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Show "... V i i j " ... f - " , Former NBA all-star Lou Hudson cheerfully signs autographs for high school students. Over Hudson's right shoulder is former pro football great, Marv Fleming, also signing autographs. At Hudson's right is Miners' basketball coach Paul Willard, also a fan. Get an education, legendary sports trio tells Park City High School students "v ' if pf ' by Dave Adler Willie Mays, the say-hey kid of baseball lore, enchanted, entertained, enter-tained, and educated an assembly of students at the Park City High School Friday when he joined former pro football star Marv Fleming and ex-NBA standout, Lou Hudson, in emphasizing the importance and virtues of a good education. In town for the National Brotherhood Brother-hood of Skiers Conference, the trio related educational and athletic experiences, signed autographs and mixed with students for more than an hour, much to the delight of numerous admirers. With the enthusiasm that dazzled baseball crowds from New York to San Francisco for 22 years and confirmed his place in the Hall of Fame, Mays held the assembly in rapt attention, w ....... Although he denied he is an educator or a teacher, or that he has a message to convey, he left what he hopes will be a long-lasting impression on his audience. "I earned a lot of money playing baseball," he said, "but I didn't know how to take care of it. I trusted a lot of people around me to take care of my money, and they spent it on themselves." Mays pointedly added, "If I had had an education, that wouldn' t have happened to me." Fleming, who garnered five Super Bowl rings more than any other NFL player during his 12 years with the Green Bay Packers and the Miami Dolphins, told students to "be an all-pro in whatever you do." He spoke of the value of his education at the University of Utah and urged his audience to work hard in the classroom because "the effort has its own reward. "If you want a nest egg in life, whether you play sports or not, then get yourselves a good education," said Fleming. Hudson, who was an All-Star several times during his career in the NBA, told students "to prepare to meet challenges." He said that Frequently asked to compare his famous catches, Mays usually invokes his stock answer "I don't compare 'em, I just catch 'em." But on Friday he abandoned the routine and described what he considers to be his most spectacular feat in the field. "It was in 1952 in Ebbetts Field against the Brooklyn Dodgers. A guy by the name of Bobby Morgan hit it to left-centerfield. I had to dive and stretch parallel to the ground," he said, twisting in his chair while he relived the moment. "I had to twist my glove hand (left hand) around to catch it and when I hit the ground, I was knocked out for about two minutes." When he woke up, said Mays, his manager, Leo Durocher, and his best . friend, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame second baseman, Jackie Robinson, were standing over him. "The ball was still in my glove," he said. That "greatest catch ever" may be a new one to baseball fans familiar with Mays' widely heralded catch in the 1954 World Series between his New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians. Worthy of a circus performance, Mays turned his back at the crack of the bat and started running toward the centerfield fence. As he was running full speed with his back to home plate, Mays looked up over his shoulder to see the ball, and his cap fell off just as he pulled in the baseball in the same way a wide receiver catches a long pass over his head. Mays resists comparisons of players, today and yesterday, and records. And that hesitation includes himself. "I didn't play for records, I played for myself," said Mays. "You can't compare players. You should just let them play for themselves. That's how people should remember them." And that's just how sports, fans remember Willie Mays. The incomparable incom-parable Willie Mays., photos by Nan Chalal Willie Mays held center stage Friday at the Park City High School. High school principal, Dr. Jack Dozier, casts an admiring glance at the say-hey kid. "education is the key to getting where you want to go." Fit and trim, and looking as though he could cover centerfield as well as ever, Mays is not currently, involved in baseball in any capacity owing to the sport's ban on those involved with gambling interests. But Mays hopes newly-elected baseball commissioner Peter Ueb-beroth Ueb-beroth will lift the prohibition and permit his return to baseball. "He's a very reasonable person, a real nice guy," said Mays of Uebberoth."I don't know what he'll decide, but it will be in the best interests of baseball." Mays now works for a group of Atlantic City, New Jersey, gaming interests as well as for Ogden Foods, a New York stock brokerage house. But he might be willing to return to baseball, he said. He said he doesn't have any interest in managing, but would welcome a chance for some role in baseball. "I could do a number of things. I could do anything, really," he said. "I could go to All-Star games, the World Series, some executive things. I'd like to get back into it." |
