Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 15, 1984)
Pago 16 Daily Ncbraskan Thursday, March 15, 1034 77 77 77 em If ) l m - , , Mil Sim it Mil V x v. 1 Ml f V i r 7"' ' " " - - : - t l1 I '' V j - " X, ' ' rm j. ! ' tf - - , , 1 . . . . - Neirislca (17-11) tX Creiliton (17 13) Onr.ha Chic Auditorium, 8:03 p.m. Pos, G G C F F toilers: Nebraska Eric Wiiiiams David Ponce Dave Hoppen Ronnie Smith Yr. Sr. .Sr. So. Jr. Sr. Ht. 6-2 5- 10 8.0 6- 11 19.7 6-9 2.5 6-4 13.9 Pts. Heb. 7.7 2.4 1.5 6.8 2.5 6.7 Team Aversst 5.5 23.2 Pot. Crelghton Yr. HL G Vernon Moore Jr. 6-2 G Gary Swain Fr. 6-3 C Benoit Benjamin So. 7-0 F Karlas Gripado Fr. 6-6 F Gregory Brandon Sr. 6-7 Team Averaj Pts. Reb. 15.0 3.1 5.5 2.0 16.0 9.7 1.4 1.4 14.9 10.9 C3.1 37.1 The Media: The game will not be televised in Lincoln, but will be shown on Omaha's Cox Cable Channel 9. KFOR is Lincoln's radio outlet for the Nebraska Basketball Network. The Game: Since losing to Nebraska in December, Creighton's young Blue jays have undergone flight training. NIT Tonight Da5y Utbrtiktn Dave Hoppen grabs a rebound froia tif o Tulsns pLtyers in the first round of last year's Nations! Imitation Tourasnent Tonight, the Bluejays will earn their wings if they defeat 17-11 Nebraska in the first round of the National Invita tion Tournament in Omaha Creighton's first post-season tour nament berth in three years resulted form the Bluejays' 17-13 record and runner-up finish in the Miccouri Valley Conference tournament "I wanted to play in a post-season, tournament," said forward Gregory Brandon, Creighton's only senior play er. "I really didnt care which one. This was my last chance." Ten of Creighton's 12 squad mem bers are freshmen or sophomores, and their late-season maturity has made coaching easier for former New York Knicks center Willis Reed, in his third year at Creighton. The Bluejays have improved in near ly every statistical category, including 49.5-percent field-goal accuracy and 71.9 percent from the line. Sophomore center Benoit Benjamin is living up to his freshman billing, blocking 155 shots while averaging 16 points and nearly 10 rebounds. Brandon's 10.9 rebound average is Creighton's best since George Morrow averaged 11 caroms during the 1930 81 season. Creighton's playmaker is junior Ver non Moore, who averages 15 points. "He's an excellent point guard," said Nebraska Coach Moe Iba. "He pene trates the middle well, then feeds off the bail" Freshmen Gary Swain and Karlas Gripado won starting positions in mid season from Reggie Morris and Kenny Evans. Iba said he expects Creighton to open in a zone defense, which has dealt the Huskers fits all season. "They started out in a zone in the first game," Iba said. "I think they will change up their defenses, however." Nebraska "will have to go out and get after Creighton," Iba said, although he may resort to a zone if Husker center Dave Hoppen gets in foul trouble. Iba said he is not especially looking forward to playing in Omaha, "but you go where they (the NIT) tell you to go." "It's like a conference game," he said. "We beat them here and now we go to their place." The NIT will again use a red, white and blue basketball, but a 45-second shot clock replaces the 30-second clock used last year. "We practiced Monday with a ball we had from last season," Iba said. "It's slick. We may not even have it if Creight on isnt supplied a balL" Black athletes mi -untapped .source of aid. Economically, the black community in America ranks as one of the top ten "nations" in the world. However, emphasis should be. on equalizing the situation domestically. One key component of such equalization would be the black athlete. The follow ing paragraphs lay out a model for what could be. Using Harry Edwards' 1979 data, we find that -there were some 1 ,1 44 professional football players, of which 454, or 40 percent were black. In profes sional basketball during that same period, 79 per cent of 286 players involved 228 were black. fe) Matthew 4 shelly slam dunks, but a potential economic base on which we, as a people, could build. In professional basketball, the average annual salary is $226,000. Although, undoubtedly, more blacks have joined the pro ranks by now, let us use the figure cited in Edwards' data. This adds up to a whopping $5 1 ,528,000. While it is rumored that pro fessional football players made more on an annual basis, let us use the same average salary as a bare minimum. Based on a yearly salary, the NFL's black performers coHertivelywouldrepresent$103,282,000 among them. We are not even taking into considera tion the earnings of black performers in the Cana dian Football League or the United States Football League, nor are we counting those involved in the Continental Basketball League. But, even omitting these groups of athletes, the total for one year's time between the two main groups is a staggering $154,810,000. Now, suppose that the athletes, out of a sense of commitment to the respective contexts to which they owe their existence, decided to pool their monies. This pool, referred to as the Black Commun ity Marshall Plan, would consist of only one percent of the total sum cited above. The money actually going into the fund, then, would be $1,548,100. This may not sound like very much, but to demonstrate how much it really is, let us use north Omaha as a focal point and see just, how far the $1.5 million would go. The average median income in the Omaha area is $15,000, but for black Omahans it is but half that ($7,500). If this money were used for job develop ment, it c6uld provide 100 jobs at the citywide income average of 200 jobs based on the black median income. In either case, possibly 100 or 200 fewer black families would be divided because of lack of funds andor the forced dependence upon federal assistance. The average value of a house in Omaha is $28,000, but in the North Omaha ghetto it is a scant $7,000. The $1.5 million could be spent to upgrade existing housing in an area where, at one timethe demoli tion to construction ratio was 5 to 1. Black organizations are more dependent now than ever on funding from corporations and "char itable funds" (meaning that by extension, the direc tion and intensity of black groups is also controlled). The Black Community Marshall Flan could provide funds that would give these agencies some semb lance of self-determination, enable these groups to provide scholarships and technical assistance to area youth, and do more for future generations than promote recreation or leisure activity. If there is a drug or alcohol problem in a poor area, might not these funds be used for rehabilita tion? And how far would this $1.5 million go if used to help in research on sickle cell anemia, hih blood pressure, cancer and ether diseases that are killing black people by the thousands? How would the communities be chosen? Black athletes, as well as any sociologist, know which ghet tos need priority assistance and well they should. After all, not only do most of these gladiators come from ghetto zrezs, but the auditoriums and gyms in which they play are, in most instances adjacent to or within an urban area. With the possible exception of Phoenix and Boston, black athletes directly or indi rectly come into contact with ghetto life as soon as they get off the plane or before they enter tHe hotel Therefore, there is such a wide selection of urban centers and smaller black communities to choose from that this fund would have plenty of areas from which to select. However, this money should be used on a match ing fund basis. After all, the cities that these com munities are in do have some obligation to those areas, and black athletes should not have to bear the brunt of this obligation. But matching funds to supplement the $1.5 million in the proposed plan would go farther: The money would promote a col lective vocation between the predominately white power structures and the black community, and it would be one of the few programs aimed at the ghetto that did not intentionally seek to foster dependence. Continued ca Pans 17 v viy Scoreboard I f . .H . 1 X l.cn a Ir.Jccr Ccccer IL-vr.rr.j Phi Gamma De!ia A dsf. Theta Xi by forfeit Delta Teu De'ta B dsf. Chi Phi B by forfeit Delta Tau Delta C (4.0) 1, Phi Delia Theta A (3.7) 0 Abel Ten d:f. Beta Theta Pi B by forfeit Gunners (4.5) 3, Beta Theta Pi C (4 5) 2 Co-r.ec v;nneL-ail Pi PhiHashers 5. Gather Three A 2 Quotation Marks def. Pound ThirteenGather Two by forfett ' Cather EightPound Twelve 18. Wacky Waffle Wifflers 7 Bases Loaded def. Seileck 82007300 by forfait