News Argus, November 1999
Sports
Fans mourn passing of NBA legend
Rasheed
Oluwa
Sports Editor
Sports with the Rash
The sports world received a great loss this
month when NBA great Wilt Chamberlain died
at the age of 63. Not only did he have a great
basketball career, but he per
formed at a level that will forev
er place in the company of
some the world's biggest sports
legends.
Even though many of today's NBA fans have
never seen Chamberlain’s accomplishments,
they tiave undoubtedly heard of them.
Who hasn’t heard about the time that
Chamberlain scored 100 points by himself
against the New York Knicks in 1962? "1 spent
12 years in his armpits, and I always carried
that 100 point game on my shoulders," Darral
Imhoff told the Associated Press in an interview.
That same year he scored 50 points game. He
also led the league in assists in 1968 as a center.
Even now in some old barbershop, you can hear
an old timers talk about Chamberlain taking
running starts and dunking his free throws back
in his college days with the Kansas 'Jayhawks.'
Putting Chamberlain's accomplishments in
the same regards as many of the NBA others
legends fails to put Chamberlain career in its
proper context. Chamberlain's accomplishments
are out of this world and should be placed on
the same plateau as Babe Ruth. Maybe even
Paul Bunyan.
Chamberlain will probably never hold the
same level of public esteem as Michael Jordan.
Many of his critics said that his accomplish
ments were mainly individual. Those same crit
ics also forget to mention that even though
Chamberlain won only two championships dur
ing his career, many times he played on teams
that didn't have nearly as much talent as Bill
Russell's great Boston Celtic's teams.
Many African-Americans may never accept
Chamberlain because he didn't take on the
hardline civil rights stands that Bill Russell,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jim Brown and other ath
letes took. He even admitted that he supported
Richard Nixonat one time. "I know some of my
brothers in the ghetto won’t appreciate me say
ing this but I think America has handled the
racial situation as well we’ve had," he once said.
Even now, there is a large segment of the pop
ulation that refuses to let Chamberlain live
down his claims that he had sex with over
20,000 women. Many of Chamberlain's friends
say those claims were an exaggeration and
nothing more than a publicity stunt designed to
improve book sales for his autobiography.
Despite Chamberlain’s inability (or refusal in
some cases) to keep a clean image for main
stream America, many of Chamberlains friends
knew him as generous person who gave to
many charities and non-profit organizations.
Said A1 Attles, vice-president for the Golden
State Warriors and a former teammate and
friend Chamberlain’s, in a Sports Illustrated
interview; "I don’t think Wilt would ever admit
this, but he would try to do things just to get
acceptance from other people....So few people
took the time to try and appreciate Wilt. Most
everybody just assumed that a great player
couldn't possibly be a great person."
There is no doubt that Chamberlain was a
complex individual. Many of the world's great
athletes are. But now that he is gone, the sports
world, and the world in general, has a void
that may never be filled
Homecoming Madness
With the WSSU Rams football team in a dog
fight with Virginia State for the CIAA confer
ence crown, the Rams’ homecoming game
against Johnson C. Smith figures to be a very
exciting time for everybody involved with the
Rams football team.
But according to Rams' football head coach
Kermit Blount, homecoming should be the last
thing on the minds of his football team.
"Homecoming is just another game for us," said
Blount. "I don't think I've enjoyed a homecom
ing since I've been head coach."
With the Rams in the hunt for the CIAA
championship, Blount expects his players to be
in the same mode of thinking. Although the
team will continue with it’s usually round of
curfew checks, he doesn’t expect the any viola
tions with the season on the line.
"If your going to play football you've got to
realize that homecoming isn't key for you," he
said. "We the team having to deal with study
hall and practice, there’s not a lot time left for us
to focus on anything else."
Other Rantings..
A recent report from the New York Times
revealed that six players out of 120 in the NBA
failed their drug testing from the NBA in the
first week of October. The NBA is worried
because the leaked informahon compromises
the leagues drug testing policy. Players can test
positive for marijuana testing two times before
they're teams are notified.
The NBA's take on the policy is that this will
encourage players to seek help for their prob
lem. But c'mon. If those six NBA players man
aged dumb enough to get caught the first time
around, is there enough help in the world for
those guys.
What? Did the players decide to throw it is
annual High Times weed protest and cancel at
the last minute without informing those lone six
players? Or is the typical NBA head coach so
laughable that the only way to take him serious
ly is to get real high before practice? If Don
Nelson coached you instructions, you'd proba
bly need a little help to.
It all makes you wonder, doesn't it.
Rams & Lady Rams
Basketball Schedules
through December
"Meet the Rams" Nov. 7
Winston-Salem, NC TBA
2nd Annual Lady Rams Nov.
19-20 Winston-Salem, NC TBA
Invitational.
West Chester(M) Nov. 19-20
West Chester, PA TBA Classic
Virginia Union Nov. 23
Richmond, VA 5:30 & 7:30 p.m
Bowie State Nov. 27
Bowie, MD 2:00 & 4:00 p.m
Lenior Rhyne(W) Dec. 1
Winston-Salem, NC 5:30 p rn. (W)
Augusta College (M) Dec. 1
Winston-Salem, NC 7:30 p.m.
Mars Hill Dec. 3-4 Mars
Hill, NC TBA Tournament(W)
Paine College (W) Dec. 7
Augusta, GA 5:30 p.m.
West Virginia Dec. 9
Winston-Salem, NC 7:00 p.m.
Wesleyan Univ. (M)
Augusta State(M) Dec. 11
Augusta, GA 7:30 p.m.
University
Elizabeth City State Dec. 18
Winston-Salem, NC 3:00 & 5:00
p.m. University
University of South Carolina
Aiken (W) Dec 30 Aiken, SC
3 games remain in the
1999 football season
OCT 30 JOHNSON C. SMITH UNIVERSITY
BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM "58TH ANNUAL HOMECOMING"
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. 2PM
NOV. 6 ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIVERSITY
BOWMAN GRAY STADIUM "SENIOR NIGHT /RAM FAMILY DAY"
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. 4PM
NOV13 GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY QUALCOMM
STADIUM "GOLD COAST CLASSIC" SAN DIEGO, Calif. 3PM (PST)
Welcome back, alumni, have a great homecoming