Word: player
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Williams was the 17th player drafted in the first round of 1978 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is not a meaningless slot to the 6-ft. 4-in., 220- lb. man from Grambling, a dabbler in numerology who wears the number 17 and beat the Vikings on January 17, 17-10. But his has not been a lucky career. In Williams' first full season as the Bucs' starter in 1979, he lifted the league's most woeful team to a 10-6 record and a playoff upset over Philadelphia. Still, he was ridiculed as a rocket launcher without temper...
...earlier era, a black athlete, no matter how gifted, could not realistically hope to become a star pro quarterback. Coaches believed that blacks genetically did not have enough intellect to call plays. Also: white players would not accept the leadership of a black field general. And of course: blacks won't measure up in clutch situations -- a view revived by the Greek in his statement that the Redskins' Williams might "choke" under pressure. As black Basketball Player Isiah Thomas pointed out last year during a storm of opprobrium about his views on Larry Bird, sportswriters are always dubbing black stars...
...flagging performance, they first considered the usual procedure: raiding the rosters of their West European competitors. Then Eintracht's scouts decided to look east, and a powerful young Hungarian soon caught their eye. As it happened, the sports authorities in Communist Hungary were delighted to discuss trading a winning player for hard currency. After weeks of bargaining, the two sides cut a deal. Last fall Hungary's top star, Lajos Detari, 24, began playing in West Germany on a three-year contract worth $2 million...
Many Eastern exports are now high-profile performers, including Czechoslovakia's Smetana Quartet, a string ensemble that earns $5,000 a performance in Western cities. Czechoslovak Hockey Player Jaroslav Pouzar, 36, helped Canada's Edmonton Oilers win three Stanley Cup championships. Though most East bloc talents are more modestly gifted, Western clients are usually delighted with them. Says a Viennese cabaret manager who hires Polish dancers: "They are better trained than Westerners, work longer and cost less." A four-man Prague dance band called Bob's Combo belts out tunes in English, German and even Japanese aboard the Royal Caribbean...
...bloc countries, even mild expressions of political dissent can be enough to deny sports stars as well as rock singers a passport. By the same token, mediocre talents boasting party membership often jump to the front of the line for jobs in the West. Explains a young Czechoslovak tennis player in Prague: "Here sports and culture are all part of politics...