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 Posted: Thu 5:17, 07 Apr 2011 Post subject: Long overdue, Oakland finally recognizes one of it |
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| Long overdue, Oakland finally recognizes one of its own, ultimate winner Bill Russell Jersey
Taking the Nimitz to 66th Avenue and exiting toward the Oakland Coliseum, you'll drive right past the "Joe Morgan Way" street sign, named for a local boy who made good. It's less than a driveway, yet more than Bill Russell Jersey has in Oakland. Bill Russell Jersey is the local boy who made magnificent, developing into a legend whose very name is symbolic of triumph and dignity and unwavering principle. He graduated from McClymonds High in 1952 and spent the better part of the next 20 years becoming America's greatest winner, its champion of championships. Bill Russell Jersey, 77, has spent the last 59 years making his family ecstatic and, presumably, his hometown proud -- not that anyone can tell. All of which makes the ceremony honoring Bill Russell Jersey on Thursday night at the George P. Scotlan Convention Center tardy by about four decades. He won championships in college, at USF, won a gold medal representing the United States in the 1956 Olympics and added 11 more titles as a player and player-coach with the Boston Celtics. Bill Russell Jersey last month, without breaking a sweat, received the Presidential Medal of Freedom -- simply because he's Bill Russell Jersey. "The Presidential medal, like so much else in his life, is late," said Dr. Harry Edwards, who has known Bill Russell Jersey since the 1960s. "And Oakland, by doing this now, is right on time with that schedule." This gathering of Bill Russell Jersey's friends and family and other acquaintances over the years is a welcometribute. It's one night to recognize his achievements as an athlete, author, spokesman and champion of civil rights. It's not enough. Not from Oakland, a city in search of role models yet neglecting many of those it has. Where is the street or the statue? Where is the park or the school -- or, at the very least, the jewel of a basketball court? For his is the tale of a man who has traveled roads too many of today's disadvantage youths only dream of, so busy are they just trying to stay alive. Bill Russell Jersey at Mack was the tall, clumsy kid who made the team because of his height. He didn't start and didn't always play. Through diligence and intellect, rigorous application of all he read and was taught, Bill Russell Jersey became a star at USF and a superstar in Boston -- all because he had an intense desire to make his family proud and make himself matter. His exploits didn't stop on the court, for Russ marched with King and stood at Ali's hip. Bill Russell Jersey wrote three books. That Bill Russell Jersey fought against racism is a misconception. He fought for equality, a Constitutional right too often ignored. The kid who couldn't play in high school achieved incredible heights, doing it his way, with a sense of individualism no less fierce as his uniquely resolute competitiveness. Though Bill Russell Jersey grew up poor, he not only beat the odds but incinerated them. For all he has meant to Boston, though, there is nothing in that city reflecting Bill Russell Jersey's impact. Only recently, perhaps shamed by seeing President Barack Obama drape a medal around his neck, have Boston civic leaders embraced the idea of publicly recognizing Bill Russell Jersey. They'll probably put up a statue, finally allowing Bill Russell Jersey, who at times during his Celtics career faced virulent racial animosity, the honor of joining such Boston sports legends as Red Auerbach and Bobby Orr. Oakland ought to beat 'em to it. The city that can get so much wrong still has time to get this right. "I know there are those who will wonder about his connection to Oakland," Edwards said. "He played in college in San Francisco, played his professional career in Boston, later moved on to Sacramento and then to Seattle. Where's Oakland? "Well, he was raised here. His family stayed here. His brother, Charlie, was here and he still has family here." Nothing about Oakland is more revered than its sports achievements. Say what you will about Al Davis, but the Raiders put the city on the global map. The A's, with three consecutive World Series championships in the 1970s, further raised the profile. But the truest measure of a city, and perhaps the most accurate identity, is found in the individuals cultivated in its communities, on its streets. In many cities, certainly in Oakland, that would be its sports figures. In the middle of Oakland sits Curt Flood Field. In north Oakland sits Rickey Henderson Field, with another in east Oakland. Alameda's Encinal High, which produced Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, renamed the baseball field in his honor. The complex at Fremont's Washington High is named after Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley. Insofar as Joe Morgan graduated from Castlemont High, is in the Hall of Fame, still lives in the East Bay and supports local causes, a street sign is a sorry compromise. Having nothing of significance in the name of Bill Russell Jersey, however, is felony negligence. |
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