4B
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, November 13, 199X,
Legendary editor helped integrate major leagues
Charlotte’s high-scoring machine looks
to improve on career-best campaign
Continued from page 1B
York World Telegram, argued
that number should be enough to
have him accepted although he
did not write for a daily publica
tion.
He remained a member until
1960 when his membership was
transferred to the association’s
Baltimore chapter. The chapter
dropped him because the Afro-
American was not a daily.
His primary sponsors were
Larry Whiteside of the Boston
Globe and Dave Anderson of the
New York Times.
As a young man, Cary’s dreams
were of making his mark as a
baseball player.. He pitched and
played other positions, starting in
his Washington, D.C., high
schools. Later he got to play
against some of the Negro
Leaguers as a semi-pro with the
Washington Hilldales and
Washington Black Sox.
Despite his important role in
the integration of Major League
Baseball, Lacy never was con
vinced he’d make the Hall
because his writing career was so
diverse in the sports areas he cov
ered, but in his modest manner,
after learning of his selection, an
obviously elated Lacy allowed,
“I’ll take it.”
In addition to his reporting,
Lacy was widely known and
respected for his column, which
evolved from “Looking Them
Over,” to “A to Z” and more recent
ly to “Sam Lacy.” His career has
included sports broadcasting,
radio stints and several years
with WBAL-TV
Lacy initially interviewed a
baseball team owner, Clark
Griffith of the Washington fran
chise, about integrating in 1937.
He was then with his first paper,
the Washington ’Tribune.
By 1943, while with the Chicago
Defender but not writing sports,
his persistence won an invitation
to speak to the team owners meet
ing in Cleveland. He didn’t get to
speak because others, including
Paul Robeson, thought to have
more influence, were chosen to
attend the meeting.
Lacy returned to the Aim in
January 1944. In April 1945, Lacy
took his case to the owners in
their meeting in Detroit. They
agreed to appoint a committee on
baseball integration. Members
included Lacy, Branch Ricky of
the Brooklyn Dodgers and Lany
MacPhail of the New York
Yankees.
Lacy and Rickey met twice in
the Dodgers’ New York offices.
MacPhail never showed. One of
the players Lacy and Rickey
talked about was Jackie Robinson
who had been brought to Rickey’s
attention by Wendell Smith and
others.
After Rickey stunned the nation
by signing Robinson to the
Montreal Royals in 1945, Lacy
spent several years covering
Robinson and the other early
black baseball players. He helped
paved the way, egging teams to
hire black players, fighting for
equal treatment on the field, in
salaries and in areas such as
pushing the teams to stop sepa
rating their players when they
housed them.
One of the most repeated stories
about Lacy’s determination dealt
with his taking a chair and going
up to the roof of a press box in'
New Orleans when he was denied
access inside. Several white
reporters joined him on the roof.
Although best known for his
work in baseball, Lacy’s work
throughout his career has been
exemplified by his crusades
against racial discrimination in
all sports.
Queens men, women look solid
By Karl Petraroja
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Although just 10 years old.
Queens College basketball is
all grown up.
The men’s team coached by
Dale Layer was picked to finish
first in the CVAC by the
league’s coaches. It’s the first
time the Royals have been
picked a preseason favorite in
the three-year history of the
CVAC. The Royals also saw 6-7
junior forward Adrien
Pritchard named to the all-con
ference team.
The women’s team led by
Jeannie King was picked
fourth, while placing 6-1 senior
center Stacy Buchannon to the
all-conference team.
The men are coming off back-
to-back outstanding seasons.
’Two years ago they won the
conference chamionship, fin
ished 25-6 and advanced to the
NCAA Divsion II Sweet 16.
Last year, the Royals were con
ference runners-up and posted
a 22-7 mark. The combined
record the last two years of 47-
13, gives the Royals a .783 win
ning percentage, making them
the second most successful bas
ketball team in the state. Only
Wake Forest, at .794 ranks
higher.
“We’ll find out I guess, if big
ger is better,” Layer said.
“We’re the biggest we’ve ever
been.
“I think we’re deeper and as
talented as we’ve ever been, I
just hope they’ll fit together,
play hard and listen to me occa
sionally.”
The talent is most pro
nounced on the front line, with
6-10 senior center, Soce Faye
from Dakar, Senegal. He was
the Royals third leading scorer
and second-best rebounder last
year.
The talent continues with the
all-conference forward
Pritchard, whose transfer at
mid-season made Queens bet
ter. Layer calls him an explo
sive scorer who works very
hard.
“I’ve taught him to jump in
the past year so you’ll see the
difference immediately,” Layer
laughed.
The Royals complete the tow
ering front-line, with 6-6 sopho
more forward Tavaron
Ra)mion,
Tthe Royals backcourt will
take on a new look. ’Two candi
dates, transfer Glen Harris and
freshman Michael Lush are
vying at two-guard.
At the point, Mike King and
Mark Sutton are fighting it out.
Layer feels good entering the
season with either.
“Our depth is better than it’s
ever been,” he said. “I think
we’re going to be pretty decent
but at our level anything can
happen, one injury is enough to
knock a whole team off kilter.”
The Royals open Saturday at
use Aiken before battling
Johnson C. Smith on Tuesday
at Brayboy Gym, a place the
Royals have never won. The
first home game is not until
Dec. 2 against Belmont Abbey.
The Royals host their own tour
nament, the Marriott Classic,
Jan. 2-4 at Ovens.
The Lady Royals jump into
the fire this weekend, hosting
the Queens Tip-Off
Tournament.
Only Belmont Abbey and
Longwood, who tied for first,
and Barton College at number
three, rank ahead of the
Royals. That’s just fine with
King.
“That will put pressure on the
people in front of me and off
us,” she said.
“We’re very excited with
where the CVAC could be going,
it’s a very competitive league.”
King admits she’ll need some
body to step up and replace
starting point guard Nikki
’Turner, the school’s all-time
assist and steals leader but
she’s happy with the talent and
experience coming back from
last year’s club.
Holyfield takes care of business, wins
By Jim Litke
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
large.
LAS VEGAS — A grudge can
get heavy when even strong men
have to carry them three long
years.
That was the vexing thing about
the angry glares Evander
Holyfield and Michael Moorer
exchanged when they met in the
center of the ring for the second
time Saturday night.
At that moment, there was no
way to tell which found the bur
den more wearisome. But by the
end, there were no longer any
doubts. Holyfield took care of the
only unavenged defeat on his
record by knocking Moorer down
every time he got up — five times
in all - convincing referee Mitch
Halpem to waive an end to the
fight.
“He was able to get up each and
every time,” Holyfield said. “That
shows he came to win.”
Moorer had plenty of doubters
on this night, just as he had the
first time the two fought, in April,
1994. But even though this one
ended with Moorer on his stool
after the eighth round, he may
have showed more courage than
in the fight that he won.
“I beat him the first time, he
beat me the second time,” Moorer
said. “So let’s do it a third time.”
Holyfield was not so sure. When
the question of a next opponent
came up, the first name off his lips
was not Moorer, but Lennox
Lewis. That’s because Lewis holds
the WBC championship, the only
one of the three heavyweight
titles Holyfield does not now own.
Moorer may not like it, but just
as he did the first time they
fought, Holyfield calls the shots.
And that is because he is the one
with more to lose.
Where Moorer goes firom here
might be the more difficult ques
tion to answer. Afterward, two
purple welts had been
raised on the
right side of his
head.
“When you’re
in a battle you
don’t feel any
thing,” he said.
“But I feel it
now. My head
is poimding.”
In truth, the
rest of him
can’t feel much
Holyfield
better. For all the places the inter
vening three years have taken
Moorer, he won’t command more
money or respect now. Because
while his courage isn’t in doubt,
his skills are.
In the first fight, Moorer came
in a 2 1/2-1 underdog. Some of
that owed to his relative inexperi
ence at the time; Moorer was
making only his 13th appearance
as a heavyweight. More of it, no
doubt, had to do vrith the unin
spired performances that had pre
ceded him; all five of Moorer’s
decision wins had come since the
southpaw moved up in class. His
record as a heavyweight since
hasn’t been much more impres
sive.”
Holyfield, on the other hand,
seems stronger the further out he
extends his reach. He not only
won, he made good on a promise
to make Moorer regret breaking
into a premature celebration the
first time they fought.
In the days leading up to the
rematch, he talked about that and
about how low he sank soon after
that defeat.
“I did get angry in the last 10
seconds when he raised his
hands,” Holyfield recalled on the
eve of the rematch. “I looked at
my faults and the reasons I didn’t
give my all and I left sorry for
myself”
Hours later, he felt even worse.
Holyfield went to the hospital
after the 1994 fight, believing a
rotator cuff injury was the reason
for his listless performance. His
personal physician believed it was
something much more troubling -
a malfunctioning heart.
'The news sent Holyfield into a
tailspin. 'The man who had once
no doubts suddenly found them
everywhere he turned. Holyfield
thought seriously about retiring,
then thought better of it after
claiming he had been cured by a
faith healer. His boxing skills,
however, remained so uneven
that almost everyone around him
remained skeptical. When pro
moter Don King lined him up for
Tyson to knock down along the
comeback trail, the Nevada state
boxing regulators made Holyfield
submit to a battery of medical
tests.
The story of how Moorer got
from that fight to this one was
gloomier still, because it lacked
the redeeming chapter that
Holyfield’s back-to-hack wins over
Tyson provided. Days after beat
ing Holyfield, he talked about
retiring within a year and just
seven months later, George
Foreman made it seem like more
than idle speculation by knocking
Moorer out.
He won back a piece of the title
by defeating Axel Schulz and suc
cessfully defended it against Ut-
tle-known Vaughn Bean. But he
appeared so disinterested in both
fights, and Holyfield’s so rejuve
nated, the notion that his win
over Holyfield was a fluke became
accepted fact the moment the
rematch was made. TTie more it
was thrown up to him, the more
Moorer used it to motivate him in
the gym.
But it only got him so far.
Holyfield had plenty to prove
and more determination.
“Tm a better man than I was the
last time,” he said earlier.
Then he went out 2uid proved it.
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