European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 10, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 22 c the stars and stripes sunday november 10,1991 commentary magic the one in a million spirit by John Eisenberg the Baltimore Sun you were standing there watching it on television thursday evening and someone said a i think i might cry Quot and you wondered yourself because you crossed paths with magic Johnson so Many times and there he was now on your screen refusing not to smile As he told the world about testing positive for the his virus. Then he was done and the to was off and you sat there dumbfounded with a million thoughts bracketing around your head and As strange As it sounds this was what you kept coming Back to at least now everyone was in on the secret you a known for so Long which was that he always shone More because of who he was not what he did. You would always say that when people asked about him and they did ask you because you were in the locker room with him so often but you always Felt they did no to really believe you when you said he was even More remarkable As a person than a player. You always Felt they would just say yeah yeah we see that big smile on to but not really believe you. Because this was one of the Best players in history after All. How could his Star Shine brighter off the court the thing was they  possibly see it. You needed a press pass to have the privilege of seeing magic off the court up close when the sheer Force of his buoyant spirit really separated him from All the rest. You were Lucky. You saw it so often in so Many circumstances in so Many stages of his life. You were there at the final four in March of 1979, when he was a Sophomore at Michigan state and everyone Learned his name. You were a senior at Penn and your schools team played his and he was playing this game no one had seen before As big As a Center and deft As a guard. His team scored 36 of the first 42 Points. Ouch. But then afterwards he was up on this podium in front of hundreds of reporters smiling that thou Sand Watter and telling stories and going on about what a blast this was and All these Grumpy pres Box ers sat there grinning a Little sheepishly at each other saying is this kid a kick or what you were there when he came into an Aba that lets be Blunt was considered a league for selfish Blacks on drugs. And Here came this heartbreakingly clean kid running above All that every aspect of it More interested in passing than scoring so exuberant about just playing. Making everyone feel Good just by talking. It was said magic and Larry Bird were the ones who brought the league out of its gloom and that a True but magic was the More important of the two by far for magic was the one who All but single hand edly destroyed so Many wretched myths about Black Aba players. Destroyed them by being what he is but More so who he is. You were there that night in Dallas in 1982 Wien the Mavericks and lakers played 48 rollicking minutes before a shrieking crowd and Dallas won in the last second and everyone roared but there was magic afterwards cutting through it All smiling and talking about wow that was fantastic and this league is getting pretty Damn Good you know you were there at the 1983 All Star game the Day that in your mind the a bad a Ascendancy really took off. Marvin Gaye Sang the Anthem a wild motown version and the crowd was screeching at the boldness and the players were Stone faced and afraid to move knowing it Wasny to Good politics to Rock with this crazy Anthem on to. But then there was magic looking Over and giving it that Grin his of the Only one unafraid to say in essence that there Wasny to a thing wrong with this burgeoning league of Black athletes showing its real character to the rest of the country. You were there on that Day during the 1984 finals against the celtics when head already Given an hour of interviews and you were the Only one left and you asked him about a play and he grabbed your notebook and pen and diagrammed it lines and arrows and All making sure you understood and then patting you on the Back. So Many moments so Many circumstances so Many stages of his life. To this Day you feel like you know him even if you done to which is his real magic. And so you sat there watching him thursday evening this kid you a watched grow into a Man before your very eyes and you did no to think about basketball. You thought about him. About his suddenly slim chances of living a Long life. About the awful moment when the doctor told him. About a you found out later a his wife being seven weeks pregnant and whether that kid is going to get to spend a lot of years with dad. The thing is you did no to have to be there to know he would be cheering up the people around him carrying on that he will be a tireless spokesman for his new cause. You hang around magic Long enough you know hell do All the right things. But then everyone knows that now. They saw him thursday smiling As he gave us the news talking about fighting it not flinching so upbeat and Graceful and dignified even though you knew he was devastated. That was a is a a the real magic Johnson the one in a million spirit. And As you sat there watching and wondering what kind of mad mad world you re bringing your kids into this was what you thought it  be such a mad world at All if Only there were More people like  tops Hanau for perfect Mark Hanau Germany a Frankfurt outlasted Hanau 19-12 Here saturday to preserve its perfect regular season status win the aaa championship and earn the Home Field advantage for a big schools semifinal berth against Stuttgart next saturday. The Victory gave Frankfurt a 6-0 aaa record and an 8-0 All games Mark. Hanau finished league play with a 4-2 record and the season at 6-2. A Hanau Victory would have created a three Way tie for the league championship. Hanau fumbled Midway through the second Quarter and Frankfurt recovered on the panthers 1-Yard line. On the next play the eagles Webster Langhorne barged Over for the touchdown and a 6-0 Frankfurt halftime Lead. Hanau can a Back to tie the count Early in the third period on jihad Pearson a 2-Yard run which capped a 66-Yard Panther drive. Allan Mcdonnough Hay a 23-Yard run was the big play on the drive. The two teams exchanged the fourth Quarter touchdowns but Frankfurt got an extra Point kick from Markus tur Rojas and that actually provided the margin of Victory for Charlie Tothy steam. Sidney Lemora tallied the Frankfurt touchdown on a 41-Yard Jaunt. Mcconnoughha tallied Hanau std on a 2-Yard plunge. Langhorne gave Frankfurt an insurance six Pointer with a 7-Yard sweep late in the game. Lemora led Frankfurt a Rushing attack with 179 Yards and Langhorne finished with 126. The eagles completed Only one pass for 13 Yards. Mcconnoughha kicked up 160 Yards running and Jason Montgomery was 7 for 11 passing for 108 Yards to Lead the panthers attack. In other big schools games Giessen 29, Nurnberg Giessen Germany a the Good news was that Giessen won the game for a share of the a championship. The bad news for Giessen was that it big schools football did no twin by a big enough margin a and 1 the Griffins missed the big schools playoffs. The Griffins Victory Over Nimberg left them Nurnberg and Stuttgart deadlocked for the title with 4-1 records. Nurnberg Defeated Stuttgart 19-6 and Giessen lost to Stuttgart 20-9. The mathematics in the ice head to head reckoning left Nurnberg with a plus-4 rating and both Giessen and Stuttgart at minus-2, but Stuttgart advances by virtue of its Victory Over Giessen. Nurnberg becomes the a representative in the big schools semifinals saturday and will entertain Wiesbaden which finished second in the aaa. Giessen took a 16-0 first Quarter Lead but had to come from a 20-16 deficit late in the game to topple the eagles. The Griffins took a 7-0 Lead on Chris Robinsons 25-Yard run and Alexander Kloetzel spat Boot. A safety when Nurnberg fumbled and recovered in the end zone made it 9-0, and Mike Williams 7-Yard to sortie following pop keeps 12-Yard gain on a crucial fourth Down play apparently put the game out of Nairn bergs a reach. But the eagles came soaring Back a Terrance Chukes scored on a 34-Yard pass from Steve Murrell got conversion Points on Chukes run picked up their second touchdown on Chukes 34-Yard run and moved ahead on Murrells 23-Yard pass to James Griffin. Giessen refused to buckle and scored on two Long pass plays. Shawn Bell connected with Robinson on a 45-yarder and Ramon Garcia went to Alex Bell for a 41-Yard to. Kloetzel converted after the Robinson to but missed after the Alex Bell reception. A Good conversion there would have propelled the Griffins to the playoffs. Kee finished with 140 Yard Rushing on nine carries. He also had two Kickoff returns for a total of 93  26, Stuttgart 6 Stuttgart Germany a Duba Flowers ran for two touchdowns and 272 Yards Here saturday As Wiesbaden closed its Reg ular season Competition saturday with a non conference Victory Over Stuttgart. Flowers scored on runs of 5 and 4 Yards to pull the warriors Back from a 60 deficit As they ran their record to 6-2. Stuttgart finished regular season Competition with its Best record in several years 4-4. Lee Utsey and Marcus Morgan scored Wiesbaden a other ads on runs of 3 and 7 Yards respectively. Tony Payton gave Stuttgart a 6-0 Lead in the first Quarter on a 9-Yard keeper from the option but Wiesbaden a defenders stifled the stallions the rest of the Way. The warriors kept the pressure on Payton All Day and he managed Only 7 completions in 33 attempts for 61 Yards while being intercepted three times. A Ramsten 27, Wurzburg 13 Wurzburg Germany a Mike Yates scored on 57 and 34-Yard runs to Lead the rams to their Victory Over the wolves. Ramstein also scored on two Ryan Fin Cham passes. Fincham and Scott Archer combined on a 64-Yard pass play for the rams second touchdown and the Ramstein quarterback hit Shean of Maia from 7 Yards out for the Only to of the second Naif. Wurzburg scored on Tony Smiths 3-Yard run in the first Quarter and . Bishops 55-k Yard pass to Louis Gray in period two. Yates paced the rams ground attack with 20 carries for 181 Yards. The wolves Smith carried 16 times for 62 Yards. Ramstein wound up its season with i 2-4 Germany aaa record 4-4 Overall Wurzburg finished at 0-6 and 1-7.heidelberg 28, Kaiserslautern 15 Kaiserslautern Germany the Lions overcame a 15-2 deficit and captured the season finale for both teams Friday Rushing for 211 Yards to end Heidelberg a season on a winning note. After falling behind 2-0 in the first Quarter on a muffed snap that went out of the end zone Kaiserslautern 2-4, 3-5 stormed Back with two second Quarter scores on 1-Yard runs by fullback Israel Clevenger and halfback Tyrone Johnson to make it 15-2 at halftime. The Lions 2-4, 3-5 tied it in the third on halfback Jimmy Murine a 50-Yard run and a 10-Yard scoot by half Back Craig Kibler. Heidelberg put the game away in the fourth period when Kibler struck again this time on a 5-Yard run. Quarterback Ivan Trosper ended the scoring on a 3-Yard run. Kibler finished with 83 Yards on nine carries. Johnson contributed 90 Yards on 20 carries for the red  27, Mannheim 12 Pitburg a Germany a Pitburg closed out its season on a High note As Art Munnlyn caught 37 and 4 Yard touchdown passes from Matt Claxton. Pitburg ends up 2-3 in Germany a and 2-6 Overall and Mannheim finishes 1-4 and 1-7 Overall. Aaron Taylor scored on 1-Yard dive after Pitburg nose tackle Robert Williams knocked the Ball Loose and recovery the Fumble on the Mannheim 30. Taylor scored seven plays later. Jamie Mcclellan s kick made it 7-0. Mannheim scored on Jermaine Dillard a 9-Yard run. Pitburg came Back on Claxton s 2-Yard sneak to make it 14-6 Pitburg at halftime