European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 02, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                To opera and Ballet he courted people uninterested in is game. Robertson had prepared himself Lor a future after Aske Ball White still in school to look business courses at the University of Cincinnati and. In a More Subtle but perhaps just As significant Way while he was in slaying w f playing Point guard he says Means evaluating people 3 treasuring strengths and weaknesses it also Means eing at the Center of the action controlling the Ball Asil. Pioves around the court making Colliers play As Well As lie can v in order to be a  to says you have to live that in Spring 1979. Lonborg. Once a Young Star Pitcher Wilh he Boston Rod sox but by then an aging Pitcher with the j Philadelphia Phillies watched ail the new Young pitchers n training Camp and sensed Hal the end of his career As near. He was 35 and. He recalls finding his body recovering Iver More slowly irom injuries he had a Good Spring and  of those Young a pitchers were injured much to his Surprise he made thebus his season lasted Only Unm june. When he was Cleaod his search for a new life lasted Only until the end a the summer when he was Back in school studying Loio a dentist it was very Tough in the beginning like Spring 5 dining he says. But then everything starts to 4 Spond just like your body does in Spring  the decision to enrol in dental school came during a Calion Lonborg now 47, took with his family just alter is release he had Boon a premedical student Al Iila lord where he had earned his Bachelor s degree to had spent his Oil seasons working Al rehabilitation to spills but Wilh a Wile and live children the Rigours and Long oars of medical school he Sayo would have been out 3 Tho question. We were trying Solook Down Iho Road five 10 ears he says. A lot of people make the mistake of Moking a year Al a  Lonborg enjoyed being Back in school enjoyed earning he did not Long to be thought of As a baseball Slayer he had always though in Odd a says Hal Cople looked at him As an athletes lot of players never gel Over being ballplayers in says. It s like an addiction. Ency Don t gel rid of it. It when they re out of it. They can i replace it you Lave logo Back and beat Iho Bushes  Chicago bears Alan Page pictured during his career with the Chicago bears has t been forgotten by the Tana Page Cincinnati rods i etcher Don Gullett cherishes his memories. Can t escape celebrity by Jim Litke associated Pressi n a sweltering Brick Gymn pm in a dead end Street kids begging Lor an autograph push paper at Loo Ball great Alan Page. He pushes it right Back challenging them to write their own ticket. Or Page one student approaches screwing up his courage sign the Backol my shirt.  Pago smiles mischievously above a red Bow tie and prematurely while Beard considers the Oiler briefly Hen declines your Mother he says bending a 6 Fooi-4 Frame Al Tho Waist to meet his questioner s eyes would kill  Tho Minnesota assistant attorney general has come to Chicago s hardscrabble South Side this late summer morning to Trade on his celebrity with the fourth Grade class at Enrico Fermi elementary school. Page will explain Hal it was his willingness to Jacklo what was difficult Lor him getting an education and not what came easy athletics that has secured his own future wove a Strango country thai Way Pago says Asho watched the students Lite out. To love our athletes and we listen to them. Football gave me a visibility Hal most people Only dream about and an  i could t pass  celebrity is irresistible to kids the same group Hal can least discern its Worth. For the objects of that desire trading on celebrity can be fun and Proli Lable or in can to Lime consuming and dignified but rarely is it both. And rarely is it As easy to prove Asil was Wilh just one Telephone Call to the new Jose Canseco hotline. While Page was crisscrossing Chicago the first of several planned forays to inner City schools to promote an essay writing contest being underwritten by Kodak Iho meter on Canseco s Bank account was Licking away $2 for the Fust minute $1 Lor each additional minute. Canseco the ads scream on Cable networks esp mtg and Usa will give you the latest scoop on baseball and whal s happening in my personal tile. If you want to know if i take steroids How last i drive or Why i was carrying thai gun Call me at 1-900-234-jose." Page whose Success in Minnesota and later Chicago was often As much a Triumph of intellect As physical attributes simply shakes his head Al Tho mention of the ads it s Tough being an athlete in ways Hal Many people can to or Don t want to understand just because you have Tho Lino motor skills to hit a baseball run with a Loo Ball or throw a Ball in a Basket Doorn l guarantee you la be a person with Iho right values and Iho right  to says. To expect athletes to behave belter than anybody e to in the Community strikes me As unfair. On the other hand i m not sure it s a responsibility you can escape. I arrived Al notre Dame As a freshman and did t want to do anything beyond playing Loo Ball. Soon one Story was written and Ihen another and another and i remember saying Al one Point. I Don t need it. I Don i want in i won t have anything to do with in it did t make a difference. And the sooner i Learned i could t hide from it Pago adds. Iho More important in became to make something Good out of  his speech during induction to the Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio last year was typical a Challenge to kids to merge their love for playing games Wilh a commitment to Excel in Iho Fields that stretch beyond them it was that address Hal caught the Eye of Eastman Kodak co. Ceo Kay Whitmore and so was born the Kodak Alan Pago Challenge offering nearly 500,000 students a Chance to win a Lour Day trip to the 1990 pro bowl accompanied by parents teacher and a Friend Tho prize was Nice but most of the kids this Day had eyes Only Lor Pago. I be thought Long and hard about what it is Hal makes athletes the objects of such worship and frankly i be never come up with an entirely satisfying answer Page says. I suppose there s a certain desire to project ourselves into certain moments when an athlete performs a task unusually Well. To experience vicariously excellence at something most of us Fumble  alter his presentation was finished a girl brought up a poster thai showed Pago Wilh his own third Grade class at Market elementary school in Canton. She pointed to Tho smiting boy towering above his mates at the end of the third Row and asked is that you or. Page when Page nodded she smiled winked Al a Friend and simply sighed. The kids love his past but Alan Page wants Only to locus them on their future. \ober2,1989 the stars and stripes Page 15