European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 18, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday. November 18, the stars and stripes Cage 23 Osborne is quiet about of game b Tom Vint Lincoln neb. A Nebraska coach Tom of Bome says last year s War of words Between his com huskers and Oklahoma was not typical of his earn and in a Likely to occur again any time soon. Osborne said there won t be any verbal stoking or fires from Lincoln ibis year certainly nol like inc conversations that had inc soon cars seeing red even before they faced off with Nebraska a year ago. "1 Don l think a lot of conversation has been our style Over the years Osborne said. I never have quilt known How 10 handle thai. It just does t seem to be appropriate for a game like  a year ago comments by Nebraska s Broderick Thomas and Sieve Taylor apparently served As incentive for the no. 2-Rankcd sooner who came to Lin Coln to log a 17-7 Victory Over then no. I Nebraska. It was the third straight win by of Over he huskers. Saturday. No 7-Rankcd Nebraska 10-1, travels to Norman okla., to face an Oklahoma team that is no. 9 and 9-1. Both teams arc 6-0 in the big eight and have an Eye on the Orange bowl berth that goes to the conference Champion. The laser Likely will go to the Citrus bowl. I would like to put whatever happened last year in a Little bit of perspective in that some of the comments that the Oklahoma folks look very hard apparently were made three or four weeks before the game in response to questions and 1 think the i Ayers were trying to give their honest feelings Osborne said. They weren t trying to wave a red ing in Oklahoma s face or say anything derogatory toward Oklahoma some writers had asked them after inc Missouri game about their talents and their abilities. They prob ably would have been belter to pass it  passing it off is what Taylor and Thomas did this week 10 questioning about the sooner and last year s comments in which they claimed Nebraska was Superior to Oklahoma and Taylor deserved All conference honors ahead of of s two Lime Alt big eight Quarter Back Jam the Holiway. Taylor realizes his boasting last year inspired okla homa. "1 guess it did he said. "1 think Oklahoma used it As a motivating Factor and we Don t plan to do that this year. We said whale did last year by Caw that s what we Felt. We can t change that. We probably could have done thai differently. But that s the past and this is 19ss or whatever. We know what we have to do and that s not going to have a bearing on his  Thomas who has been the most outspoken of the huskers for the past two years has been relatively silent his year As a senior co Captain. I Don l want to gel caught up in the hype the 1987 second team All american outside linebacker said. I be Learned a few lessons in my rec years playing against Oklahoma and i m not going to let anything off the held contribute to a Victory for them. I m just going to Sil Back and be ready to do work on sat urday.". Taylor who was third team a american a year ago and Thomas said they might be Able to relate their thoughts after the game saturday but won t do it until then. I know How i feel and maybe we can say it after the game Taylor said. Ill Sec you after inc game Thomas said with a smile. Sieve Taylor s comment inspired sooner in 87. Commentary Ashe traces Progress of Block athletes in new Book by Arthurr Ashe or. The new Vork times Arthur Ash s Book a Haft Road to glory a history of the african american athlete published by Warner books was officially released this week. Winner of inc i96s . Open and 1975 Wimbledon championship he Retiree following a heart at tack in 1979. He was Hie Host Black inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in i9s5. This if the third Book for the former . Davis cup team Captain my new Book began almost As an afterthought to a seminar class i was asked to give on the historical and sociological role of the african american athlete. Though i had never seen in 1 assumed some esteemed Black historian sociologist or sports reporter had complied me in i ire Story of the Black athlete in one volume. A search found Only the negro in sport by Edwin a Henderson writ ten in 1938 and slightly updated in l94s. After three months of preliminary research three inhibiting factors emerged for anyone wishing to put it All together it would take More Money than any reasonable publisher s and Vance would cover Mack historians never deemed sports serious enough for their scarce time and these same Histo rians had underestimated the Sociol his logical Impact of the Black athlete in Black american life. But the truth is thai the psychic value of Success in sports was and is higher in the Black Community than among any Oiler american subculture. This High psychic Reward is not a contemporary phenomenon just after  War when sports clubs were formed and rules were written athletes became he most Well known and among the richest of Black americans. Isaac Murphy perhaps the greatest american jockey of inc 19th Century earned More than $25,000. A Black Arthur Ashe publishes his third Book newspaper the Baltimore afro Ameri can complained in an editorial in 1902 thai Joe Gam he Black world tight weight boxing Champion got More publicity than Booker t. Washington. It is no different today Mike Tyson is better known around inc world than Jesse Jackson. In spite of the obstacles i decided to proceed with the Book because i be came obsessed with to Many unanswered questions. How did Black America manage 10 create such a favourable environment for its athletes Why did so Many Blacks Excel so Early on with so Little training poor facilities and mediocre coaching Why did the civil rights organizations of the time complain so Lille about the discrimination against Black athletes and Why were while athletes so afraid of competing on an equal basis with Blacks i just had to have my own answers to these and other puzzling sols of facts. For 120 years White America has gone to extra Ordinary lengths to Dis credit and discourage Black participation in sports because Black athletes have been so accomplished. The sad dest Case is tha t of the Black jockey. When the first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875, 15 thoroughbreds were entered and 14 of their Enders were Black. Black domination of horse racing then was analogous to the domination of the National basketball association today. Subsequently inc jockey club was formed in the Early 1890s to regulate and License Alt jockeys. Then one by one the Blacks were denied their License renewals. By 1911 they had All but Dis appeared. This example appears in volume i which covers the years 1619-1918, ii is he Slimmest of the three volumes but took the most time Effort and Cross referencing of facts starting with official record books of. All the sports. I sought to find out who was Black where he there was no appreciable female involvement until world War i came from and where he Learned his skills. I encountered iwo major obstacles no american or world record was recognized unless it was under he auspices of a White College or the Amateur athletic Union simply put no records set at Black colleges or Black club events counted to National or International governing bodies and some Early Black newspapers published accounts thai were frequently if unintentionally just Plain wrong. In the 27 years Between the end of the iwo world wars the period Cov ered by volume tithe foundation for the quantum leaps made by Black Aih lets after 1950 was Laid. Again there were several cogent fac tors hat influenced both the Pace and Progress of the Black athlete. The one institution that provided minimum Competition and facilities was he Black College. A very positive Factor was inc forma Tion of the Black College conferences. But to while America these conferences were nearly no entities. They never got 10 set Alfred Jat Bird or Lincoln University in Pennsylvania or Ben Stevenson of Tuskegee Institute who is by consensus the greatest Black College football player before world War ii. They never saw Ora washing Ion of Philadelphia who May have Bun the Best female athlete Ever. Of course everyone knew and saw Jack Johnson Jesse Owens and Joe Louis. They were and still arc House hold names. There were other famous names who because of heir own naivete bitterness and ignorance suffered indignities that brought me and my staff to tears of sadness and tears of rage. In 1805, for example according to an account in the times of London Tom Molineaux a Black american from Richmond Vam actually won the English and world heavyweight Box ing title in the 27lh round against Tom Cobb but the paper quotes the English referee As saying to the prostrate Cribb get up Tom Don t Al the Nigger win. Cribb was Given four Eilora minutes to recover and eventually won. The most distressing Case was that of Reese Goose Tatum possibly the most adept handler of a basketball the world has Ever seen. He was known to nearly All of Black America and most Whites because be played for the har Lem Globetrotter. But when he died alone and broke the Only Eulogy he received was from a former teammate. Marques Kaynes. Mancs heard about to turn s death by Accident and drove several Hundred Miles with his wife Loiry to attend to turn s funeral. When he arrived Al the cemetery he was told that there had been no service and that the Hearse had just pulled up to the grave unloaded. The casket and driven away. Hayne bought a Bible for s1.95 and said the. Lord s prayer for his Friend