Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / March 4, 1999, edition 1 / Page 7
Part of Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
FORUM \ - ? McLendon uses legacy to inspire Nigel Alston Motivational Moments Not to know is bad; not to want to know is worse. - African Proverb It was John McLendon's sense of humor and down to earth style that impressed me. That's how he teaches and I'm sure, that was how he coached. He finds something a stu dent is interested in and uses it as the vehicle to deliver a mes sage. His vehicle is sports. Last Saturday, his message was a walk down memory lane. He is a VIP, but you'd would never know it - unless you just happened to catch him during one of the hundreds of times he was surrounded by reporters, asking him questions that ranged from the mundane to the how it feels to be a living leg end. Coach McLendon was honored last Saturday at the annual RJR brunch held during the CIAA tournament. It is the sixth year Reynolds has spon sored the brunch to honor and recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to higher education and the CIAA. Coach McLendon's contri butions can't be overlooked. He pooled ? personal loan from Mechanics and Farmers Bank in 1946 with money from three other coaches and rented a boxing arena in Washington , D. C. to put on the first CIAA tournament. But his list of accomplish ments doesn't start or end there. It goes on. He was a, student of Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, at the University of Kansas and the first black in the university's physical education program. He is the only surviv ing member of the first class to graduate. And the list of firsts goes on and on. He won six con ference championships at North Carolina College for Negroes (now North Carolina Central University). He was the first African American to win a national bas ketball championship when Tennessee State defeated South eastern Oklahoma in the final of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Tour nament in 1957. In 1959, he became the first university coach to win three consecutive national basketball titles. He has been recognized as one of the top six coaches who changed basketball in America from 1950 to 1994 by Basketball Times magazine and the select ed "Coach of the Century" in 1992 by Sports View magazine. McLendon invented the four corners offense used by some of the nation's top collegiate and professional teams. "You use it only when your opponent needs the ball," said McLendon. "In the last three to four minutes when your team is up five to six points. It will hot work -otherwise." He shared this with another coach who wanted to know how to use it. That coach perfected what he learned and used it against McLendon in an invitational tournament in Georgia. When McLendon looked down the opposite end of the court , the coach smiled and waived at him. He not only shared his knowledge with others, he also took risks. He had a lot to lose in 1944 when he organized what' has become the most famous bas ketball game to be kept a secret. "The Secret Game," pitted his North Carolina College against Duke University during the time segregation reigned supreme. According to a story by Mike Hudson of The News and Observer "it was a private, unpublicized, no spectators allowed game between NC Col lege and Duke Navy Medical School." He wanted a chance to prove his team was the best - black or white. After the Eagles trounced Duke 88-44, they swapped play ers and played another game. Forty years later, the secret is out of the bag now and efforts are underway to turn the event into a movie. Now 83, with all the firsts including being a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, you would think McLendon would coast a little. He doesn't. He is using sports as a vehicle to educate young people about their culture. He realized in his words, how "abysmally igno rant" students are of their his tory. This revelation hit him after a student approached him and said, "I understand you might be the Jackie Robinson of bas ketball." Then she asked who Jackie Robinson was. , That's when he decided to teach a class about the history of sports and the role of minorities at Cleveland State, j He loves it because the students don't know anything and he can fill them with knowledge. He not only tells them about the contributions of minorities, but their contemporaries as well. To fully understand the impact of Hank Aaron, you also need to know something about Babe Ruth. Adversity kept him and oth ers going in those early days. Now, he says "it is diversity. If you are not ready for it, then you will be in trouble." And like all true teachers, he knows when to sit down. "Since I have said something important," he said. "I'll sit down." I could have listened to him for hours. I imagine he is a good fisher man. He knows something about using hooks and pulling you into his wealth of knowl edge. Then he fills you up. Nigel Alston is an executive with Integon Insurance and can be reached at PO Box 722, Win ston-Salem, N.C. 27102 or e mailed at nalston237@aol.com No race card for Lyons Earl Ofarl Hutchinson Guest Coluninist Now that a Florida jury has convicted Henry Lyons presi- " ..dent of the National Baptist Convention USA, one of the country's largest and most ? influential black organizations 1 of racketeering and grand theft, the big question is why did so many of his followers claim that he was framed? The evidence had piled high J that .Lyons did Illegally take money, cavort with his mistress, flaunt 'an opulent lifestyle, and ' thumb his noose at church lead ers, and those in his congrega tion who questioned his profli gacy. Yet many blacks inside and outside his organization ?' circled the wagons and dutifully took up Lyons' self-serving wail that he was being persecuted as part of a white,racist conspira cy to nail outspoken black lead ers. , While this blindness to reali ty by some blacks is the ulti mate in collective racial denial, it is all too predictable. When ?? ever an African-American winds up in front of a court bench these days, more than a few AfricanrAmericans will reflexively shout that they are victims of a racist conspiracy. It is a good, if not well-worn, ploy, that some black politi . cians in particular have raised to a state-of-the-art enterprise. Former Illinois Congress man Mel Reynolds shouted racist conspiraty when he was indicted, tried and convicted of criminal sexual assault charges. Forpner Washington, D.C. mayor Marion Barry shouted racist conspiracy when he was indicted, tried and convicted on a drug charge. California Con gressman Walter Tucker shout ed racism when he was convict ed of bribery charges. Other - black ' elected officials have loudly shouted racist conspira cy when they are accused of, or nailed for, sexual hijinks, bribery, corruption, or illegal campaign spending. It takes no imagination to suspect that soma of the probes * of black politicians and com: munity leaders walk the thin and often misty line between the legitimate concern with bag ging lawbreakers and racially motivated political harassment. And it takes even less imagina tion to know that some in the media will saturate the public with sensationalist features and exposes, of high-profile blacks accused of, or suspected of, committing crimes while down playing the crimes of prominent whites. But this does not mean that leaders such as Lyons didn't commit the crimes they were accused of. i Yet some blacks absolve them by saying that they are only doing what white politi cians, corporate executives, and ministers have been jailed for. That may be true - but does it make it right when blacks com mit the same type of criminal Lyons acts'.' It it is a crime when whites do it, it's no less a crime when blacks do it. Beyond the issue'of right, versus, wrong, there's a practi cal reason why the argument that whites do it too should sink fast in the water. Black ministers, like politi cians, have a special duty to the black communities. Many blacks view them not as politi cians, but leaders and advo cates. They look to them to-repi resent their interests and to challenge and confront institu tional power. When they take bribes, steal money, lie, cheat, and deceive, they betray the trust of African Americans. They should not be treated as objects of pity, folk heroes, or latter day Robin Hoods, per secuted by the white establish ment. They are crooks and not vigorously condemning them for their actions further erodes the moral capital that blacks have built up in the battle against poverty and discrimina | ?? uon. To accuse some in the media, or some witch-hunting government officials of apply ing racial double-standards, and demand that government law enforcement agencies prose cute all lawbreakers the same, is fair and just. However that is not the same as condoning criminal behavior because those ' prosecuted are black and the criminal justice system is per ceived as racist. This is a crucial distinction that African-Americans must make when their is overwhelm ing evidence of criminal wrong doing. Those that refuse to make that distinction will always be ripe for the pickings of men such as Lyons who as the state prosecutor aptly put it trade the good book for the bank book. Earl Ofari Hutchinsonvs the author of The Crisis in Black and Black. His email address is " ehutchi344@aol.com The Chronicle The Choice for African American News and Information Subscribe Today. Call: 722-8624 FREE'Internet Access for Life! Local Dial (Winston-Salem, 80% of US) One Time Set-up $99.95. Imagine, No monthly fees ever! Plus over 100 E-mail accounts. FREE Chat,'internet-www guides, more! Kit CD, Paulmark Communications, Liberty, NC 27298-0490. SALVAGE MART || ?a? WaNTTBIfi SAILIE LADIES DESIGNER FASHIONS o TV SHOPPING CLUB Clothes \ * Misses to Plus sizes ) * LADIEVMENS JACKETS & COATS / * General Merchandise * Ladies Handbags & Shoes lis OLD HOLLOW RD 1 mile North ofWalmart, University Pkwy at Hwy 66 377-3630 ? WED-SAT ? 10-6pm | WHOLESALE MS, Com* By Today and See 224 BERRIER AVENUE Our Greet Selectione. LEXINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA 27292 Jewerty Men's and Women's Clothing 336-248-2157 I Socks ^ Monday 11am til 7pm ami much mom - Tuesday 7am til lpm i????. ^ HMHHI| ^ A Window of Opportunity for - High School Seniors Living in Housing Units ' I [jjj Owned/Managed by the Housing Authority of Winston-8alem "There's A Scholar * In The House" FEATURES ? $1,000 awards fof four year colleges. ? Other scholarships for technical/community colleges. ? Awards are renewable. Applications Available: Guidance Counselors' Offices Managers' Offices WSFC High Schools Public Housing Units/W-S *? W-S Housing Authority 901 Cleveland Avenue Winston-Salem, NC 27101 . . ? For Further Information: RAScholarship Committee P.O. Box 12004 Winston-Salem, NC 27117-2004 V Telephone: (336) 727-8500 Ext. 156 J The Chronicle The Choice for African American Nens USPS 067*10 617 N. Liberty Street Winston-Salem, NC 27101 The Chronicle was established by Ernest Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974, and is published every Thursday by The Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. The Chronicle is a proud member of National Newspapers Publishers Association ? North Carolina Press Association ? North Carolina Black Publishers Association ? Inland Press Association National Advertising Representative: Amalgamated Publishers, Inc., 45 West 45th Street, New York. NY r0036 212 / 869-5220 Postmaster send address changes to: , THE CHRONICLE P.O. BOX 1636 Winston-Salem. NC 27102 ?. ???????MasauaMMB'-?imohmu ? Contact Us: ? phone number 336 / 722-8624 lax. 336 / 723-9173 website address www.netunlimited.net/~wschron email address wschron@netunlimited.net . Sports editor 733-9428 Sam Davis Circulation 722-8624 Vickie Warren Solos Staff 722-8628 Lexie Johnson Bruce Cross 8uslnoss Office Ericka Asri ry Paulette Lewis TmdutHon A. N. Wright Lonnie Attucks The Chronicle Home Delivery Subscription Order ? YES, Please send me The Chronicle ? 2 years: $40.95 ?r'( 95 ? 1 year: $30.72 1 vcar .15.72 ? 6 months: $20.48 * Name \ Address City State Zip ? VISA ? Mastercard ? American Express ? Check enclosed ? Please bill me Account Number Expiration Date Signature Send to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636. Winston-Salem. NC 27102 I ._ Mi
Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
March 4, 1999, edition 1
7
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75