Viewing page 33 of 43

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

FREEDOMWAYS             SECOND QUARTER 1972 

loyalties that were never established. Apparently when Chester Himes fled the "hurt" of America he had already lost himself. 

Loyle Hairston


FALSE, PATERNALISTIC STUDY

FOUL: THE CONNIE HAWKINS STORY. By David Wolf. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York. xi; 400 pages. $7.95.

THE WORK OF David Wolf, written about Connie Hawkins, with the chosen title Foul is a questionable piece of literature and at most, for 1972, a very untimely piece of literature.
This book, though lucid in many details, is repetitious with respect to two words. The two words that are overused are playground and semi-literate.
Mr. Wolf has written a detailed history of what it has been like on the playgrounds of New York throughout the last two decades. This book should have been directed at the basic evils of the society that surrounds basketball in New York City. In some small way this is done. But, basically the book takes a turn and shows in too many lurid details what goes on endlessly around the playgrounds. Due to unfortunate economic conditions and life styles of many children, young adults, and adults who populate the New York basketball courts, summer after summer, the central figure in Mr. Wolf's book, Connie Hawkins, emerges and Wolf paints him along with others as
semi-literate.
The ability of Connie Hawkins to play basketball has never been seriously questioned by experts. As with any human being great or small there must be a beginning. In this context, the author delves into the past of this illustrious basketball player and writes a book more dedicated to the evils and backgrounds of these young ghetto kids, than to the real achievements of these human beings in climbing above their faults and the many pitfalls they faced.
The story in this book relates more directly to the story that was not written. Wolf has written a book that could easily be described as a down book. There are few if any incidents recorded that show an elevation of activity and praise. The incidents that show a denigrating and downward evaluation of people and institutions are innumer- able. Players are downed, coaches are downed; officials, referees and umpires alike are downed, teams, managers, team substitutes, general 

158

BOOK REVIEW           BROWN

managers in the front office, and also owners of the various teams mentioned are each put into a down perspective. It is very unreal to look in this kind of book that traces the history and the rise of one of the game's top stars and see evidence of scandal after scandal, unfortunate incident after unfortunate incident, despair, behavior unbecoming college personnel, business personnel, lawyers, and all other involved peoples trying to promote a sport that has been classified by many experts as the Number One spectator sport in America today. 
In some places the book is extremely funny. The humor stretches from a sophisticated approach, to toilet, locker room and shower room approaches. This is very entertaining but by the same token I would roughly guess that perhaps a dozen law suits could stem from some of the anecdotes and human episodes described vividly by the author. Except for a few chapters this book could just as easily have been written or dedicated to Gail Goodrich or Eddie Simmons or Roger Brown or Paul Silas or Jerry Colangelo or Bill Bridges. I say this because each one of these aforementioned stars and coaches is castigated by the author. Gail Goodrich as an example is played up as an alleged bigot. Eddie Simmons, a contrite, sidewalk operator in Connie's ghetto neighborhood, is pictured throughout as a wheeler-dealer, and in the last chapter Eddie was further put asunder by direct comments about his dishonesty and his drug habits. The comments about Roger Brown were suggestive and ill timed, because Brown suffered and is still suffering from the same false charges and punishments inflicted upon and felt by Connie Hawkins. Paul Silas is described as an image for Black players in professional basketball, a very sensitive, emotional, and strong person concerned about his manhood who was a silent giant until hit with some malice or innuendo from the white players on the same team or in the same game.
Jerry Colangelo is given reams and reams of space in this book and the space is unworthy of the facts brought forth about this young ambitious general manager and later coach, of Connie Hawkin's pro team, the Phoenix Suns. Bill Bridges is unnecessarily accused of being an uncle tom. The point I am trying to make is that the stories about these persons that I have mentioned are isolated, disconnected, disjointed statements and references, and show little relationship to the central figure of the book.
In conclusion, I would suggest that the author, David Wolf, be severely reprimanded by the concerned Black population in the sports world for doing a complete surgical analysis and amputation of so many people.

159