mbt0e
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 Posted: Thu 4:01, 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 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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All of which makes the ceremony honoring [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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"The Presidential medal, like so much else in his life, is late," said Dr. Harry Edwards, who has known [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
This gathering of [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
Through diligence and intellect, rigorous application of all he read and was taught, [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
That [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
For all he has meant to Boston, though, there is nothing in that city reflecting [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
They'll probably put up a statue, finally allowing [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
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