Atlanta Daily World

ATLANTA DAILY WORLD
Sunday, January 18, 1959

SPORTS OF THE WORLD

BY MARION E. JACKSON

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The pulsating and turbulent cycles which have been manifest in world sports were tub-thumped from the dusty archives, cleansed with the effulgent cloth of oratory, and placed on the pedestal of triumph at the Birmingham, Ala, Grid Forecasters' Eighth Annual All-Sports Banquet.

A caravan of speakers from the ranks of college and high school athletics extolled the wonders of competition in misty-eyed, nostalgic tribute, which toiled laboriously back over the years to their alma maters, churned up sentiment for old teammates, and lauded progress through the years towards pursuit of full democracy.

There was a chain-theme filtering through their chitchat. All had participated in athletics, and had studied hard, and climbed a ladder of success measured by education, esteem and challenge which they had imparted to succeeding generations. In the background, were war chants of battles which they had fought to keep athletics as part and parcel of the school program.

In the forefront, was the recognition of the long way, that prep and college sports had come, and the pride and joy of seeing our athletes on college and professional teams and in the drama side of radio and television competition.

Men like Carol W. Haywood of the highest successes in the Birmingham Public Schools, F.J. Oliver, principal of Fairfield Industrial High; B. M. Montgomery, principal of Rosedale High, John I. Taylor, principal of Lincoln School; W.J. Moore, arbiter and public school principal. John R. Smith, principal of R.R. Moton High, were program shapers who boldly blazed printed athletics as an educational cultural and democratic force.

All allied themselves on the idea of athletics and brought smiles of laughter recapping their adventures in college athletics. It was some show. It was a highly successful one. In some eight short years the Birmingham Grid Forecasters have made unprecedented gains in establishing a topflight sports dinner.

W. A. Scott III was guest speaker. He had been alarmed that he would not reach the summit the occasion demanded. His fear was baseless. Not only did W. A. captivate his audience with his sincerity but he educated them with his facts. He traced the history of competitive athletics in the universe. Down through the ages, he noted that man had employed sports as a leisure time force.

"Let us not forget," Scott pleaded "that we have more at stake in supporting athletics, than mere strong bodies and sound minds. Athletics will be our measure of survival in utilizing leisure time."

In a few years, man's working time will be cut to a 36-hour week. Then will come a 20-hour week and then a 15. We will find that time on our hands can be one of the most costly items we have ever purchased. For failure to use wisely our leisure time will set the stage for us to be conquered.

"Man can use his leisure time wisely and stave off ultimate stagnation and a bankrupt civilization or he can permit it to go to pot and become enslaved."

Throughout his message, Mr. Scott repeatedly called for honesty in conduct of athletics and in evaluating its objectives. The success of his message was highlighted in the numerous references subsequent speakers made to it.

The Birmingham Grid Forecasters' eighth annual all-sports banquet and fork session was held at the Downtown Club in Ensley, Ala. It was packed to the rafters. It was the biggest turnout in the three-year history of the effort. It was lively with puns and only the presence of a raft of dignitaries prevented lively dives from telling the old men's room jokes. A few slipped through.

I had hesitated about attending the event. My sister, Mrs. Katherine V. Powell had succumbed Monday. We are a close-knit family. Through the years the Jacksons have stood shoulder-to-shoulder, arm-in-arm, and heart-in-heart against the world. Through the squalor and poverty of our early days in Birmingham and through the depression of the 30s, we had held our home together, finished the public schools and gone to college.

Conflicting careers had separated us as a family in recent years but we remained fiercely united and proud as a family. Thus, when my brother, Emory O. Jackson wrote: "I want you to keep your chin up and carry on the same as Katherine would have done by either one of us. I want you to know that I appreciate always what my brothers and sisters did for me. I want you to be strong..."

And I decided to keep my date with the Grid Forecasters. I am glad I did. The banquet audience stood hushed as taps were played for my sister. There was silence also for Leo Sharkey, the former Fisk University fullback, who was killed in Denmark, S.C., while his Daniel Payne team was there to play Voorhees Junior College.

My younger brother, Bernard E. who was banquet coordinator and program director for the event, also carried on bravely.

Awards were made to John T. Smith, principal of Moton High School, James B. Cannon, coach of West Side High; Charles L. Danzy, an officer of the Birmingham Grid Forecasters; Carlton C. Wells, Park. H. William N. (Big Train) Cogtr, Rosedale High; Jesse Scott, Most Valuable Football Player, Dunbar High, Jesse J. Monroe (Basketball Coach of the Year) R.R. Moton High, Melba A. Brown, Track Coach of the Year, Parker High.

Willie Westbrook, Track Star of the Year, Parker High, Dr. T.J. Knox, College Coach of the Year; James High (Elementary Basketball Coach of the Year), and William Merriweather, Jr., Elementary Track Coach of the Year.

The Grid Forecasters are: James W. Bailey, Willie Clarence Sanders, W. Arnett Bryant, Cecil Bernard Keane, Willie J. Harris, Charles I. Danzey, Marcel Hobson, Bernard