May/June 1989 - Vol 3 Num 3 (Second Look)

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OPEN SEASON ON ZEBRAS NOTED WITH amusement that this issue of Second Look includes an article on NBA referee Ed Rush. Now that's one job I

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wouldn' t wanl.

Have you ever noticed how the fans treat referees? T hey boo the men and women in stripes; they throw things a t the m; they even physically attack them. Why? Because the referees' calls sometimes go against the ir favorite team. While it may seem as if the game officials are on a personal crusade against your team, it's not true. T hese refs, like Ed, love their sport. They want to do everything they can to make it better. And if that means calling a foul on your hero when he lumbers over an opponent, well , the game wi ll be bette r for it. T he fans' animosity toward refs stems partly from our natura l cynic ism toward

authority figures. Our inward rebe lliousness makes us snipe at anyone who wie lds some control over our lives, from the President of the United States on down to our supervisor at work. And sometimes we look at God the same way. He's " the great re feree in the sky," and He's always making unfair calls against us. But God, like referees, acts in our best interest. The rules He enforces are there to make sure our lives stay "in bounds." God knows the consequences of sacrificing long-term interests for immediate gratificati on, muc h the same way a re feree knows what would happen if he didn ' t call fo ul s. Think about what life would be like if standards weren' t enforced . Athletic contests would degenerate into c haos. Criminals would have an open season. And we wouldn ' t dare venture out in our cars if traffic signals and stop signs were meaningless. Some athletes, in fact, are so conscious of the need for standards that they want sports officials to be even more severe. Many track ath le tes are calling for more . rigid pena lties for ste roid and drug usage. Some pro athle tes write drug-testing clauses into their own contracts, as their way of taking a stand. The athletes in this issue ~"""''' of Second Look - -~ know about ng

under a uthority. Ed Rush does that every day as an NBA re feree. Coach Kay Yow runs a tightl y disc iplined basketball program at North Carolina State University. Cinci nnati Be ngals linebacker Reggie Williams, also a member of the Ci ncinnati City Counc il, talks with Kyle Rote Jr. about his experiences in sports and in governme nt. Plus, there's an in-depth report on the preponderance of cheating at all levels in sports today. Do you bristle at the very thought of li ving under a uthority? Do you resent the way your life is under the control of othe rs? The n you 'II benefit from tak ing a "second look" at authority. •

4 THROWING HIS HELMET INTO THE RING Mr. Williams goes to City Hall With Kyle Rote Jr.

-Dave Bum/tam Dave Burnham is Chairman Emeritus of the International Sports Coalition, an association of sports m inistries from around the world. He is also a teacher on the television program Day of Discovery.

8 REP.t. WHITE, AND TRut Kay Yow teaches discipline and gets results at N.C. State By Karen Rudolph Drollinger

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PHOTO CREDITS: PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: COVER, DENNY LANDWEHR; p. 2 (upper tell) Michael Forrest; p. 2 (upper right), pp. 6·7, William Sallaz/AIIspon; p . 2 (bottom right), pp. 9· t0, Simon Griffiths; p. 3 (tell center), p. 12, p. 14, Andrew Bernstein/NBA; p . 3 (top), p. t 6, p. 18 (top righ t), Tony Duffy/AIIspon; p. 3 (bottom right) , p. t5 (right), Stephen Dunn/AIIspon; p. 4, Denny Landwehr; p. 13, Bruce Zake; p. 15 (tell), Rick Stewan!AIIspon; p. t7, Allspon; p. 18 (bottom left), D. Strohmeyer/AIIspon; p. 19 (bottom tell), Don Smith/AIIspon, (top right) Allen Steete/AIIspon; p. 24, J. Rettaliata/AIIspon. p. 20, (right), George Rose/AIIspon; p. 22, Roben Beck!AII spon; p. 24, Joel Zwink!AIIspon

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DEPARTMENTS

10 TRAINING TIPS Kay Yow reinforces the basics

ORDER ON THE COURT Ed Rush walks softly and carries a big whistle By John Carvalho

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SHAME AND FORTUNE

FOR ATHLETES

How some sports heroes become falling stars By Paul Hoemann

Grant Teaff on maximizing the coachathlete relationship

THE FREEDOM OF SUBMISSION Does calling your own shots guarantee success? By Dave Burnham

15 THE QUIZ BIZ Measure your knowledge of sports rules By Rick York

Volume 3, Number 3 SECOND LOOK MAGAZINE A DISCOVERY HOUSE PUBLICATION PUBLISHER Martin R. DeHaan II; EXECUTIVE EDITOR Dave Burnham: CONSULTING EDITOR Ralph Drol~nger: MANAGING EDITORS John Carvalho and Rick Wanman : ART DIRECTOR Steve Gier: MARKETING DIRE CTOR Craig Finkel: PRODUCTION MANAGER Tom Felten: COVER PHOTO Denny Landwehr SECOND LOOK is published six times a year by Discovery H ouse Publishers. Discovery House Publishers is aHiliated with Radio Bib le Class, a nondenominational Christian organization whose purpose is to lead people ol all nations to l aith and maturity in Jesus Christ by teaching the Word ol God. Printed in U SA. Copyright C> t989 by Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapid s, Michigan. Bible q uotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Ki ng James Version 10 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. SECOND LOOK is produced by New Focus. Inc.. Vanir Tower. Second Floor. San Bernardino, CA 9240 t . Subscriptions are available lor $ t 5/year by writing to SECOND LOOK subscriptions. Discovery House, Box 3566, Grand Rapids, Ml 4950t ·3566.

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THROWING HIS HELMET INTO THE RING Cincinnati Bengal linebacker Reggie Williams applies the discipline of athletic training to his political career.

INEBA CKER Reggie Williams of the 1988 AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals has proven to be as valuable off the field as on. The 13 -year veteran was named Bengals Man of the Yem路 five years in a row (1 98286), and won the NFL's award in 1985. Reggi e was also named one of eight "Sportsmen of the Year" by Sports Illustrated in 1987, in a special award to "eight of the many who honor sports by helping oth ers." in this

interview with Kyle Rote Jr., Reggie talks about his latest challenge- as a member of the Cincinnati City Council.

KYLE: How do you feel about your responsibilities as a role model and a pro athlete? Did that have anything to do with your willingness to take the next step and accept a position on the City Council? REGGIE: I fee l路 strongly that each of us, whether a professional athlete, a journalist, a bricklayer, a

WITH KYLE RoTE

DENNY LAN DWEHR

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teacher, or a lawyer, has the opportunity to be a role model- not only to our children and the people we work with, but to people who mig ht onl y catch tha t once-in-a-lifetime g lance at ho w we apply o urse lves to o ur trade. In my case, I' ve bee n influ e n ce d b y a w ide s p ec trum of pe ople so that I've a lways desired to li ve up to the potential I 've been bl essed with. In many cases, th at means c halle nging m yse lf to go b e yond my "comfo r t zo ne" and to go out on fa ith. Being a role model as a pro athlete carries add itional res ponsibiliti es beca u se of th e widespread negative exposure professional s p or ts receive o n i ss ues li ke drugs and mo ney. KYLE: You've b ee n involve d in your co mmunit y for many years, as you r awards demonst ra t e. So thi s mo v in g into the spotlight is no t new to you. REGGIE: Ho nor s are ni ce. But th ey carry a responsibil ity, a mandate for futu re commitme nt to e n s ure that tho se awards will be unt a rni s hed. l hope th ose groups or indi vid uals that ho nored me years ago w ill be continuall y proud of their dec ision. KYLE: Yet you have to make decisio ns for yourself about priorities and the authorities you follow. To begin, you're certainl y under the authority of God. Yo"u're a lso under the authori ty of Cincinnati gene ral ma nager P a ul 路Brown a nd head coach Sam Wyche. You have an obligation to your teammates and to your family. And now, on top of that, you have your C it y Coun c il responsibilities. How have you fou nd juggling a ll these priorities? REGGIE: Yo u've definite ly identified a wide s pectrum of accountabilit y. I could become de feated before I even start, just by the w ide divers ity of the areas I must be responsive to. But I try to look at it differently. Rather than focus on the variations in these responsibilities, I look at w he re they're simi lar. One sim ila rity is how I apply myself to each area, how I respond to those cha llenges. I can be the consistent part of all 6

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of them. I can apply the same amount o f effort, and the same prayerful re flection to dec is ion makin g in each area. I can be the steady rock in these different scenarios. By focusing on that consistency, I 've been ab le to juggle a wide variety of challenges. KYLE: Let's look at the tremendous cont ras t between 1987 and 1988 for the Bengals. In 1987, everyone wan ted to get rid of Sam. In 1988, he was th e ki ng of C inc innati. As a player ope ratin g under Sam 's authority in 1987, did you ever feel like joining the c ritics o r try ing to de fend your coach? How did you deal wi th a situation like that, seeing the man over yo u come under such heavy public criticism? REGGIE: In spite of the c riti c i sm s that we re levied at p laye rs, our head coach, and o ur fran c hi se m a nage m e nt in 1987, th e op ti on I chose was to give a consistent indiv idua l effort and to g ive the best of my abilities to the task at hand. I cou l dn't co ntro l WILLIAMSALLAZ/ALLSPORT hOW SOmeone WhO WaS upset about a los i ng Reggie gets the jump on opponents with mobility season felt about Sam Wyche. But l cou ld conand speed that keep him t ro l h ow Reggi e William s played for Sam a team leader in tackles Wyc he. So, in the area whe re I was g iven the and sacks respo nsibility of con tro l, l had to make s ure th at I gave my best effort. I feel that some of the best learning opportunities evolve out of adversity. Many times the truth isn 't readily ev ident. We can't a lways be assured of the comfortable path. As a profess ional athlete, I work hard to prepare myself to be at my best physically, ready to perform. If I'm ready, it's because I' ve made an ................................................ e no rmous sac rifi ce in term s of time, e ffort , sweat, and even pain to get in shape. I've put my se lf th roug h a ri goro us training prog ram, worked out in inclement weathe r, and prioritized my time commitment. But that sacri fice consisten tl y convert s into s uccess on the fie ld. T he same idea ho ld s true for the commitment and pre paration necessary fo r my legislat ive responsibili ties at C ity Hall.

'Honors are nice. Hut

they carry arespon-

sibility to ensure that

those awards will be untarnished.'


KYLE: A lot of people have gotten into politics as a lifes t y le - Richard Nixon a nd Lyndon Jo hn son , to name two . Others have u sed the platform of s ports to move in- Jack Kemp , U .S. Secre t ary of Housing and Urban Dev e lopm e nt; Sen. Bill Bradley, even Preside nt Gerald Ford. You also have taken an opport unit y to get invol ved outs ide the game of football , whic h has its own au thority in terms of re fe rees, coaches, and di scipline. Have you found th a t much of the expe rie nce in sports ca rri ed over, or were yo u naive abo ut the political process? REGGIE: I've learned a lot of lesso ns on th e g ridiron that have transfe rred s uccessfully to politics. For e xample, there is no substitute for prepara tion . It 's part of Christianity: You prepare for that moment whe n you meet your Savior. As a ballplayer, you prepare all week for the big game. In the off-season, you get in better shape for the upcoming season. In Ci ty Hall, I prepare for e very legi s lative d ec i s ion b y mee tin g w ith differe nt co n s titu e nts, s tud y in g the iss ues- in essence, covering every base. KYLE: Some people say that a Christi an shouldn ' t be invo lv ed in politics. Others of us think that a Christian certainly should be invo lved. What is the ideal c iti zen? REGGIE: I w is h the re were an ideal citi zen .. . a nd an idea l politician. (Laughter.) Unfortunately, we a ll fall somew here s hort of th e mark. Thankfully, Someone has paid the price for us. Wh a t I wan t from myse lf is to be accessible , ope n-minde d, an d fair. I want sincerity, and the ability to weigh a ll th e op ti ons as I make deci sions. But I think that integri ty, more than anything, is the cornerstone of what being a public servant is a ll about. That 's how I look at my position as a counc il membe r. I am a public serv a nt , here to se rv e a wide, div e r se group of citi zens. KYLE: Now, to turn the qu es tion, h ow do you want ci ti zens to respond to your leaders hip? REGGIE: Optimally, I' d

'I think that integrity, more than anything, is the cornerstone of what being apublic servant is all about.'

like to be give n the benefit of the doubt. That isn ' t given freely. I' d also like a ci tizenry that's compe lled to share th e ir passion with Reggie Williams; passion shou ld be e ncouraged. People s hould fee l s tron g ly abou t th e ir li ves, their future, th e ir community, the ir family, and the issues that re late to the m. I would li ke to share their passion and represent it in City Hall. KYLE: Family life can be passionate at times too. Your sons Julia n and Jared have to share you with the people of C inc innati as wel l as football fans of the world . That can some times be difficult on the family. REGGIE: My boys are ages 6 and 4. They're the best of friends and th e worst of ene mies! But they ' re very speci a l to me, and I give them a firm love. I have e ndeavored to distinguish for the m, at this stage in the ir li ves, right and wrong, and I 've tri ed to provide them with a sec ure , healthy environment. But I' ve also give n them the latitude to develop their own pe rsona lities. I've never taken them to a Bengals game dressed up in little uniform s. I want them to feel good about the ir dad and what he doe s . But I don't want them to be domi nated by what Dad has accomplished in his life. I want th e ir future to be a n open book for th e m to wr it e th e ir m t:ssagt:s in. My wife, Marianna , and I have ta ught them about Jesus C hri st. He h as beco m e a very important fig ure in thei r liv es, becau se they've a lready los t a special loved one. Their maternal grandfather died in Dece mbe r of 1988. It was sad, but not tragic for th em, because they've been taught that " Pa-Pa" we nt on to s pend e te rnit y with Jes us, a nd tha t he's happier. He gave everything he had every day that he liv e d, and no w he 's e njoying his reward , so we should be happy for Pa-Pa. KYLE: We ll , R egg ie, I apprec ia te your sharin g your insights, especially th at final o ne, and I ' m g lad that we s h a re a co mm o n au thorit y in God. • SECON D

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AUTHORITY • FEATURE SK THE 1988 U.S. wome n's Olympic basketball " I think a ll my players know whe re I sta nd in my be liefs coach about the subjec t of authority. Forme r a bout G od- my re la ti o nsh ip w ith Him a nd m y depe n hi gh school English teache r and li brari an Kay dence on Him ," she says. " I sha re through the person that Yow will expostulate on the topic. I am towa rd the m, my attitude toward a uthority, and my The coach will define it. She 'll de monstrate it. attitude toward o ther people. M y di scipline and my mo ti vati on are love-based. It is because of who He is that I do She' ll give examples of its usage. She'll comwhat I do." pare a uthority to its cousin in the thesauru s of values-discipline. Some may bristle at Kay's comments, anticipating a potentia l for abuse of office, but she counters her statements with careYou mig ht say she knows the subject well. full y considered words. She never tries, she says, "to force God And she teac hes it to he r at hle tes, whet he r th ey are Olympic stars or substitutes on anyone," but is prepared deco rating the e nd of her " for the oppo rtuniti es th e Lord brings along." re d a nd whi te No rth But neither does she back Carolina State bench. down. " I want people to see That firm commitment to th a t m ) re la ti on sh ip wi th building characte r has g uid Chri st is vibrant and v ital, e d Kay 's Wolfpack Women a nd th at it 's not based on into post-season play I 2 of doing right or wrong. Right 13 years - including 6 of 7 ac ti o ns wi ll co me abo ut NCAA tourneys -w ith I 0 top 20 fini s hes. Only because of your relationship Tennessee, Texas, and Long with the Lord . He wi ll get you on the ri ght track." Beach State have more. Kay d e m o n s tr a t es her He r coac hin g style a nd confident control certa inly faith w ith int rig uin g method s . In t h e s umm e r of recall the lege ndary Jo hn 198 6 , while coac hin g a Woode n more than , say, a U.S. wome n 's tea m c omg row l ing, c hair- throw in g pe tin g in Moscow, Kay Bob Knight. She's a Wooden was caug ht tr y in g t o clone in soft dress, jewelry, s mu gg le B ibl es in to th e and heels and c redits he r Sov ie t Uni o n. Accord in g parents for teaching her the to news pape r a rti c les, she princi ples of d iscipline and was nearl y d ismi ssed from authority. h e r Ol y mpi c coac hin g " I learned early to respect duti es b y th e Ama t e ur authorit y-th a t in ce rt a in Basketba ll Assoc ia ti o n o f situat ions I could make the th e United St a tes of c hoice; in other situati o ns America (A BAUSA). the c hoice was made for Kay fee ls th a t th e inc ime; and at times we made dent was ov e rblown , the c hoice togeth er," says fa nne d by media reac ti o n Kay, who was a ste llar high fr o m indi v idu a l s w ho school a thlete in her homeprotes t th at C hri s ti a nit y town of Gibsonville, North Ca ro lin a. " I le arned th a t s h o uld be se parate from au thority, whethe r it was governme nt , schools, a nd U.S. athletic teams. " It was my pare nts, the policeman , no t a big thing to me," she a schoolteache r, o r a fireman, was for my best inte rsays. " I didn ' t th ink about it unti l I got back and saw ests and could he lp me. RUDOLPH DROLLINGER the way the newspape r arti" If I was ever disciplined cles were written. at school, I was disciplined " I want to be able to ta ke Bibles wherever the Lo rd would a second time when I got home, because the teache r was an have me," she adds. " Faith is not something you can separate authority figure. I knew my pa re nts were in total control from your actions." whe n they re inforced that. And I was always reassured that He r faith g ives back too. It 's not separate from adversity disci pline wasn ' t something done against me, but for me." e ithe r, and Kay has faced plenty the past 2 years- a seriThose lessons translate into 440 victories over 23 years at o us breast ca nce r ope ration , injuries th at de ple ted her N.C. State (and o nl y 15 1 de feats, a .744 w inning percentWolfpack squad of seven scholarship players. In 1987-88, age). Kay, selected to the Women 's Sports Hall of Fame in 1988, has built an authority structure founded on he r own Kay e ndured he r first losing season, fi ni shing I 0-17 a nd last in the Atlantic Coast Confere nce. But she' ll te ll you personal faith in God.

RED, WHITE, AND TRUE Hall of Fame coach

Kay Yow leads her N.C. State Wolfpack with firm discipline and a commitment to the rules.

BY KAREN

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no w th at the adv e rsity stre ngthened he r faith even more. In the 1988-89 season, Kay 's comm itment to di scipline continued to reap rewards. N.C. State, like its coach, recovered and poked its way back into the top 20. That di scipline ex te nds off the co urt. Kay e nforces a mandatory evening study hall for all freshmen a nd playe rs w ith low g rades . Some playe rs resent the intrus ion on the ir c rowded schedules, but Kay sees it as a contributing factor to her program 's 92 percent graduation rate. She obse rv es, " Afte r th e players grad uate, they' ll come back and say, 'Coach Yow, don't ever get rid of study hall. I didn't like it when I was he re, but now I see how much I needed it. '" Kay 's sys te m also includes penalties of work hours and study hours. If a player is late for or disrupts study hall or misses an appointment with an academic advisor, she must complete an additional study hour with the athletic department secretary. If a player is late for a team meeting or an appointme nt with a coach or traine r or misses a team meal, she receives a work hour a nd is assigned to assist the equipment manager. Hours double with each add itional infraction. The system also rewards players who go a week without any work or study hours. "You shouldn ' t forget to point out those people who are reall y staying on track. Coaches always point out mistakes, and we want a way to praise players," Kay says. " We recogni ze them like an employee of the week, with verbal prai se and something like a candy bar. That special recognition from us as coaches goes a long way. We have three players who are in their 18th week right now." Praise and confide nce come easily to the positi ve and soft-spoken yet inte nsely compet iti ve Yow. She's the oldest of three sisters who all have coached Division I women's basketball. Susan is currentl y at Drake and served as Kay's Olympic team assistant coach, and Debbie formerly headed

SIMON GRIFFITHS

'llea~ned that autho~ity was to~ my

best inte~ests and could help me.'

Karen Rudolph Drollinger, a graduate in journalism from the University of Missouri, is a former women's pro basketball playe1; a speaker at camps and clinics, and a frequent contributor to Second Look magazine.

TRAINING

SHOOTING FOR THE BASICS KAY YOW i ~ privileged to coach some of the best basketball players in the world, but for her, seeing the look of delight in a youngster's eyes on learning a new skill has its own rewards. Kay encourages young players to practice the follo wing drills:

•FORM SHOOTING. This drill can be performed wi th or without a basket. "The emphasis is on the form of the shot," Kay says, "not whether the basket is made or missed!" While standing two feet from the basket, or elsewhere on the court, perform an exaggerated form shot, concentrating on pe1f ect form. C heck the list and evaluate: 1. Good balance (feet slightly less than shoulder width apart) 2. Knees deeply flexed 10

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the prog rams at Kentucky, Oral Roberts, and Florida. Kay s tarted coac hing United States women's teams in 1979. He r teams have re presented the U.S. in such eve nts as the World University Games, the Pan Ame rican Games, and the World Championships, besides the Olympics. Un de r Kay's g uid a n ce, th e United States women in 1986 beat the Soviet Union 's team fo r the first time in 29 yea rs-no t o nce, but twice in Moscow, topping the Soviets in both the World C ha m pions hips and the Goodwil l Games. In the 1988 Olympics, the American s again d efeated the Ru ssia ns, w inn ing in th e semifinals, 102-88, befo re beating Yugos lavia, 77-70, fo r th e go ld medal. The U.S. players received go ld medals. Kay rece ived o nl y the sat is faction that s he had coached her team to the most prestigious championship in the world. Was she di sappointed that she didn't have a medal to bring home? " It's d isappointing that coaches in a team sport don' t receive gold medals, but the medal is what we call an a-ward," Kay says, emphasizing the "a." " What 's more im portant are the re-wards which that a-ward re presents. "The ABAUSA does present us with gold rings, but the ring itself is a n award represe nting the rewards of working with the Olympic athle tes and coaches. The players' willingness to put the team first and the mselves second, to deal wi th adversi ty and to maintain attitude control over circ umstance control- that's why we won." Yet another "o-Kay" example of proper usage of the word authority. As a coach, and as a grammaria n, Kay earns an A, as in A-ward, for he r knowledge of that complex te rm. •

TIPS 3. Elbow at a 90-degree angle, with upper arm parallel to the floor 4. Wrist back 5. Hand behind the ball 8. Begin exte nsion by pushing out of the knee flex and exte nding the entire body upward 7. Release the ball softly and with a high a rch 8. Follow through to your target.

•X-8UT DRIU. FOR BAU. HANOUNG AND lAY-IJPS. Start at the right corner of the foul line. Right-hand dribble to the bas ket a nd s hoo t a lay-up. Rebound and right-hand dribble to the left corner of the foul line. Dribble left-ha nded to the basket and shoot a lay-up. Continue left-hand dribble to the right comer. Switch to the right hand and continue. (See d iagram.) Drill time: 30 seconds Competition goal: Excellent =seven or more lay-ups •


AUTHORITY • FOR ATHLETES

EXCELLENCE HANGING IN THE BALANCE Getting the Most Out of the Coach-Athlete Relationship BY GRANT TEAFF In 17 seasons at Bay lor, Grant Teaff has led th e Bears to more than I 00 victories and two Southwestern Conference titles. Teaff ha s helped transform a football program that won three games in the three seasons bef ore he arrived, into one that has since made six bowl appearances. The six-time SWC Coach of the Year was head coach of the West team for the 1989 Hula Bowl. In this article , Te aff g i ves pointers for building strong coach-athlete relationships.

HAVE BEEN in the coaching profession for nearl y 35 years. In that time I have developed a phi losophy of how coaches a nd athletes should relate to one another. These principles, I be lieve, will help a coach get the most he can out of hi s athle tes while allowing an athlete· to become all he can be. I believe the b~s i s of all coach-athlete re lation ships should be honesty. A coach should never te ll an athlete stri ct ly what th e a thle te wants to hear, and the athlete should be ju st as up-front with his coach. If either party is not totally honest, it damages all the other aspects of that relationship. Coaches and athletes have to be completely fair with one another. It's hard sometimes for a coach not to be somewhat bi ased abo ut a playe r.

mus t treat every athle te the same and give everybody an equal chance. That 's the only way a coach can maintain disc ipline on a team. The athlete should give the coach a fair chance too. He needs to re a li ze that th e coach faces diffic ult decisions about whom to play and which coaching methods to use. Players need to accept

Athletes should set goals and do everything they can (within the rules, of course) to reach them. It 's important ~ to look beyond the short term and realize how crucial longterm goals are to our growth. This applies not just to sports but to every area of life. Proper motivation is essential in reaching goals. I encourage my athletes to set goals in all areas of life-academic, spiritual, and athletic. This creates a cons tant desire in my athletes to perform at their highest level. The thread that holds all these ideas together is good commu nication . Coaches need to make sure every athlete on the team understands exactly what is ex pected of him. Of course, different age groups require different forms of communication. Likewise, coaches should listen to their athletes. On the Baylor football team I have an advisory group comprising team membe rs from every student class. I encourage this the reality that coaches may group to ta lk to me about have to make decisions that everything we do. In turn , team members mi ght not they help communicate to the always understand, but are in team what the coaching staff the team's best interests. An is trying to accomplish. ath lete should not put hi s Coaches are in a unique own welfare above th at of position to influence you ng the team. peo pl e in a positiv e way. Al so , ath letes have the Coac he s s hould tr y to instill in athletes a vision of opportunity to improve themwhat they can become and selves through the ir sports partic ipation. These guidehelp their athletes set goals. Even at the junior high level, lines can make the coachit 's not too early for an athathlete relationship good for lete to set goals. both parties. • SECOND

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AUTHORITY • FEATURE

ORDER ON THE COURT Veteran NBA official Ed Rush can get very technical about foul play

ANS IN EVERY NBA ARENA wou ld love to have this guy on their side. And why not? He can keep Charles Barkley off the boards. He can snuff a Michael Jordan drive to the basket. He can put the brakes on a Lakers fast break quicker than an Isiah Thomas steal. And he's always in control. No matter who the coach is-Pat Riley, Chuck Daly, Doug Moe- he always has the last word. What is Ed Rush 's secret? Superior athletic talent? Incredible quickness? Uncanny basketball know-how? In truth, Ed's most potent weapon is probably the referee's whistle around his nec k-along with the National Basketball Association's blessing to use it in enforcing the rules. As one of the league's 50 referees, EdT. Rush (not to be confused with Ed F. Rush, another NBA official) holds a sacred trust. While Coop and Magic may play for the glory of their beloved L.A., Ed and hi s colleagues inhabit the court in strict representat ion of the rule book. And Ed is one of the best. A 22-year veteran, he has gai ned a reputati on fo r "common sense, integrity, hard work, and good judgment," according to NBA vice pres ide nt for opera ti ons Rod Thorn , whose responsibilities include overseeing referees. T he league has drawn on those qualities off the court as well. One of Ed's duties for the 1988-89 season was to train and evaluate rookie referees. "Ed's a good influence on the younger officials," Thorn says. " He knows the rule book, and he has a lot of knowledge about the game." Now. But Ed c laims that, when the NBA hired him in 1966, "I was not

BY JoHN CARVALHO SECOND

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a good official." At the time, Ed, a high school footba ll coach wi th dreams of coaching on the college level, was calling games for the Easte rn League, a pre-Continental Basketball Association farm syste m that fed players into the NBA. Recruiters came to an Eastern League game to check out his officiating partner, and ended up hiring Ed. " I was in the right place at the right time, and I was teachable," he says. "But I look back on my early days, and I don 't think my competency level was very high." T hose day s are lo ng past, as Thorn's com me nts at test. Most fan s would be surpri sed to learn th at Ed and company have an acc uracy rate betwee n 90 and 95 percent. (The league c hecks game tapes to measure its offici als' infa lli bility.) " Wh en you see things on videotape rather th an in a game sett ing, you realize that the referees do a better job th a n people wo uld ex pect ," T horn says. Such accuracy takes concentration. " I've developed a conce ntration level w he reby I ' m no t watching the game like a fan would ," Ed says. " I have to focus on so many things- where to go in certain si tuations, what to look for, where my partners are, where I am in re lationship to the ball, what kind of 'games-within -a-game' are going on as far as personali ties are concerned." Not even Air Jordan flights can di stract him . " My friends will go to a game and say, 'So-and-so was terrific.' I' ll have to tell them I wasn't pay ing attention," Ed says. "When I watch videotapes, I' ll sometimes notice something a player did that I d idn' t see when I was o ut on the court." That accuracy rate promises to rise even higher. During the 1988-89 season, the NBA switched to usi ng three referees in each game, instead of onl y two. "The players have gotten better and bigger, and the game is more fast-paced. We needed an extra pair of eyes," Thorn says. To Ed's way of thinking, more is less. Adding one more referee has made the officials less visible. " We still have an awful lot of influence in dictating the flow of the game, but we do it in a more subtle fas hion, so that it's not really not iceable, especiall y now with three officials," Ed says. "The majo rity o f the fans don' t even know we' re o ut there. The focu s is on the players." The league wants that focus to remain just as strong off the court too. " In the 1950s and the '60s, we had officials who were among the game's better-k nown personalities," Ed says. "But in the 1980s, people are tuned in to see the great players. I certain ly don 't know of anybody who would pay to see me work ing." But fans do pay to yell at him while he works, among othe r reasons. That doesn' t bother Ed. " I can' t get di stracted by one guy I0 rows up out of a crowd of 12,000," Ed says. Plus, stadium security keeps things from getting out of hand (though Ed still reme mbers his summers refereeing in Puerto Rico-courts surrounded by cages, fans lobbing rum bottles). Instead, Ed considers the " boo-birds" a healthy 14

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ANDREW BERNSTEIN/NBA

ED RUSH describes his job as an NBA referee as "a very positive profession. The rules are a very positive part of the game." Positive? What's so positive about telling a player he's made a mistake? "The rules of professional basketball are not there to limit. They're there to enable talented players to exhibit their abilities, to let their skills shine through," Ed says. "The referee is not a cop, but he's there to try to help the game be played better." It's easy to look at God's rules as limiting, as if He were some kind of spiritual cop. But what if you considered those rules as something positive? Perhaps God's rules exist to help us live better, to allow our constructive abilities and skills to shine through. Wouldn't that shed a whole new light on the the issue of God's authority? •

sign of fan involvement. " If the fa ns just sit in the stand s and don't make any noise, they ' re not going to come back," he says, "and if I complete a game wi thout ever hearing the crowd boo, the n I didn ' t call a fair game." One reason Ed is so understanding is that the tables turn when he finds himself in the stands. He admi ts, " I' m no t very objective. I' ve been known to get upset occasionall y with the officials while watching my kids play. It has nothing to do with my being an official, because I don 't look at those games with my head as much as with my heart." Most of Ed 's fan interest is directed toward his two o ldest sons, Eddi e, 16, and Mic hae l, 15. According to Ed's wife, Linda, sports provide an important bridge in Ed's relationship w ith his kids. " He e njoys h is family," Linda says. " His officiati ng is ex tremely important to him, but his children are too. He loves sports. That's why he and the kids are so close." Younger siblings Jeffrey, 5, and Ashley, 3, are at the beginning of their sports involve ment, but Ed is also an enthu siastic observer at Jeffrey's yo uth soccer games. " I've always tried to be more than just a spectator in my kids' growth," he says. " I try to dive into what they're doing. I don ' t want to miss a thing." Eddie and Michae l have long enj oyed the fruits of Ed's labors. " It's given them a lot of opportunities," Linda says. "They've gone to games with Ed since they were 3 or 4 years o ld ." In addition, Ed brings th~m alo ng to away games on the average of every other month. " He reall y inc ludes them in his life," Linda says. That helps father as well as child, Ed claims. "When I'm on the road, and I' m down and wishing I could be somewhere e lse, I can call home and talk to my kids," Ed says. What's it li ke for his kids to see the ir favori te basketball player yell at their dad? Ed claims that the players don ' t share the fans' an tagonism toward referees. "We have a good relationship with the players," he says. "They understand that they can't play the game wi thout us. Their resentment towarq us may be a short burst of emotion, but nothing ~de ep-sea ted. It doesn't carry on for very long." · Ed, whose two decades of services qualify him as a seasoned observer o f the pro game, notices more player resentment toward coaches instead. "That's the real authority they have to deal with on a day-to-day basis," Ed says. "We' re o ut there on the floor, and we' re part of their world, but I see a lot of resentment directed fro m the players toward the coaches." And what about resentment from some coaches toward referees? Sorry, Ed has to declare th at question out-of-bounds; it might impugn perceptions of his judgment on future technical fouls. But no problem . If any of the league's coaches have anything to say to Ed, he knows he' ll win the argument. Of course, that whistle around his neck won't hurt his case. •


1. How w ide is the 3-second

BY RICK YORK

lane in the National Basketball Association? A. 14 feet. B. 15 fee t. C. 16 feet. D. 17 feet.

17. Mike

7•

2. What is the length of the court in the NBA? A. 88 feet. B. 90 feet. C. 92 feet. D. 94 feet.

Davis of the Los A nge les Dodgers is batting out of orde r. Wit h the count 2- 1, manager Davey Johnson of the New York Mets alerts the umpire that Kirk Gibson should be the batter. What is the ru ling?

18.

Don Mattingly o f the Ne w Yo rk Yankees hits a doub le down th e first-base line. As he rounds first base, he run s too wide and strays into the out fie ld gra ss. What is the ruling?

19. In the Nat ional Football Leag ue, where does the goal post's crossbar sit? A. On the goal line. B. Halfway between the goal line and the back of the end zone. C. On the back boundary of the end zo ne. D. Five yards behind the e nd zone.

8. T he Bulls are leading the How many points for Scott?

3.

By ron Scott of the Los Angeles Lakers hits a 23-foot jumpshot from the corner to tie the score. By how many points were the Lakers trai ling prior to Byron 's shot?

4.

Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bull s hits a 23-foot jumpshot from the top of the key. How many points is his shot worth ?

5. Betwee n quarters, Chuck Daly, head coach of the Detroit Pistons, wants to discuss a rule with the referees. Is it mandatory for the referees to invite the opposing coach to be present during the discussion?

6.

Karee m Abd'u i-J a bba r, th e te am cap ta in for the Lakers, fouls out of a game. Mychal Thompson rep laces him at c e nter. Who is the Lake rs ' capta in for the rest of the game? A. Abdu i-Jabbar. B. T hompson. C. A player designated by head coach Pat Ri ley. D. Jack Nicholso n.

7. True or false: In the NBA, a substitution may be made during a n officials' timeout.

New York Kn icks by 20 points w ith 2 seconds remaining. Michael Jordan playfull y shoots a hook shot from halfcourt toward the Knicks' basket. As the buzzer sounds, the s hot scores . H ow many points do the Bulls win by?

20. Jim

9.

Vo lleyba ll was invented in 1895 by Willi am G . Morgan. In th e o ri g in al rule s, how hig h was the ne t? A. 5 feet, 6 inches. B. 6 feet, 6 inches. C. 7 feet, 6 inches. D. 8 feet.

10.

How hi g h is the men's vo lleyball ne t acc ord ing to today's rules? A. 6 feet, 6 inches. B. 7 feet. C . 7 feet, 6 inches. D. 8 feet.

11.

Accordi ng to major league baseball rules, what is the di stance from the pitcher's mo und to home plate?

12.

What is the di sta nce between first base and second base?

13. A ground ball bounces in fai r territory, c rosses ove r first base and bounces aga in in fo ul territory. Is it a fa ir ball or foul ball?

When is it fair, when is it foul?

Everett of the Los Ange les Rams throws a pass to He nry Ellard . Ellard is double-covered, but he intentionally tips the ba ll to teammate Ron Brown , w ho is ope n nearby. What is the ruling?

14. A ground ball bounci ng Answers: in fou l territory hits a rock and rolls fa ir before pass ing first base and before anyone can touch it. Is it a fair ball o r fo ul ball?

15.

The bases a re loaded . The infielders are playing in front of the bases to make a play a t h ome. A hit ball bounces past the first baseman but hits the runner behind him advancing fro m first to second. What is the ruling?

16.

As the pitcher w inds up, the batter s uddenly moves from one batter's box to the other. What is the ru ling? A. No pitch. B. T he batter is o ut. C. The pitcher may continue to pitch. D. Legal maneuver.

1. c. 16 fee t; 2. D. 94 feet; 3 . T hree poi nts; 4. Two points; 5. Yes; 6. A. Abdui -Jabbar; 7. False ; 8. 20 points (an intenti onal shot at an opponent's basket doesn't count); 9. B. 6 feet , 6 inches; 10. D. 8 fee t; 11. 60 feet, 6 inches; 12. 90 feet; 13. Fair ball; 14. Fair ball; 15. The runne r is ou t (e ve n though the ball is past the infie lders, the runne r is interfering w ith th e outfie ld e rs' abil it y to fi e ld the ba ll ); 16. B. The batt e r is ou t; 17. Gibs o n shou ld come to the plate w ith a 2- 1 count; 18. Matt ingly is safe at second (a runner c an be c alled out only if he runs out of the baseline trying to avo id a tag); 19. C. On th e bac k bound a ry of the e nd zo ne; 20 . It is a legal catch. S E C OND

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AUTHORITY • FEATURE

HAME AND FORTUNE

HEN Canadian Ben John so n r a n the I 00 m e te r s in a world record 9.79 seconds at the 1988 Summer O lympi cs in S eo ul , he showed why he was called the world's fastest huma n. Unfortunately, he had a lso made some costly compromises in getting there. Less than 48 hours after his gold medal dash, Johnson was stripped of hi s medal. Traces of th e banned a n a bolic s te roid S tanozolol were found in the urine sample Johnson submitted after his reco rd run. T he world's fastest human was sudde nly out of the race. But who is fit to throw the first stone a t Ben? The o ther athl e tes who use ste roids, in sports as diverse as pro football and cyc ling? The baseball players who doctor baseballs a nd cork bats to g ive themse lves a n unfair advantage? The university athle tic departm e nt s th at ig nore NCAA recruiting rules? Young athletes can point to th e exa mples around th e m , a nd get this unmistakabl e message: Rule #I. Only winn ing is impo rt a nt. Rul e #2. Wh e n co nfronted by the rul es, see Rule # I. Anabol ic steroids, used especially by athletes in sports that require stre ngth and endurance, promote muscle growth a nd increase aggression , spurring the athle te to more effective workouts and supe rior performance. Falle n star Johnson may have best explained why he and eight other Olympians were di squalified in 1988 for illegal drug use. "Everybody wants to be the best," he said in November 1987, "to be# I in the world."

For some, the ambi tion is to be the best; for others, sports is the li velihood they're trying to hang on to. Whatever the case, some athletes and coaches will break rules and bend their code of ethics if it will g ive them an edge on their opponents. Dr. Cra i g Brigham , a Ch icago physician, twice tried to make th e U.S. Ol y mpic team in the decathlon. For a time, he used steroids as part of his train ing. Most world c lass ath le tes who take stero ids don 't attach a " right or w ro ng" value j udgment to th eir actions, he says. "Unless you've been in the position of being potentially the best in the world, you can' t un de rs ta nd th e pressure," B righa m sa id. "A n O lym pic conte nder has one shot at it, and if he believes other a thletes are tak ing some thin g to give them an advantage and put him at a d isadvantage, he will want it too.''l Steroid use among football players has grabbed an increasing number of headl ines in recent years. A controvers ial art icle in Sports I llustra ted (Oc t. 24, 1988) b y fo rm er University of South Carolina defe ns ive l ine man Tommy roovCUfFYtAtLSPORr C haikin detailed how steroid abuse drove him to the brink of suicide. Chaikin became obsessed with being bigger and stronger, and he took massive doses of steroids to reach his goal. He admitted that it was his decision to take steroids, but he claimed that the coaching staff knew about widespread steroid usage on the team and did nothing to stop it. In order to protect players Iike Chaikin, the NCAA in 1986 began testin g foo tball playe rs before postseason bowl games. If any trace of steroids is present, the player is suspended. In its first year, the crackdown resulted in more than 20 suspe nsio ns, includi ng All-America linebacker Brian Bosworth of Oklahoma University.

Some athletes have tried unsuccessfully to win by breaking the rules

BY PAUL HOEMANN 16

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Ben Johnson ended his sprint toward Olympic fame by using steroids


The world's fastest human was suddenly out of the race

r

Some college football con fere nces have to ugher sta ndards. The Southwest Confe rence conducts random tests during preseaso n fa ll workouts and o nce during the off-season. If a player tests positi ve for steroids, he co uld be suspended fo r up to a year. Some pl ayers, h oweve r, b e li eve th e ad va ntage is worth the ri sk. "Most ste roid users believe it's wro ng . T hey know they' re abus ing a subs ta nce th a t s h o uld b e p rescribed o nl y by a doc to r, o r th ey h ad to bu y it o n th e b l ac k m a rk e t ," says J oe Juraszek, stre ngth and condi ti o nin g coac h at Texas Tec h Uni ve rsity. " But th e a thl e tes a re drive n so hard to succeed. They ' re lookin g for a n ed ge." The National Football League a lso has dec lare d wa r o n stero ids. Clyde Emrich, stre ngth and conditioning coach fo r the C hi cago Bea rs, d ec lin ed to g uess what percentage of NFL players c urrently use steroids. (Some observers estimate it to be a t least 40 pe rce nt. 2) But Emrich says the league's crackdow n h as h ad a n impac t. "Players are reali zi ng you can ge t all the st re ngth yo u need from we ig ht tra inin g, a nd they're more aware of the dange rs of ste roid s," he tol d Second Look. Contrast that with this sta teme nt by former Pittsburg h and Tampa Bay o ffe n sive linema n Steve Courson, an admitted ste roid user: " In foo tball , as in life, onl y the strong survive. You're preached that from your coaches and your parents from the time you' re very young. You do what you have to do. Othe rwise you don 't have your job. I take this attitude toward d rugs: They g ive me an edge in my business. It's easy fo r people to criticize. But it's diffe re nt when it 's your li velihood, when it's your job to keep a genetic mutation from getting into your backfield."3

Illegal ste roid use is not limited to high-profile sports like pro football and the Ol ympics. The 1988 Tour de France bicycle race was wo n by Spania rd Pedro Delgado. His urine sample co nt ained pro be nec id , a drug tha t masks s teroid use. The International Cyc ling Union, whic h governs the Tour, d oes n o t b a n pro be n ec id , thou g h th e Inte rn a ti o na l Ol y mp ic Committee and t he Fre nch Cycling Federation do. The ICU a nn o un ced th at though Delgado had tested positi ve, he wouldn ' t be pe nali zed. T he d ecision triggered great controversy because Delgado 's steroid use and his attempt to hide it were obvious. Ame rican A ndy Ha mps ten, who fin ished 15th in the Tour, says th a t no t all world-class cyclists are taking stero ids. " But wh at can yo u think whe n the bes t guy in th e wo rl d is o n drugs?" he said after the race. "This is essentiall y saying that to win the Tour de France you have to take drugs . Morally, I don 't believe that, and practically, I don't believe that."4 In to d ay's s po rt s wo rld , Ham pste n 's may be the disadvantaged minority opinion.

No curves for 1988 Tour de France winner Pedro Delgado, in spite of testing positive for drugs that mask steroid use

HE PERVADING VIEW on c heating in pro b ase ba ll , acc o r din g to Scott Lovekamp, forme rl y a pitc her in the San Diego Padres organi zation, is that if scuffing or doctoring the ball or corking the bat keeps you in the game, it's acceptable. "Players don 't talk about it," says Lovekamp, now pitc hing coach at the University of Florida. " You 're afraid to acc use a ny one of c hea ting because you think, ' Well, the other team does it, but we may have guys who do it too.' It doesn 't come dow n to right or wrong; it's 'What do I have to do to succeed?"' As a member of the Texas Rangers in 1983,

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Fra nk Tanana feared he had lost his best stuff. Tanana, who had a re puta tion as a flame-throwing lefty earlie r in his career, had developed arm proble m s. He dec ide d to sc uff th e baseba ll , whi c h makes pitc hes more diffi c ult to hit. " I wanted to have a better record," Frank explains. " I thought, If this will help me, I' II do it. My career was in jeopardy." When he made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ and reflect His characte r, however, Frank reali zed he would have to me nd his pitc hing ways. T he 35-year-old Tanana is still pitching successfully, now for the Detroit Tigers. But he re lies instead on a variety of off-speed and breaking pitches to get hitters out. "Cheating is not part of God's plan," he says now. T he me nta lity about cheating a t the major league level , Tanana says, is if you don ' t get ca ug ht , it 's n o t c hea tin g . E ve n whe n Los Angeles pitche r Jay Howell was suspended during the 1988 Natio nal League playoffs for using pine tar to improve his grip on the ball , many

Fo~mer pro football ···············································

player Steve Courson on steroids: "They give me an edge in my business"

'The Boz' was tripped up by the NCAA's first crackdown on steroids 0 . STROHMEYERIALLSPORT

Former Texas A & M coach Jackie Sherrill: "I never told you that we were pure"

pl ayers d idn' t see anyt h i n g wro n g. "Pine tar may g ive an edge, but it 's not cheat ing," Ke it h H e rn an d ez of t h e opposing New York Mets said. " We' re no t cho i r b oys he re." ~~:Z~~5~==:i;; " It has k ind of become the American ~------------------~~~ TC«Y OUfFY/ALLSPORT way, and that's sad," Tanana says. "The athlete who does it has got to feel, I might have won, but I cheated to do it. It takes some of the satisfaction out of success." HI LE SOME ATHLETES seek an on-field advantage, some college coaching staffs, alumni, and boosters search for an edge off the playing surface ... by illegal recruiting. Perhaps the most infamous example is the football program at Southern Methodist Un iversity. S MU received the NCAA's "death penalty" in March 1987, and was barred fro m fielding a football team for 2 years. The SMU program was found guilty o f violating NCAA rules twice within a 5-year period-first fo r recru iting violations and again for illegal payments made to players by a booster. Texas A& M could face a similar fate. It was placed on probation by the NCAA fo r recru iting violations in the fa ll of 1987. At the time, head coach Jackie She rrill said, " I never told you that we were pure. In college foo tball or basketball, it's difficult to sit there and say nothing has ever happened o r ever will happen." Now Sherrill . has resig ned a nd t he sc hoo l faces fu rt her c ha rges of wro ngdo ing- includi ng one from a player who claims he was paid to keep sile nt about A&M's wrongdoings. College coaches cheat for the same reasons a bus inessma n o r a lawyer m ig ht, says Gen e Bartow, head basketball coach at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. "They're look ing to get a little edge," he says. " If they don't win enough, they fear losi ng their job." Bartow bel ieves, however, that c heating in co llege basketba ll rec ru it in g is no t th a t widesp read. "You have 294 Di visio n I programs," ·he says. " I would do ubt that more th an 15 to 20 are involved ." Joey Meyer, head basketball coach at DePaul University, blames the pressure from alumni , fans, adm inistration, and even self that drives some coaches to break the rules. " It's the nature of the beast," he says. " You want to be successful. Some can avoid cheating, while others give in to the pressure."

W


Meyer says the NCAA is doing a better job of polic ing the recruiting process, but he declined to estimate how much cheating goes on. "There are a lways rumors," Meye r says. "Whe n a coac h loses a player to a nother school, sometimes he accuses the other of cheating. It 's a part of the game, but not a good part." Also a part of the game is the recruit who, believing he deserves something extra, listens to recruite rs with his hand out. "Types of kids are attracted to types o f programs," says DePa ul ass istant Jim Pla tt, while dec lining to identify schools with that type of program. "After a few meetings, people get a feel for what your school is all about. As you get a feel for what they' re looking for, you e ither back off or continue to go after them." Mike Ru ssell , head football coach at Lutheran Hi gh School North in St. Louis, has coached 20 a thl e tes w ho h ave go ne o n to earn footba ll scholarships, including Seattle Seahawks return specialist Bobby Joe Edmonds. Russell says the recruiting process itself may lead to unethical practices. For example, after making the initial visit with the at hle te a nd his coach at school, some recruite rs will meet with the athle te's family a lone. The re, improprieties are more like ly. ''That can be a problem," Russell says. "That's why we try to make sure the stude nt unde rstands what to expec t, and what can be done legally a nd illegall y. " Jim Wacker, head footba ll coac h at Texas Christi an University, believes cheating is still a big problem in college football. Wacker turned his own program in to the NCAA in 1985 for recru iting violations that were initiated by his predecessor. But he's not sure what impact his example had on the college coaching fraternity. " I didn ' t expect there to be a lot of disciples," Wacker told Second Look. " I did get support from people like Bo Schembechl er, Lou Holtz, and Bobby Kn ight. But that wasn't the point. We had to get our act together." Dr. William Atchley, president of the University of the Pac ific, may be the Jim Wacker of college a dmini stra tors. He was preside nt at C lemson University when that school came under NCAA DON SMITHIALLSPORT inVeStigatiOJl in 1982 for alleged footba ll recruiting violations. Atc hley was de te rmined to clea n up the football program. But he dido 't get the needed s uppo rt of the school 's athlet ic admini stra ti o n a nd board of directors, so he resigned in 1985. Keith Hernandez of the New York Mets: "We're not choir boys here"

Frank Tanana of the Detroit Tigers: To scuff or not to scuff?

"We could have come out as a good example at Clemson , but I don't think we did ," he says. "Often, people who have donated large amounts to the school feel they ow n part of the athletic program. They be lieve the athletes are out there just to entertain them. " Rules are broken because they want to win. T hey lose a ll perspective." •

Paul I-loemann is a freelan ce writer living in River Forest , Illinois, where he is director of communications at Concordia College. I. "Athletes and Steroids: The Bad Bargain," Saturday El'ening Post, April 1987. p. 59. 2. " Hit for a Loss." Sports Illustrated, Sept. 19, 1988, p. 5 1. 3. "Getting Physical-and Che mical," Sports Illustrated, May 13, 1985, p. 54. 4. "On the Tour de Farce," Sports 1//ustrated, Aug. I , 1988, p. 61. SECOND

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AUTHORITY • PERSPECTIVE

MOF MISSION

THE

s

Fallowing the rules doesn't limit life; instead, it opens new horizons

0 ONE LIKES TO BE TOLD what to do . . . especially if you're powerful, attractive, and famous. Our culture, it seems, identifies success with the right to call your own shots. Freedom to do your own thing is the credit card most cherished today. When Billy Joel sings, "I don't care what you say anymore- this is my life," it's more than a song; it's the theme for our generation. Rules are for the weak. Submission to someone else's authority-even God 's-spoils the fun . One evening, after I had spoken to a group of college students about the claims of Jesus Christ, a confident young man approached me and said, "Well, Pastor Burnham, I guess you need your ' pie in the sky,' but not me. Just let me live the way I want to, and you can have all the God stuff you want. I can take care of myself. I don't want someone else running my life. " Does God limit life? Do the claim s of His Son, Jesus Christ, spoil the fun? Is "pie in the sky" a mindless fantasy? Shouldn 't we enjoy our life here on earth? I recall another strong-willed man who also was determined to run his own life. He was the Mike Tyson of his day. His name is synonymous with strength, and hi s exploits are still remembered . So is his downfall. Everyone thinks a woman did him in , but the real reason for his defeat ran deeper.

BY DAVE BURNHAM 2O

S ECO N D LOO K

•··MY LIFE" by Billy l oei.C>I978 1MPULSIVE MUSIC. All R;gi>ISConlrolledand Adm;n;som d by S ilK

Used by l>ennission.

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HE BIOGRAPHY OF SAMSON is a fastmoving drama. He was th e s tron g-m a n he ro of Is rael. S tudy ing hi s life g ives a persona l examin atio n of someone w ho did things hi s own way ... a nd paid a hig h price for the privilege. Samson 's parents had been childless. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to hi s mother with a special announcement: " Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son" (Judges 13:3). Fro m th e tim e hi s moth e r rece ive d th e announcem e nt and was give n require me nts on how to care for the child she was carrying, three unique rules would be a part of Samson 's life. In Judges 13:4,5 , his mothe r was instruc ted, " Be careful not to drin k w ine or similar drink , and not to eat any unc lean thing. For behold , you shall conceive and bear a son. And no razor shall come upon his head, for the child sha ll be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israe l out of the hand of the Philistines." These rules indicated the spec ial ro le Samson was to play in the hi story of Israel. He was to be a Nazirite all of hi s li fe. A Nazi rite lived a li fe of extraordinary devoti on to God . The three g uidelines referred to a bove prov ided the fra mework for a Nazi rite's dedication: ( I) He was not to eat or drink an ything made w ith g rapes (s uc h as wine); (2) he was not to to uch a dead body, e ither animal o r hum an, beca use thi s was cons idered cere moniall y unc lean; and (3) he was not to cut his hair. Us ua ll y, a pe rson w ho made a Nazirite vow followed th ese reg ul a ti o ns o nl y for a ce rt a in number of days (N um bers 6:2-2 1). But Samson was ex pec ted to observe these pro hibitions all the days of his life. Samson's reason for be ing was to deliver Is rae l from its s ubj ect ion to the Philistin es . God prom ised to e quip him w ith stre ngth fo r thi s task. Fro m the beg inning, Samso n had great potential: " So the woman bore a son and called his name Samson; and the child grew, a nd the Lord blessed him. And the Spirit of the Lord began to move upon him" (Judges 13:24,25). But he never li ved up to the promise he showed early in life. Many athle tes are li ke Samson. They come from a strong family backgro und and have bee n endowed w ith g reat athletic talent. Yet they never realize their pote ntia l. Why not? One reason is that gi fts such as talent and fam ily can ' t substitute for cha racte r. T he three rules God gave Sam so n were desig ned to buil d his c h a rac ter. It was n ' t the rul es th a t gave h im stre ngth , but hi s obedie nce to God. Tragicall y, Samson broke a ll three of these rules whe n he reached adulthood . In addition, Sams o n' s c hoice for a wi fe broke o ne of the stand ard s God had set for the people of Israe l. He had comm ande d them no t to marr y outs id e th e ir f a ith . But Sa m s on refused to fo ll ow hi s pa re nts' adv ice in c hoosin g a li f e p a rtn e r. In s t ead , h e marri e d a

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rr Philistine woman .. . and so the misadventures of Samson began. Within a brief time, Samson broke two more parts of his own special vow-first, when he ate honey from the carcass of a lion that he had ki lled with his bare ha nds (Judges 14:5-9), and then whe n he partied at the feast for his wedd ing . Jud ges 14: 10 calls it a " feas t," but don' t be fooled. The Hebrew word for feast de notes a lot more than just a wedding reception. Apparently Samson found it more important to be the life of the party than to follow God's rules. Anger, rej ection , and revenge quick ly fill the pages of the story. Before Samson can li ve with his wife, he r fat he r g ives her to Samson 's best man . In his an ge r, he destroys the Ph ilistines' crops; they, in turn, want to destroy him. Samson s ing le handed ly defeats th e Phi li stin es in an amazing feat of stre ngth. Armed only w ith the jawbone of a donke y, he ki lls I ,000 Philistines by himse lf. Samson had tremendous strength, but he also had great weakness. If he had gone on to use his strength to free Israel from the bondage of the Philistines, he would have reached his potential. Instead, Samson follows the victory with a moral defeat. He goes to Gaza, a Philistine city, and re tains the services of a prostitute (Judges 16: I). The conqueror who could defeat 1,000 men found women to be tougher adversaries. The citizens of Gaza plan to kill him. Samson ari ses at midn ight and sneaks out to the city gates. He pulls the door and gateposts out of the ground, puts them on his shoulders, and carries them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. This may sound like some task, but it's even g reater when you reali ze that the distance was nearly 38 mi les that Samson walked with the weight of the city gates on his back. But othe r weights we re harde r to carry. His heart and his lust wou ld weigh him down. Judges

'Just let me live the way I want to, and you can have all the ·················································

God stuff you want'

16:4 int roduces a new yet fa mili ar c ha racter: " Afterward it happened that he loved a woman in the Valley o f Sorek, whose name was De lilah ." De lilah tries to get Samson to reveal the source of his strength so that she can be tray him to the Phili s tin es . But Sam so n teases her, tel l ing "secrets" that don 't work. In desperation, De lilah demands, " How can you say, ' I love you,' when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and have not told me whe re your great strength lies" (Judges 16: 15). She conti nues this on a daily basis until Samson gives in and tells her, " If I am shaven, the n my strength will leave me" (Judges 16: 17). Granted, Samson had broken two other vows, but this final one seems to represent the thing closest to his heart. And while he did reveal the secre t, he did not break the vow. But Delilah now can betray him. She quick ly te ll s the Philisti nes to be prepared for his defeat. Whi le Samson sleeps on he r lap , Delilah shaves h is head. Amazing, isn't it? T his man had been given a n assignme nt by God , yet he had become so accustomed to breaking the rul es that he could s leep so easily after revealing such a guarded secret. Samson awakens from his sleep, but he has no strength to fight the Philistines. They take him, put out his eyes, and toss him into prison. Israel 's hero is now the Philistines' laughingstock. For 20 years, Samson had been God's designated leader for Israel. Yet his leade rship was based stric tl y on his physical stre ngth . He lacked the true qualiti es of greatness-moral c haracter, a comm itment to obeyi ng God 's standards. Samson had broken the rules; as a result, his great potential never came to its fu lfi llment. Instead of leading Israel to freedom, Samson himself was locked up in a Philistine prison. Samson's hair did grow back, and I believe he reali zed the e rror of his ways. Thus, he enjoyed one final victory. One day, wh ile the Philistines

LIVING BY THE RULES VIOLATING THE RULES or defying authority fig ures in sports can get a playe r benched , fi ned, or even suspended. Challenging God's rules and authority, however, is far more serious. That can ruin not only a career, but also life-for eternity. All of us have broken God's rules. Each of us has treated life as though it were our game and our call. We want to re write the rule book. God could have given us what we deserve. Instead, He offered a merciful " buy back" that was written about long before Jesus Christ came to earth. The prophet Isaiah anticipated God's solution to our problem when he wrote, " All of us ... have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity [sin] of us all to fall on Him [the suffering Messiah]" (Isaiah 53:6 NASB). Today we can see how this prophecy was fu lfi lled in the Son of God, our only hope. Of Him the New Testament says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Chri st Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:23). You can begin th is eternal life by putting your faith in C hrist. You may wish to ex press thi s faith through prayer. The follo wing is merely a suggested prayer:

God, I acknowledge that I have broken Your rules and defied Your authority. I thank You that You have not given me what I deserve, but that instead You offer me f orgiveness through Christ's death on the cross. I accept Your free gift of salvation and eternal life. Help me to follow Your rule book. Write Second Look if you have any questions about your relationship with God. Our address is Second Look, Box 3566, Grand Rapids, MI 4950 1-3566. •

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were making sport of him, he placed his arms about two great pillars and pulled down the roof of the temple, killing more than 3,000 Philistines. It was the greatest victory of his life. Still, Sam son died within the w all s of a Phili stine palace. He had the potential to lead Israe l to freedom, but he had not accomplished his mission. Why? Samson had determined that he was competent to run his own life. Even though God had blessed him with great strength, Samson refused to be obedient to God. You see, Samson's power did not come from his hair; it came from his obedience to God. The Spirit of God had strengthened him (Judges 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14). Many sports fans think that the superstar athlete who parties off the field , who uses alcohol and drugs without any apparent ill effects, is the ideal man. He lives life at 110%; he enjoys real freedom. But there are conseque nces to breaking diet and training rules. There are consequences to abusing your body with immorality. Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose even as he stood on the threshhold of NBA stardom. Besides sprinter Be n Johnson (see page 16), two Bul g arian wei g htlifters los t their Olympic m e dal s in steroid-re lated incidents, and the entire weightlifting team withdrew from competition. For these individuals, the long-tenn health conseque nces are also ominous. Samson is a clear picture of this type of activity. He failed to follow the rules of morality. He chose to fulfill hi s lusts, chasing prostitutes and loose women. God set down those rules for Samson, not because He's a spoilsport or because He wanted to limit him, but because He wanted to protect him and help him build strong relationships. Trust is a key word. When Samson refused to follow God's principles in his marriage, it showed that he was not willing to trust God. It's almost as if Samson was saying, " I'll do it my way; I don't need God." Prove rbs warns us not to hang around with a crowd that would destroy us, but to choose our friends wisely. The most important relationship of all is with God- to love Him and obey Him. And God tells us that when we choose our relationships, they should help us honor Him. Ultimately, Samson abused his manhood. God had blessed him with great physical gifts, but he used them only for himself. God created us with that same purpose in mind: to honor Him with what we do in our lives. He has set down rules. They ' re designed to protect us, to teach us our need of His help, and to give us true freedom-the freedom of knowing and serving Him. Samson, like the people in our world today, had the system upside down. To him, rules limited freedom , and loose living asserted it. But to learn the freedom of living under God's authority opens new horizons. Jesus said, "The truth shall make you free" (John 8:31). He points us in the direction of fulfillment and realized potential- "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10: 10). And that 's the life we ' re all looking for. •

BIBLE STUDY • AUTHORITY

ASECOND LOOK AT AUTHORITY Dave Burnham's article graphically illustrates the risks we face when we choose to run our lives in defiance of authority. Sometimes we think we know what's best for us; we might be right, but we might be wrong. Let's discover what the Bible says about the various forms of authority we encounter in our lives.

SUBMISSION: STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS? 1. Look up the following Bible verses. Draw an arrow pointing from the one in submission to the one in authority in each relationship. I Corinthians II :3 2 Corinthians 10:5 Ephesians 5:22 Ephesians 5:23 Ephesians 6: I Ephesians 6:5 1 Peter 2 : 13

GOD MAN WIFE CHURCH PARENTS EMPLOYER CITIZENS

CHRIST CHRIST HUSBAND CHRIST CHILDREN EMPLOYEE GOVERNMENT

2. Read I Corinthians 11:3 again. According to the relationship between God and Jesus Christ described in this verse, is subordination inferiority? Why or why not? Read Galatians 3:28. According to this verse, does our value to God depend on our status? Why or why not? 3. Read Philippians 2:5-9. How did Christ demonstrate voluntary submission to authority? Does His e xample indicate personal strength or weakness? Why?

AUTHORITY AND GOVERNMENT 4. Read Romans 13:1-5. How does the authority of government-"an avenge r to execute wrath on him who practices evil" (v. 4)- benefit you? 5. First Samuel 16-24 describes the relationship between King Saul and David. As you read through the following exce rpts, note David's attitude toward Saul's authority:

• First Samuel 16:11-14. When Samuel anointed David, did David immediately become king? • First Samuel 17:32. How did David describe himself to Saul? Do you think David would have fought Goliath without Saul's permission? Why or why not? • First Samuel24 :1-7. Why didn 't David kill Saul whe n he had the chance? According to this example, when the authority over us makes mistakes, does that grant us the right to be disloyal? Why or why not?

WHEN YOU'RE THE ONE IN CHARGE 8. Read Paul's letter to Philemon. (It 's only one chapter long.) Note especially verses 8-10, 14, and 19. How did Paul choose to express his spiritual authority ove r Philemon? Read Philemon again. What can you learn from Paul 's attitude about how you should act when you're the one in authority? 7. Review the three areas listed above. In which area do you struggle the most regarding authority? How should your attitude change, based on God's teaching?

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DOES YOUR GAME STAND UPTO SCRUTINY? Referees and umpires make sure the rules are followed. They decide whether a player is safe or out, in-bounds or outof-bounds. If only our decisions in life were as simple. The choices, the pressures ... how can we be sure we're following the rule book?

Second Look Magazine addresses a variety of life's tough questions- like authority- with a fresh approach. To subscribe, simply return the card inside. TAKE ASECOND LOOK AT THE REAL ISSUES IN SPORTS •.. AND LIFE.

SIC81Dl8 Second Look · Box 3566 Grand Rapids, MI 49501-9963

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