European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 6, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Monday. April 6. 1967 the stars and stripes pal je21 sports Las vegas awaits the fight Las vegas nov a sugar Ray Leonard and marvelous Marvin Hagler won t be the Only ones gating Rich on tonight s nig fight. Promoter Bob arum stands to make millions Caesars Palace should Lake in n bundle from Gambl ers and resorts up and Down the strip arc hoping to Cash in on in. The fight is such a big even Caesars which is hosting the bout must Send some of its invited High rollers to other hotels to watch the action on closed circuit television. We be got 60,000 customers end we can put 2,500 in the Light said Bill donor vice president of marketing for Caesars. The hardest thing for us is trying to appease everybody that wants to get in to Sec inc Caesars which bought site rights from arum for $7 million sold out All of its tickets within 16 Days last november. With ringside scats Selling for 1700 and average ticket prices of 1513, the hotel will take Between marvelous Mirin Huler and super Ray Leonard "111 be carries lire on German ? to first per a Beri irelnd it 4 45 a.m.1 tuesday morning Icci did to nil Vrnak offi in a live Gate of nearly s7.9 million for the 15,366 seat outdoor Arena. The hotel also sold out 6,100 seats at Iso each in its convention area and with arum arranged for 31,000 closed circuit seats Al various Las vegas hotels with prices ranging from 130 and up. And they expect 100,000 people in town for the fight Here s Only 15,000 seals in the Arena itself arum said. We had to put up enough closed circuit locations so these people could Sec the Doner said Caesars distributed 3,500 fight tickets to other Las vegas hotels for their own big spenders then gave 2,500 tickets to arum and the two fighters and their encourages. After Selling aside another2,000 for Caesars customers there were fewer than 8,000 tickets available for Sale. There s no bad seals in the stadium bul we can t get All the people we want in there donor said. You Tell a customer he can t gel a room in the hold and when he gets done yell ing Ami screaming you say 1 have More Bod news no ticket. And Rlicon the other hotels complain we Haven t Given them enough the attraction for Caesars and other resort hotels of course is that the fight attracts High rollers gamblers who might bet $50.000 a hand for most of the evening Al the Baccarat or Blackjack tables. There were reports of a $25 million Casino handle sea fight on Page 24 the sudden foil of a baseball phenomenon by Joseph duh so St. Petersburg a. Not inthe garage on East Elm Street in inc Hill Borough Section of Tampa fla., the red porsche and Silver Mercedes stand As the symbols or Success. In the modest one Story House the agonized looks the 13 month old baby and the missing father stand As the symbols of failure. This is the Home of Dwight Goodwn the pitching Whiz of the acts hottest Commer Cial Star in baseball a $1.5 million a Yearman at the of 22. Also a patient in a drug Center in new York at the of 22. The kind of flaming fallen Star mourned in a Shropshire lad by . Hausman and Early though the Laurel grows it with ers quicker than the or As his Boss Frank Cashen of the acts put ii the sudden Fame and for tune he achieved is Nice. But we son of robbed him of his his close Friend and teammate Darryl Strawberry says Success is great. But then everything hits the and from his High school coach an Mentor Billy Reed too much Loo soon. Maybe his career came too soon maybe the Silver Mercedes and the million dollars came too soon the 24 and-4 season inc 268 strikeouts the by Young award the 1350,000 in commercials the fantasy world of doctor k. Nobody knows what happened or exactly when. But Ever since he tested Posi Tive for cocaine last week people have been blaming racial tensions in Tampa Urban tensions in new York peer pres sure family pressure Fiancee pressure too much Money and too much hanging out with he neighbourhood kids. He changed Reed said. We tried to retire his Jersey twice and he never showed up. Lie was supposed to throwout the first Ball in the Little league where he grew up and he did t show up. He went to a different Little league Field and threw out the first Ball there. That was three weeks ago. He s really not a Leader. And his boy Hood friends ran be Tike leeches. They May think you re big headed. But when you re on a different level you can t associate with the same kids of your childhood. In the Winter a year ago he d come Over to school and work out regularly about Cthery Day. He d run and say see you tomorrow coach Bui this Winter he did t Rome out five times All Winter. I Haven t seen him since two weeks before Spring training. Maybe his troubles did whatever did in Dwight Goodwn has rocketed from National acclaim Lona dwt Ghl Gooden an his Way 10 a new York drug treatment Center last week. Appt Kho Tiona wonder. He has made a Prophet of Bob Gibson the pitching master of an other generation who said he May never be As Good As he was in 1985. And he has made a visionary of Bob Fel Ler the strikeout Star of an even earlier generation who said give him a Chance to mess up his life and then see How Good he now having messed up his life in Stead of opening the baseball season tuesday in the spotlight of inc Mound in Shea stadium he will be watching the mels on to from his room in the Smith cars clinic on Manhattan s East Side. And. As the mets receive their world so Ries rings and begin to defend their championship without him people will he trying to explain the spectacular Rise and Sham ring fall of Dpi Gnu Gooden. Fine thing seems clearer Dwight Eugene Gooden had the yearnings of a child the pressures of an adult and the. Money of a tycoon and the mixture backfired. He old me he s going to drop it cold said his agent Jim Neadis he s going 10 drop everything even Beer. His Mother told him you Don t need to have that to have his problems arc not Peculiar to youth Cashen said. They permeate All Levels of life Wall Street main Street the ghetto. And icy insidious prob nobody argues with that. But when people Start searching for reasons they also Start sniping. And some heavy snip ing broke out last week Between two of Goodwn s closest allies Strawberry an Reed. They both believe that Goodwn has been trapped by his boyhood friends in the life of his old Tampa neighbor Hood where he is a very big fish in a very Small Pond. They agree that he has been lied to inc House on Bast Elm and to the family living in it his Mother Ella and his father. Dun Gooden who retired front work Yean ago with a damaged hip his sister Betty Jones and his son Dwight jr., who was bom in March list Al Iii Iii acknowledged in november. They even agree that he needs to break jul. And while those closest to him be Lieve that the problem comes from his Home and his Hometown perhaps Only Goodwn May know for sure. In sports said Dave Johnson the mets manager we should outgrow our friends. We re deemed big headed if we discard our old friends forgetting where we came i know him Best Strawberry 1984, when he came up to the big leagues i looked at him and saw myself i had been through rough times the Yea before As a Rookie and i thought maybe i can help him. Dwight is a very Young Man. Bul there comes a time in your life when you have to make changes. People pick a you All the time. Before you know in your life starts logo downhill. You go Back to your Hometown Al the time you re a Success people hang around you it s a lifestyle that limits you. What lifestyle Tampa Florida. I wish he d get the hell out of Tampa. To seems in s one mess after another. It the people he runs with. They re Proba Bly the people he grew up with. They Renot his Tea males. I told him not to slay with his old crowd in in his office at Hillsborough High the baseball coach bristled when he heard this and said i Don t know who he s talking about. Every Lime i see Dwight i see Strawberry. But i think he needs to Deal Wilh Oiher people Reed said. They hang around him. At this stage they be got 10 Lum him Loose. Travel Man. Go some where. Dwight s got the Money. He s Only 22, now s the time to get out and make new friends. They May think you re big headed. Bul when you re on a different level Youcan t associate Wilh the same kids of your childhood. You be got to grow. He disappointed me twice Keck said referring to the missed Dales. But i m going to hang Wilh him. I m 100 per cent behind him. I was As shocked As anybody else. But people criticize him. They re mad Al him. In High school he was very1 disciplined. If d had 25 of them i d have no problems. He was like a Little old 1 thought he was loafing and i d Puli him he want he was just Low key thai s what i m trying to find out now How Strong he is. Hell do line in Hal place for 30 Days. Bui what s going to happen when he comes Oul and visits los Angeles Chicago St. Louis and All those paces ,1 that what i m worried about. Can he he mlle Ihal since he hit the big leagues with a Roar see fall on Page 26
