10B
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Baseball should be colorblind
Thursday, August 22, 1996
Continued from page 8B
three managers of African
descent; Cito Gaston, Felipe
Alou and Don Baylor.
Basebadl has a serious market
ing problem and each year it
becomes more evident that
young people, including college
students, of all ethnicities are
identifying more with basket
ball and football stars. Cal
Ripken, Mark McGwire, Roger
Clemens, Mike Piazza,
Chipper Jones and Greg
Maddux are great ballplayers,
and I eiyoy watching them
perform, however, they pale
next to some of the black
ballplayers who are actually
canying the game today.
What makes us think that
baseball has a marketing prob
lem? According to Bud Selig,
the acting commissioner of
nuyor league baseball, atten
dance remains lower than
expected at this point. Even
before the cancellation of the
World Series two years ago,
MLB was taking a “big hit” -
pardon the pun. Baseball
seems to be afraid of appear
ing too black. As a matter of
fact, even to this day, there are
some white sports writers who
say Mantle over Mays and
Ruth over Aaron. As a youth,
if I had to choose between the
greatest athletes of the day,
Willie Mays, Roberto
Clemente, Jim Brown, Gale
Sayers, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill
Russell, Cassius Clay
(Muhammad Ali) and Sonny
Liston, etc., I would usually
opt out by picking the sport
that was in season. And to a
great degree, young people
still do this, but naming
today’s baseball stars would
likely be low on the list. This
despite ballplayers like Frank
Thomas, Ken Griffey, Jr.,
Roberto Alomar, Albert Belle,
Cecil Felder, Barry Bonds,
Tony Gwynn, who would be
superstars in any era.
Baseball has a serious market
ing problem. And it will contin
ue to suffer until it properly
showcases its black ballplay
ers. One final point; even
when baseball gets its act
together, I am afraid that this
will not necessarily tremslate
into a stronger black commu
nity unless we continue to
challenge these individuals
(and MLB) to be positive role
models and more.
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Jones hopes to bring stability to Smith
Continued from page 8B
some good competition at the
quarterback position,” he said.
“I think I just did the little
intangible things that helped
me get to the point where I am
now as the starter. I just want
to maintain that throughout
the season so I can maintain
that position.”
After alternating Young and
Calloway last year, McNeill’s
decision to go with Young will
bring stability to the backfield,
says receiver Reggie
Lawrence.
With one quarterback, the
offense can rally behind a
leader instead of a tandem.
“That’s going to help us a
lot,” Lawrence said. “LasJ
year, we alternated quarter
backs, and it messed our
rhjrthm up a lot because you
get used to one style of quar
terback then here comes
another one. With one guy des
ignated as the starter, we can
get used to each other and
make the right reads and
make everything work
smooth.”
Since the end of last season,
Young dedicated himself to
becoming a better player. He
trained harder with weights
I and spent more time breaking
down film, which helped him
learn how to read defenses.
“I got a little stronger. I hit
the weights, I accomplished
I my goals,” he said. “I worked
real hard with coach Aycock
and some of my offensive line
men.
That helped me develop my
other goals, which was to get
Smarter on the field.”
Smith quarterbacks have the
advantage of having a position
coach this year.
Richard Basil, who played for
McNeill at Savannah State,
has helped speed Young’s
learning process. Although he
had a year under McNeill’s
system at
TSU, Young doesn’t think he
has an advantage over the
other quarterbacks.
“I won’t say I have a leg up,
per se,” he said. “I’m still
learning things because coach
McNeill puts little wrinkles in
it. I wouldn’t say I have a leg
up, but I have more knowledge
of what he wants in the
offense.”
Young, an accomplished run
ner last year, has worked on
his passing to make himself
more versatile. His arm
strength has improved, and
it’s evident in preseason drills.
“He’s improved more in his
throwing than anything,”
Lawrence said. “Last year, he
made a lot of good reads, but
his arm wasn’t as strong at
"Trell’s.
This year, he worked on that.
He came in and he’s getting
the ball right where we want
it.”
Smith isn’t expected to make
waves in the CIAAthis season,
but Young thinks the Bulls will
be competitive. After 14 years
Is Biakabatuka ready?
Continued from page 8B
“I know my plays, but it’s up
to the coaches to judge,” he
said. “My job isjust to get
ready and work hard. When
they think I’m ready, the)rll
put meout there, but I’ve just
got to stay focused to what I’ve
got to do, and everything else
will take care of itself.”
Capers wouldn’t commit to
handing the starting job to
Biakabutuka for Friday or the
season-opener. 'The Panthers
have a two-week roster exemp
tion because Biakabutuka
signed late, which allows
coaches to monitor his
progress.
“We’ll just see how he fares.
We’ll see how he looks on tape
in practice, then we’ll evaluate
and give him a little bit more,”
Capers said. “He’s not going to
have a whole lot of free time
over the next few weeks.”
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of losing, there’s only one way
to go.
“I think we’re the sleeper
team in the CIAA. Nobody’s
looking for us to win, so there’s
no pressure on us. So we just
go out and work hard and give
that dedication, we’ll win some
ball games.”
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