SECTION C

Tigers Spotlight: One-on-one with Austin Jackson

By Michael Niziolek

Austin Jackson has big shoes to fill this

season. The 23-year-old was traded to the Detroit

Tigers in December as part of the three team deal that sent Curtis Granderson to the Yan- kees. Jackson steps into Granderson’s dual role as leadoff hitter and centerfielder for De- troit.

He has a career total of zero at-bats in the

Major League, but that doesn’t mean the rookie is worried. Jackson was one of the top pros- pects in the Yankees organization for the past four years and he is ready to take his game to the next level.

The FrontPage newspaper caught up with

Jackson before the Tigers finished up their exhibition schedule and headed to Kansas City for the season opener.

FrontPage: Austin, I wanted to

start out by talking about the trade in December. Going into the off-season with the Yankees did you have any sense that you might get moved?

Austin Jackson: No, not really.

My name came up in a couple of trade rumors before so I guess I wasn’t that surprised, but the day it happened it did kind of take me by surprise because nothing really led up to it. I just got a phone call saying you might be traded here in a little bit, so I just braced myself.

FP: What was your first reaction

when you got the news you were coming to Detroit?

AJ: Well, my agent called me and he

was pretty pumped, so that made me ex- cited because he was telling me this is a good opportunity for you to get your career started. Hearing that from him, that put me at ease.

FP: Was he excited because he had a

sense you’d be a starter here?

AJ: I think he was more pumped because I

would have a legitimate chance at making the ball club.

FP: Coming here meant replacing Curtis

Granderson. Did you know you were going to be taking the spot of one of the most popular players on the team?

AJ: Yeah. In the minor leagues, in the past,

I was compared to him, which is a great honor. He was one of the guys I watched playing cen- terfield and off the field you hear what type of guy he is. He came up to me (in spring training) and introduced himself, told me to work hard and the fans will love you.

there

Where d o e s

A U S T I N

had a strong

that work ethic come from?

BLACK BOWLERS DIARY

By Al Stroud

In the past the annual Bill

Rhodman Singles Classic, of the T.N.B.A. Central Division, has been the premier event of Detroit’s Black bowling com- munity.

Rhodman was one of De-

troit’s elite bowlers of yester- year. The tournament was held the third weekend of March. Contestants were the top league bowlers from an area bordered by Minnestoa, Ken- tucky, Michigan and Canada. The Sunday stepladder finals played to SRO crowds. There was intense rivalry between Chicago and Detroit. When bowlers from those environs met in head-to-head matches the betting dwarfed that at local race tracks. Those days are over.

This year’s tournament was

a lackluster affair. On Sunday a bowling ball, rolling from one end of the house to the other, would have hit no one. The NBA appointed a new tourna- ment director this year. He is from Chicago and has no pull with local bowlers. I tried to obtain scores after each block but was told the computer would not print the results. I attribute the problem to lack of knowledge of the software rather than any hardware prob- lem. The tournament has been in decline in recent years.

The T.N.B.A. was formed

in response to A.B.C. refusal to recognize Black bowlers. T.N.B.A. gave Black bowl- ers credibility and organized tournaments to enhance the bowling experience. Eligibility for the tournaments required membership in a T.N.B.A. sanctioned league.

In recent years that policy

has been relaxed. A bowler can pay the $2 sanction fee for the league, $15 dollars for a personal sanction card and be tournament eligible. Several talented “amateurs” have taken advantage of that “loop hole.” Vera Flowers and Gerald Johnson believe that to be the main cause of the decline. League bowlers who work every day and practice as often as they can, cannot compete against bowlers who

Al Stroud

spend the day in the bowling alley and have sponsors who pay their tournaments expens- es.

Entries appeared to be

down. There were 79 entries in the women’s division. Only a handful of local women com- peted. Most notable were two- time champion Tamika Glenn and former champions Novella Daniels and Carmen Allen.

Detroit was well-repre-

sented in the senior division. Among its 44 entries were former singles champions Earl Justice, Thresa Garner, Ralph Jennings, Charles Grad- dick, William Manley, Charles Hrobowski, Rod Harling, Vern Flowers, Freeman Wilson, James Derrickson, Larry Foote and Lorenzo Bartley.

Novella Daniels and Gerald Johnson.

I was unable to determine

the number in the men’s but Johnson told me they were down. For the first time in memory, Edwin Peart, who won the singles event twice, skipped participation to com- pete in his regular league.

Darlene Dysert and Ralph

Jennings finished 5th in the women and senior divisions singles, respectively. Detroit was shut out of the men’s finals. Dysert shot the tour- nament high game, of 299, for women in the qualifying rounds. I do not know the amount of the prizes.

A companion four-game

mixed doubles is held the night before the singles event. It was won this year by Novella Daniels and Gerald Johnson

with a score of 2050 which computes to 256 per bowler, per game. Sheree Jones and Edwin Peart were third at 1911 or 239 per game. Peart’s total included a 300 game.

Yvonne Ogburn prevailed

over Virginia Austin, 231 to 227, to claim the Senior Queens Crown at Century Bowl. Vera Johnson was fourth and Sheree Jones fin- ished fifth. Other cashers were Pamela Parker, Jean Fossett and Gwen Finley.

Kendra and Brandon Mc-

Cullers welcomes their first child, a son, on March 26. Expect him on the lanes in the future. Kendra’ s parents, Denise and Robert Hopson, are bowlers also.

and hit all day

JACKSON

spring training.

long. Without that I probably wouldn’t be here

FP: Working hard won’t

be anything new for you. You’ve been one of the top prospects in b a s e b a l l since the age of 1 2 .

AJ: I give a lot of credit to my dad. He built me a cage when I was younger. He built the.cage in the backyard. He put lights up for night- time and we’d get o u t

right now.

FP: This week won’t only be your debut

as a Detroit Tiger, it will also be your Major League debut period. What emo- tions are you feeling right now?

AJ: Words really can’t describe how I feel.

It’s been a goal I’ve been trying to reach for some years now and I couldn’t be doing it with a greater group of guys. They’ve welcomed me like I’ve been here for three or four years al- ready. They’ve put me at ease a little bit with me being a rookie.

FP: Down in Lakeland did anybody spe-

cifically take you under their wing?

AJ: Brandon Inge and Adam Everett, they’ve

been two of the guys that will sit me down if I have a question about something. They always tell me (to not) be afraid to ask, be- cause you don’t want to make a mistake and then have to sit down and talk about it.

FP: Are you feeling any added

pressure leading off right from the start of your rookie season?

AJ: I don’t really think it’s that much

pressure for me because it plays right into my game. Just getting on base, get- ting hits and getting in scoring position, I think that’s my game.

FP: What if you have a slump and

fans start to get on you a little bit. How are you going to handle that?

AJ: I always tell myself every year,

you know (a slump) is going to happen. Sometimes you’re going to feel like you can hit any pitch up there and then you’re going to feel like I don’t even know how to

play baseball. I have to constantly remind myself of that and tell myself when that happens you’ve just got to play through it.

You know you’re going to come out of it.

FP: One thing fans are really ex-

cited about this season is your speed. Ballpark guess: How many bases are

you going to steal this season?

AJ: Oh man, I would like to say 30. That’s

what I would like to shoot for. You never know. There are some good catchers out there who get rid of the ball pretty quick.

FP: Friday was the home opener in De-

troit. Give readers one thing you were ex- cited about and one thing that might have gotten you a little nervous.

AJ: I was most excited about the fans and

debuting. Like I said, it’s something I was look- ing forward to. I guess dropping a pop-up would be something I was scared of doing. (laughs)

FP: Thanks for taking the time. Good luck. AJ: Thanks.

Free admission to

Detroit Historical Museum

In conjunction with the

recently opened “Fabulous 5: Detroit’s Beloved Sports Coaches” exhibit at the Detroit Historical Museum, the week- end of April 17-18 will feature the second of four “Salute to Coaches” weekends, which offer organized youth sports teams (ages 17 and under) and their coaches the opportunity to see this exciting exhibit for free.

All team members and

Earl Justice Edwin Peart Darlene Dysert

coaches have to do is show up at the museum wearing a visible demonstration of their team affiliation (cap, jersey, etc.) and they will receive free admission, courtesy of the Japan Business Society of De- troit Foundation.

“Fabulous 5: Detroit’s Be-

loved Sports Coaches” tells the stories of five people who not only are true luminar-

ies of their respective games, they also earned a place in our hearts. Those featured include: George “Sparky” An- derson, Detroit Tigers; Scotty Bowman, the Detroit Red Wings; the late Chuck Daly, Detroit Pistons; the late Will Robinson, a local basketball coaching legend in the Detroit Public School League who went on to become the first black coach at a NCAA Divi- sion I school before finishing his career as a scout for the Detroit Pistons for 28 years; and Dick Vitale, University of Detroit Titans.

The Detroit Historical

Museum is located at 5401 Woodward Ave.

For more information, call (313) 833-7979.

April 14-20, 2010

PISTONS COACH Chuck Daly with Isiah Thomas. – Photo cour-

tesy of the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame

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