Newspaper Page Text
The Augusta News-Review, December 27, 1973 -
■Walking II
iti ■
■ Dignity Ml zA
I by Al Irby Jpo
TWO GREAT BLACK COACHES, DAVID DUPREE OF LUCY
LANEY HIGH AND JOHN MERRITT OF TENNESSEE
STA TE, ARE TWO MEN WHO HAVE HAD MANY HONORS
HEAPED UPON THEM, BUT ELECTED TO REMAIN AT THE
SCHOOLS THEY LOVE INSPITE OF THE MANY LUCRATIVE
OFFERS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE TO LURE THEM TO
GREENER PASTURES. BOTH OF THESE COACHES HAVE
CREATED AN OUTSTANDING PLAYER, THAT HAS THE
FOOTBALL WORLD BUZZING IN “73”.
Sylvester Boler, a former Lucy Laney defensive demon, made
the University of Georgia’s varsity team as a freshman; he has also
made “All-Conference” his first year as a Bull Dog. Young Boler,
who changed his genesis from a “Wild Cat” to a “Bull Dog”, and
is making opposing players wish he had elected to go elsewhere to
perform his miraculous transition.
HERE COMES BOLER, AND THINGS HAVE NOT BEEN THE
SAME UP ATHEN S WAY
Sylvester Boler the pride and joy of Lucy Laney High, and the
product of David Dupree pigskin excellency made his first
appearance as a Bull Dog in the wild 35-31 Dog s victory over
highly prestigious Tennessee Volunteers at Knoxville, Nov. 3.
This 220-pound linebacking tornado made his presence known
immediately when he was inserted into the lineup late inthe game
by knocking elusive Vol quarterback Condredge Holloway into
“Kingdom Come”.
Holloway had been running Goergia’s linemen ragged all
afternoon; then the ex-Wildcat went in there and, wham,,the
Tennessee flash never knew what hit him. It was the first bundle
of tackles turned in by Boler, the fast charging terror, in the Bull
Dogs’ final four regular games. He had a big dozen tackles in he
28-14 victory over tough Auburn. The entire Georgia Tech team
thought Boler was a ghost, he was everywhere, Grant Field was so
stunned, until the Tech team forgot the lyrics of their fighting
song: “We are a ramblin wreck from Georgia Tech, and a helluva
engineer.”
THE THINK TANK
Greg Horne, one of the Yellow Jackets’ players was heard to
say to his teammates that he knew where to hit Boler, whenever
they met, which was all-day long. Asked about this remark, the
big Augustan said: “1 didn’t say anything back to him. 1 don’t
talk much on the field. There’s too much thinking to do.
As a high school player his mission was simply to seek and
destroy, but there are more things to do on a major college
varsity, more assignments to carry out. Boler knew well his
business as linebacker, because he was a top linebacker on
Laney’s crack 72 team. Around the campus he smiles and says
that Laney’s team was bigger than this year’s Georgia, he winks
and says he was too small to play tackle, yet he weighed 200 lbs.
But he was good enough at linebacking to receive 104
scholarship offers, to name just a few-Notre Dame, Nebraska,
Kansas, TExas A&M, Michigan, Northwestern and might Rose
Bowl bounded Ohio State among others. Boler said he though he
could feel more at home at Georgia. Meanwhile, he makes
opposing ball carriers wish he had stayed home all together. He
will be on the prowl, come Peach Bowl game against Maryland.
And, with three more years to knock em’ dizzy, Georgia has an
All-American in the making for sure.
The other Black demon on the make is Coach John Merritt’s
“Too Tall” Ed Jones of Tennessee State. Defensive tackle Ed
Jones of unbeaten Tennessee State towers six feet, nine and a
quarter inches, and weighs exactly 275 pounds. Nobody calls him
Ed, though; he’s simply “Too Tall”. He is already the No. 1
selection in the pros choice draft next month. Like the four pros
that hail from his alma mater, Claude Humphry, Jim Marsalis,
Jefferson Street and Joe Gilliam, this 275 lbs. of gridiron fury is
headed for stardom. “Too Tall” lives his coach's philosophy: “He
who starts behind, forever stays behind unless he runs faster to
catch up
That axiom holds good for Blacks not just on the athletic fields,
but in every endeavor of life. This homespun wisdom is sure
gospel in the world of Tennessee State and for Coach Merritt,
who this season produced the No. 1 small college football team in
America. It is a trite and simple philosophy that has enabled him
over the years to cope with a disheartening variety of “missions
impossible”.
From instructing culturally deprived boys, who had never seen
a urinal, to battling a tiny recruiting budget that allocates only
SSO a month for telephone expenses, this dedicated coach has
encountered more than his share of adversity for the love of
sports and Black kids. Four years ago. he was asked to look at a
clumsy young giant in the ghetto of Jackson lenn. The strapping
kid had never played a single down of High School Football,
although he was a talented basketball player hounded by 52
scouts from all over the nation.
Merritt had often been accused of recruiting on looks alone.
But when he saw this gangling giant he said: “My Lord I’ve hit
the jackpot.” Merritt didn’t hand the nickname on big Ed Jones,
that name just grew on him. He was a natural on the gridiron,
because he said the basketball officials always picked on him.
Big Ed soon was playing football as if he had grown up dishing
out forearms and warding off blockers, taking hidden shots at his
ever moving knees. The Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Oilers
will most likely get the first crack at him. Jones has already been
featured in Time Magazine, and he made Kodak’s All-American
team.
BIG ED AND WALTER PAYTON OF JACKSON STATE -
head a squad of 23 players named last week on the first Black
College All-American team.
The squad was chosen by a poll of newsmen and broadcasters
from among more than 1,000 players in 47 Black colleges and
universities. Payton, a junior, was named the top offensive player,
and Jones, a senior who is almost sure to be number 1 in the pro
draft, was selected the leading defensive player.
JONES WAS MERRITT’S TYPE OF PLAYER FROM THE START
Coach Merritt made this statement to the Associated Press:
“We’ve always been influenced by the pros in selecting our boys.
We go for square-jawed, long-legged boys, those long muscles
enable a kid to move better and give better leverage. Besides, we
don’t buy football pants with waists larger than 34 inches, so
we’ve got to have tall boys to carry any weight.” So this is the
year for Black small schools to make their move for fame and
glory; and coaches Dupree of Lucy Laney High and Merritt of
Tennessee State are on their way.
A NEW YEAR THOUGHT FOR ALL MY READERS ” RING
OUT THE OLD, RING IN THE NEW, RING OUT THE FALSE,
RING IN THE TRUE.”
VOTE
Page 4
TO BE
EQUAL /fWj
BY VERNON t. JORDAN, JR. |
THE COLDEST CHRISTMAS
The lights are dimmer this year, the electric decorations muted,
and the thermostats turned down. Middle America’s Christmas is
colder this year, maybe the coldest yet.
It was cold too, for the Christ child in the barn at Bethlehem.
The Holy Family was told there was no room at the inn, all doors
were closed, and the comforts of that time, small as they seem to
us in the twentieth century, were denied.
But they survived their adversity. And with a lot less
complaining than we hear today. Jesus survived to bring his
message of peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind, a message
we still strive to fulfill.
Black people too, have survived in the face of adversity. What
for so many middle class Americans is the coldest Christmas in
memory is for the bulk of Black people who are poor, who live in
urban ghettos or rural poverty pockets, just another hard
Christmas, cold but mellow in the warmth of family and friends.
For we have been honed on hardship and steeped in adversity.
Many Americans will shiver for the first time this winter because
of the energy crisis, but Black folk know what it is to be cold, to
be hungry, to be without enough fuel, food and work.
When the President tells us to lowever thermostats to 68
degrees, he speaks also to Black folk who never had heat and
whose winters were spent indoors in overcoats, papering empty
window panes with cardboard.
When the Congress tells us we can’t drive faster than 55 miles
an hour, it is also talking to Black folk who could never afford a
car, or whose family car had to be coaxed and wheedled into
doing thirty on a pock-marked country road.
We will hurt, but we’ll survive. Life has always been hard for
Black people in America. The economy and American democracy
have not been as good to us as to other people. Not enought of us
enjoy the affluent life; few of us have known warm Christmases.
The stock market’s nose-dive won’t destroy any Black fortunes.
Black people didn’t go through open windows during the
Depression and our progress since then hasn’t been so great as to
send us through them when the expected recession hits.
But it will be hard. Many people will be laid off from work at a
time of skyrocketing prices, profits and unemployment. The man
on the street won’t understand why. He’s already wondering what
the energy crisis is all about-- he wants to know who’s profiting
from it, why it happened, and why he’s the one that’s got to bear
its burden.
It’s a national crissi and this Christmas all sorts of top-level
committees and commission will be working on it. As usual, there
won’t be any Black people involved. Our role seems to be to
suffer the effects, not to man the action committees to solve the
crisis.
But it would be a good idea to have some Blacks up there with
the high-powered oil men and government officials. A few
representatives from rural Georgia or Chicago’s Southside could
tell the experts what it’s like to be without heat. They might have
some tips to give to affluent Americans who have to make do
with a minimum for the first time in their lives.
For Black folk there’s nothing much new about this current
crisis. But as experts in the art of survival, we can be thankful for
the uniqueness of the Black experience that will see us through
this rough period. We have always had to make do with less, and
know the positvies of not relying on luxuries.
so this cold Christmas we give thanks for our continued
survival and ask that we continue to have the strength to fight for
our rights, to fight for our fair share of the rewards of this society
that has so long excluded us, and seek the blessings of faith and
hope in our renewed struggle. For us this is still the season of
good tidings to mankind, the season to rejoice in what we have
and pledge ourselves to seek what we have not, the season to bask
in the warmth of our strengths and our aspirations.
THE AUGUSTA NEWS-REVIEW
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY
Mallory K. Miflendsr Editor and Publisher
Mailing Address: Box 953 Augusta, Ga. Phone 722-4555
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4POLF X y PR.MLUAH
HITLER
MR FOR
STERILIZATION
DR. SHOCK LEY HAS SAID THAT HE BELIEVES IT HIGHT BE
NECESSARY TO STERILIZE PERSONS OF VERY IM
INTELLIGENCE TO AVOID WHAT HE CALLS "THE RETRO
GRESSIVE EVOLUTION THROUGH THE DISPROPORTIONATE
REPRODUCTION OF THE GENETICALLY DISADVANTAGED.'
ROBERT REINHOLD
BLACKS SHOULD NOT IGNORE HIM ... tines
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SWS wl I i Wil WW ■;
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" WE MUST STOP
FINDING EXCUSES FOR CRIMINALITY AND NOT ALLOW IT TO
MASK ITSELF BY ANY OTHER NAME,"
ORDE COOMBS
TEAM WORK CAN STOP DISINTEGRATION OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
BLACK COMMUNITIES
THAT CARE ABOUT THE
BLACK FUTURE, SHOULD Z
HELP IMPOSE ORDER
WHERE NEEDED.
i l J HSMPzk'--" I .a U//"■ ;
TIME TO TURN THE DREADFUL TIDE.
CSRA HEAD START
The Head Start Program
now has openings for fifteen
more children, 4 to 5 years of
age, who come from low
income families.
If you are interested in
enrolling your child, please
contact Carolyn Butler at
738-1648 or come by Shiloh
Center, 1635 Fifteen Street to
fill out an application.
6 SUBSCRIBE
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