but I liked it. It was a
challenge and I just kept work
ing. I used to play a lot at home.
“Now, it’s kinda of natural."
pg. 20
S.I.A.C. Tournament To Feature AUC Talents
Well-Known and Unknown
Firsts By Black Athletes
Maroon Tigers Honored
at 28th Annual Awards
Banquet:
Cross-Countrymen
Runner-Ups In Conference
by Maurice Haywood
Sports Writer
Two words that have become
synomous over the years are
blacks and athletics. The
overwhelming praise given to
today’s black athletes did not
become prodigious overnight.
Credit must be given to those
great black athletes who severed
the bondage of segregation and
broke the color barriers imposed
on them by their white counter
parts. In retrospect, let us
acknowledge those black
athletic greats who later became
household names not only in the
black homes but the white
abodes as well. In doing so, we
can ill-afford to ignore those
unpopular athletes who did not
receive their deserved recogni
tion, but under adverse con
ditions made significant con
tributions in cementing the
foundation for other prominent
black athletes.
Most of us are aware that when
Jackie Robinson played with the
Brooklyn Dodgers in an exibition
game against the New York
Yankees on April 11, 1947, he
became the first black person to
play major league baseball. Un
fortunately, many blacks are
unaware of the fact that prior to
Robinson’s entrance into the big
leagues, the Cuban Giants
reserved the distinction of being
the first Negro professional
baseball team. Managed by S.K.
Govern, the team was organized
in 1885.
Many of us also knew that Bill
Russell was the first black coach
of a National Basketball Associa
tion team. But on the collegiate
level, fewer blacks realize that in
1970, Will Robinson
"desegregated” the NCAA
coaches when he was named
head coach at Illinois State
University. Probably more of a
surprise to most blacks is Charles
Henry Cooper’s debut on
November 1, 1950 in his first
professional basketball game
with the Boston Celtics as they
took on the Fort Wayne Pistons.
This marks the beginning for
blacks in professional basketball.
In the boxing ring, Jack John
son and Joe Louis head a list of
perennial black boxers who
helped to establish a respect and
market for black fighters. John
son began the barrage of even
tual black heavyweight cham
pions when he TKO’d Tom
Burnes in the fourth round of
their December 26,1908 fight in
Sydney, Australia. Louis also
collected a first by holding hte
heavyweight titile longer than a
decade. Although it is more than
fair to pay homage to Mr.
Johnson and Mr. Louis, it would
be equally unfair if we disregard
such men as Tom Molineaus, a
Virginia slave who was the very
first “American" heavyweight
contender for the world cham
pionship. Another first for black
boxers was Henry Armstrong's
ability to hold three titles at one
time, those being in the
featherweight, welterweight,
and ightweight class divisions.
Arthur Ashe and Calvin Peete
cancelled any remaining myths
that blacks could only excel in
physically aggressive sports
when they gained respectability
on the tennis court and the
putting green. Ashe set the
example for aspiring black tennis
players when he became the first
Negro to win the U.S. Amateur
Tennis Singles Championships at
Forest Hills in 1968. Likewise, he
also became the first Negro male
to win the coveted British Singles
competition at Wimbledon in
1970. Laurels are also in order for
Dr. Reginald Weir and Althea
Gibson. Weir was the first Negro
tennis player to participate in a
'''U.S. Indoor Lawn Tennis
Association Championship tour
nament. Gibson is considered to
be the first Negro woman to
participate in the National Ten
nis Tourney of the U.S. Lawn
Tennis Association. She also
became the first “Negro” to play
at Wimbledon and the first to
win the singles and doubles
crown in England. Peete proved
that blacks could do more on
golf courses thatn just serve as
caddy. Today, Peete is respected
as one of the best and highes-
earning golfers on the
professional circuit.
Black America, please ap
preciate the strides made by our
black athletes who helped alter
the downward flow of segrega
tion. Remember to show
gratitude and tribute not only to
those that, seemingly White
America chose to elevate, but
also to those individuals who
never or seldom received the
glory granted to their contem
poraries. We must continue to
sustain the flame of praise under
the ineluctable contributions
made by our black athletesl
by Henry Thurston II
Sports Writer
On Thursday, Jan. 31,1985, the
Southern Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference recognized
eighteen members of the 1984
Morehouse College “Moroon
Tigers" Football Team at their
28th Annual Awards Banquet
honoring student-athletes in the
five state conference.
Named to the All-Conference
first and second teams were
offensive players Floyd Hodoh,
Tamlin Antoine, and Elvernie
McGhee. Defensive personnel
selected were Keith Stroud, Joel
Prim, Mack Daniel, Quinton
Tookes, and Henry Thurston II.
Ronnie Sparks, Reuben Green,
and Andrew Samuels received
Honorable Mention recogni
tion.
The S.I.A.C. also released its
1985 All-Academic Team.
Representing Morehouse are
Danny James, Tommie Arnold,
Jeffrey Lewis, Darryl Canady,
Tarrell Hagen, Harold Duhart,
Kelvin King, Tookes, and
Thurston. In recent years,
Morehouse has placed the vast
majority of athletes on the All-
Academic Team.
In a special presentation,
offensive guard Floyd Hodoh
was voted as the Division II
Lineman of the Year. Hodoh, a
6’0”, 250 lb. senior from Akron,
Ohio received the award named
for W.S.M. Banks, along time
officer and supporter of the
conference. Hodoh’s perfor
mance during the year merited
his selection to the South West
Athletic Conference roster for
the 2nd Annual Freedom Classic
against stars from the Mid-
Eastern Athletic Conference.
Joel Prim, a 6’1”, 215 lb. line
backer also from Akron, Ohio
likewide participated in the
tabbed "Black College All-
American Game." Both players
shared similar sentiments
towards the experience, citing
the All-American atmosphere
during the week of preparation
for the ballgame as a memorable
and rare opportunity.
The 1984 Morehouse Cross-
Country Team finished in 2nd
place of the Southern Inter
collegiate Athletic Conference
Finals. Coach Napolean Cobb's
team finished the season with a
12-2 record, losing only to
Tuskegee Institute and eventual,
reigning champions, Albany
State. This makes the second
season in a row that Morehouse
has ended the year behind
Albany.
Sophomore Carey Bacon was
named the Cross Country team’s
most outstanding runner for the
second consecutive year.
Winston Spencer, a second year
letterman, was named the most-
improved runner. Other
lettermen for the 1984 Cross
Country season were two-year
letterman Gary Rushin, and four
freshmen; Michael Cun
ningham, Packey Clement, Dave
Burton, and William McKenzie.