February 27, 1987
Sports
Page 7
From the Sideline
Sports Talk
By S’ven Levister and
Langston Wertz
Heil Herman! The J. R. Reid Show
is continuing to take the nation by storm
and by season’s end could very well give
its finale in Louisiana.
In 1987, the Tar Heels have history
on their side. The last time 80,000 plus
fans crammed into the Superdome for the
NCAA finals, Eric Smith passed
Georgetown's hopes for a 1982 national
championship into the hands of MVP
James Worthy and some pleasantly sur
prised Tar Heels.
Also, 1982 was the last year the Tar
Heels wielded the all-important weapon,
A1 McGuire's self-termed Aircraft Car
rier — the dominant big man. Now, Mr.
Daugherty was a good center who could
be counted on for 20 quiet points. Quiet.
MISTER REID, aka the truth in tennis
shoes, is the explosive type of shot-
blocking, intimidating, dunking center
that may land the jet, Kenny Smith, in
Louisiana this March.
Speaking of Smith, he is a definite
All-America. His 41-point outburst
against Clemson should have erased all of
the critics’ doubts as to his ability to score.
His importance to the Tar Heels should
list in the utmost category. Says basket
ball analyst and NBC commentator A1
McGuire: “If Kenny Smith played for the
By Charles Mills
Staff Writer
Randy Wiel is a very cordial and ar
ticulate man with the slight remains of an
accent and a relaxing sense of humor. He
came to Chapel Hill in 1975 from
Cureisol in the Caribbean. From 1975-79,
he was a part of some of the best basket
ball teams in UNC’s history, including the
1977 team, that may have been the best.
When Wiel left Chapel Hill in 1979,
he probably did not think that he would
one day return to be the head coach of the
junior varsity and assistant coach of the
varsity basketball teams.
Yet today, Wiel often finds himself
up at 2 a.m. watching films of basketball
games and devising new strategy for his
JV team.
Before coming to UNC, Weil com
peted in the Pan Am games and in the
1968 Olympic games. He actually work
ed as a police officer for six years.
This all-around athlete competed in
track and swimming before picking up
Boston Celtics and he didn’t play in a
game, the Boston Celtics would miss Ken
ny Smith.” Nuff said.
While I’m on basketball, the Lady
Tar Heels also sport a dominant center.
Dawn Royster, she of the vertical leap.
Royster is a known shot-blocker who can
also rebound. Still, her forte is definitely
scoring... However, when the ladies took
on State earlier this season, Marlene List
really looked good. This lady could make
Pete Rose jealous with her hustle. She’s
a perfect complement to the “Rooster.”
And speaking of State, they of Tina
Trice, have laid hands on America’s
number one or two high school girl’s
hoopster (depending on which poll you
trust) Charlotte’s Andrea Stinson. Stinson
may well spell relief for a State squad and
trouble for its opponents.
Stinson, who plays for North
Mecklenburg High School in
Huntersville, averages 28 points per game
and has a sweeping one-handed scoop
move that has observers asking, “Is that
James Worthy or the Doc”?
Swamy S’ven will now make predic
tions for the NCAA Final Four: UNLV,
UNC, Kansas, Iowa.
Prove him wrong. Whammy the
Swamy and win a free, all-expense paid
trip for two... to class. Plus we’ll write
your name and correct answer in a future
Ink. Continued on page 8
basketball as his number one sport.
Weil returned to Carolina to finish up
his masters degree in education and to
work as an assistant coach. Upon Eddie
Fogler’s leaving for the head coaching job
at Witchita State University and Roy
Williams’s promotion up to Fogler’s old
job, Wiel became the coach of the JV
basketball team.
After leaving in 1979, Wiel played
professional basketball in Europe, where
he played for a team in Holland. While
there, he was named Rookie of the Year,
Most Valuable Player, and led the league
in scoring twice.
Wiel says the European league is full
of American players. He played against
such former Atlantic Coast Conference
stars as Rod Griffin and Derrick Whitten-
burg, just to name a few.
“The European league is somewhere
between the college and the pros (National
Basketball League). The college teams
that travel to Europe usually end up los-
Continued on page 8
Stop the fights
By Charles Mills
Staff Writer
The sport of professional boxing has
had a long and glorious history, dating
back to the late nineteenth century, with
such stars as John L. Sullivan, Joe Louis,
Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, and
Ray Leonard.
But in recent years boxing has come
under heavy public scrutiny. Because of
its high injury rate, many people have
begun to feel that professional boxing
must be banned.
Incidents such as the highly publiciz
ed detached retina of former welterweight
champion Ray Leonard and the death of
Korean fighter Duk-Koo Kim at the hands
of Ray Mancini in front of a national
television audience, have set off a chain
reaction of demands for a ban on pro
boxing.
Injuries have to be considered the one
constant in boxing. Rarely is there a pro
fessional fight in which one of the par
ticipants does not receive some kind of
injury.
The eye, unlike some of the other
parts of the body, is extremely vulnerable
and is always a target for injury in pro
fessional boxing. One of the more serious
injuries in boxing is the detached retina.
The chances of full recovery of sight is
very slim.
Some prominent boxers such as Er
nie Shavers and Ray Leonard have suf
fered a detached retina, received surgery
and have been able to return to the ring
without any ill effects, but another boxer
has not been as lucky.
Ray Seales, winner of the only gold
medal in boxing for the United States in
the 1972 Olympics and veteran of some
300 amateur fights and 80 professional
fights, was left blind.
Another extremely serious injury all
boxers must face is the possibility of brain
damage. Thirty-eight retired boxers and
two current boxers were tested by com
puterized tomography (CT) and EEG and
neurological examination. It was conclud
ed that the number of fights a boxer has
relates directly to CT and EEG abnor
malities. The constant pounding to the
head boxers must absorb takes its toll, but
knock-out victims suffer more damage.
Though pro boxing has had its share
of fatalities, three recent deaths have
drawn a great deal of attention to the
sport. In June of 1980, Roberto Duran and
Blacks vie
Continued from page 3
will cast ballots on will be of music
released between Oct. 1, 1985 and Sept.
30, 1986.
Since Whitney Houston’s LP was
released in the spring of 1985, her self
entitled album will not be included in this
year’s nominations.
However, Houston’s single “The
Greatest Love of All” was nominated for
record of the year.
Also failing to make it into the time
schedule was Lionel Richie’s “Dancing
on the Ceiling” and “Say You Say Me.”
The show will be broadcast live from
Los Angeles from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Feb.
24 on CBS-TV.
Ray Leonard fought for the welterweight
championship in what is now considered
a classic match, but in a preliminary bout
Cleveland Denny was killed after being
knocked out. In September of 1983.
twenty-two year old bantamweight Fran
cisco (Kiko) Bejines died of a cerebral
edema (swelling of the brain) after being
in a coma for a number of days. Bejines,
ranked number three in the world, was
ahead on all the judge’s scorecards going
into the twelfth round when he was knock
ed out.
He underwent major surgery to
remove part of his brain, skull, and a
blood clot in order to relieve pressure
from his brain. Bejines died the next day.
But the most highly publicized of all
ring deaths has to be that of Duk-Koo
Kim. Kim was knocked out in the four
teenth round and never got up again.
Writer David Noonan of “Time” says
Kim suffered cerebral edema and died a
few days later.
The AMA has said boxing is
equivalent to a cockfight because the ob
ject of the game is to render one’s oppo
nent unconscious.
Though the argument for the ban of
boxing seems to be strong at this point,
boxing still has its share of supporters.
One supporter, sports writer Stanley
Cohen, argues that boxing has a redeem
ing value because it takes kids out of
poverty and gives them fame and fortune.
Boxing is a way out of the mills and
mines and can be financially equal to tiic
salaries of bank presidents and corporate
executives.
Cohen is correct when he says box
ing has taken impoverished men like Joe
Louis, Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran,
and John Tate, who could neither read nor
write, and gave them a chance to earn
riches that they would have never been
able to achieve any other way.
Another argument in favor of boxing
is freedom of choice. These men have the
right to use their bodies anyway they
choose. Boxers face death every time they
enter the ring. But then too, suicide is il
legal in this country.
In the past 100 years, the sport of pro
fessional boxing has undergone iiulc
change. Of course there have been rule
modifications and the athletes have got
ten better, but boxing is still based upon
a man versus man fight to the finish.
Groups like the AMA will probably ct)n-
tinue their attempts for a ban, and boxing
advocates will do their best to see that the
sport survives.
DON DAVIS
Program Director
1060 Gatewood Ave.
P.O. Box 6626
Greensboro, NC 27405-0702
919/275-9161
Winston-Salem 723-6759
High Point 884-1168
Wiel returns to UNC as
new coach, student