NBA Quiz: Name the six players who averaged in double figures
scoring for the great 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers team that went
68-13. Answer below.
Don King
Well, King isn”t exactly a role model but his story is part of Black
History. Born on Aug. 20, 1931 in Cleveland, King was the 5th of
seven children. After his father, a steelworker, died in a
workplace explosion, King”s mother moved the family to the poor
community of Mount Pleasant. Young King sold home-roasted
peanuts and baked goods to help make ends meet at home.
During high school and for his sole year at Case Western Reserve
University, he ran an illegal lottery and by the late 50s had
amassed enough money to buy a nightclub.
In 1967, King went to jail for manslaughter, serving 4 years.
Released in 1971 he began his career as a boxing promoter. He
really made his name in ”74 when he promoted the “Rumble in the
Jungle” bout between Ali and George Foreman in Zaire. Since
that fight, his visage and wild “do” have been all over the boxing
world and there have also been all sorts of accusations concerning
his role in the corrupt sport.
So it has come to pass that among thousands of pages of wiretap
transcripts, affidavits and other materials compiled in a current
government probe into corruption in the International Boxing
Federation, no figure is more prominent than Don King. Or, as
they are called in court papers, “The Don King Payoffs.”
Many experts feel that the ultimate target of the federal probe is
King, and not the leadership of the IBF (whose HQ is near my
office in NJ). IBF President Robert W. Lee Sr., recently told the
Star-Ledger newspaper, “They want his hide, no question about
it.”
Lee and others in the IBF were indicted in December for turning
the boxing organization “into their personal racketeering
operation in which they forced promoters and managers to pay
for favored rankings for their fighters.” Among the more
prominent figures under investigation, aside from Lee and King, is
Bob Arum.
Tape-recorded conversations make it clear that Lee
“accommodated King”s demands at nearly every turn, resulting in
ratings and sanctioning decisions that were often dubious, and
sometimes absurd.”
And in return, “King paid for the favors,” according to papers
filed by the U.S. attorney.
The audio tapes portray a rating system where fighters were
bumped up and down at the whim of Lee alone. In one
conversation, Lee is quoted as asking an aide about an
unidentified fighter who apparently didn”t offer any cash
incentive: “Who”s got him?”
“Damned if I know,” the aide responds, “but why do we owe him
anything, he”s never done nothin” for us.”
“Alright,” Lee responds. “We”ll leave him out then.”
The government”s evidence includes dramatic videotapes of Lee
receiving payoffs from a close associate who kept bundles of cash
strapped to his leg or stuffed inside his sock. During one
meeting, Lee is with Doug Beavers, the longtime ratings chairman
of the IBF as well as a former committee chairman Donald
Brennan.
During the course of this meeting, according to FBI agent Steven
Susson, “Beavers takes money from under his pant leg in the area
of his sock and hands part of the money to Lee and part of the
money to Brennan.” Moments later Lee places his own envelope
on the table in front of Beavers, and when Beavers asks what it is,
Lee tells him it is “turkey” from “Fuzzy” – the code name used by
Lee to refer to King.
“It ain”t the turkey, it”s the dressing, brother,” Lee is quoted as
telling Beavers. And it was this stream of “turkey” that kept
King”s stable of fighters in good favor with the IBF.
At the same time, those who left King, and the special favors he
procured, found themselves out in the cold as their standings
slipped away. For example, Jose Badillo was rated third in the
featherweight division when he was promoted by King. After
leaving Fuzzy, Badillo was immediately dropped to 13th.
In another instance, boxer Lloyd Bryan kept his middleweight
ranking at 14 even though he had lost the only two fights he had
in the previous two years and had not won since late ”95. He was
another of “Fuzzy”s guys.”
As for the well-known Arum, he agreed to cooperate with federal
authorities. Arum had promoted George Foreman and sought a
ruling from the IBF to allow Foreman to battle an unranked
German, Axel Schultz, in 1995. In the court papers, Arum said
that exception “came at a price.”
Describing a meeting with Lee at the Mayfair Hotel in New York,
he said, “Lee told me that he wanted a payment of $200,000 for
the IBF to sanction the Foreman-Schultz bout.”
Although Arum admitted funneling $100,000 to Lee through an
intermediary, he said the IBF demands only escalated, with
another IBF official attempting to shake down Foreman himself
for another $250,000.
Will “Fuzzy” finally get taken down, for good? Stay tuned.
Oh yeah, in 1997 the NAACP honored King with its President”s
Award for his role as a “philanthropist and sports pioneer who
paved the way for minority athletes to make millions of dollars.”
Who cares if he broke some rules (and heads) along the way? It”s
the American way…
Meanwhile, I see a good “Sopranos” episode in the works out of
some of this testimony.
[Source: Robert Rudolph, Star-Ledger]
Dave Hoskins
The plight of the black athlete in America has been a difficult one.
The following is typical. While Jackie Robinson broke major
league baseball”s color barrier, Hoskins was the first black
player in the Class AA Texas League. On June 9, 1952 he was
scheduled to start for the Dallas Eagles against Shreveport, but that
morning he received three letters, one at a time, all in the same
handwriting. The first said he would be shot if he sat in the
dugout. The second said he would be shot if he went on the field.
And the third said he would be shot if he took the mound.
But Hoskins biggest fear was that if he revealed the threat, he
would not be allowed to pitch. So he said nothing, simply went
out and whipped Shreveport 3-2. Hoskins ended up being the
savior of the Texas League. In cities like Beaumont, San Antonio
and Fort Worth, attendance averaged 6,000 for games in which
he pitched (as opposed to a league average of 2,000). Black
baseball fans from all around came to see him. He went 22-10
that season with a 2.12 ERA.
Hoskins was used to the abuse he often faced. He had been the
first black player in the Central League where he played in 1948.
As he describes it, that season he faced racial slurs hurled behind
his back and fastballs aimed at his head. “The Muskegon club
gave me a particularly rough time,” he said. “There was one
pitcher who seemed to take delight in working me over. The first
time he pitched to me, he knocked me down. But I got up and
knocked a home run off him. The next time I came up, he threw
at me until he finally hit me in the back.”
In 1949, Hoskins” friend Sachel Paige, then with the Cleveland
Indians, brought Hoskins to Cleveland for a tryout. Indians
general manager Hank Greenberg signed Hoskins to a minor
league contract. Hoskins had been a terrific hitter and that was
his first position in baseball. But a beanball that nearly ended his
life changed his career. After spending three days hospitalized in
critical condition, Hoskins decided to become a pitcher. “I was
getting tired of having pitchers throw at me,” he said. “I made up
my mind I would start throwing at other guys.” And so it was
that in 1952 Dallas Eagles owner Dick Burnett announced that he
was on the lookout for a black player to add to his roster for the
coming season.
By the end of that 1952 season, Hank Greenberg had seen enough
to bring Hoskins to the big league club where in ”53 he went 9-3.
But in 1954, the Indians were stacked with pitching and the team
won 111 games. Hoskins only saw action in 14. In 1955, he was
cut.
[Source: “Crossing the Line” Larry Moffi & Jonathan Kronstadt]
The Kansas City Coke Fiends
Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Ray Lewis will get his in the next
edition of Week in Review. Today, let”s talk about the Kansas
City Chiefs Tamarick Vanover and Bam Morris, though Morris
unexpectedly retired less than two weeks ago. Published reports
have both players linked to a federal drug investigation that
affidavits say extends to Mexico and includes “numerous states.”
As of Thursday, neither had been charged but Morris certainly has
experience with drugs. He was twice suspended by the NFL for
substance abuse while with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Vanover and Morris were named in an affidavit in connection
with a case involving an individual Greg Burns, Vanover”s
“personal assistant.” Burns was charged last week with
conspiracy to distribute marijuana and is said to be “a significant
cocaine and marijuana supplier in the K.C. metropolitan area.”
Vanover”s house had been under surveillance since April.
New Jersey Dirtballs
In Roselle Park, NJ (near where I live), there is a memorial /
monument to the late State Trooper Phillip Lamonaco and Port
Authority Police Officer William Perry, both of whom were
Roselle Park residents. Back on December 21, 1981 Lamonaco
was shot 9 times by two self-described revolutionaries wanted on
bank robbery charges after he stopped their speeding car on
Route 80. Officer Perry was gunned down in 1980 by a PATH
rail line passenger who went into a rage after being directed to
extinguish a cigarette.
So about two weeks ago the memorial (a granite structure with a
sloping facade) was damaged by 4 youths, in-line skating, who
were using it for a platform for stunts. Said Roselle Park Mayor
Joseph DeIorio, “This is an atrocity that will not be tolerated in
this borough.” The youths were old enough to understand they
were trampling on plaques. And this whole episode ticks me off
so much that it forces me to say something perhaps not very
politic. Sometimes I think we need a good little war to shake our
spoiled young people up a bit. The level of lack of respect that
some of them have is amazing.
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/1/69: #1 “Crimson And Clover”
(Tommy James and the Shondells) #2 “Everyday People” (Sly &
The Family Stone) #3 “Worst That Could Happen” (Brooklyn
Bridge).
Quiz Answer: 1966-67 Sixers – Wilt (24.1 ppg), Hal Greer
(22.1), Chet Walker (19.3), Billy Cunningham (18.6.perhaps the
best season ever by a “Sixth Man”), Wali Jones (13.2), Lucious
Jackson (12.0).
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
