(3 of 3)
Portland Trail Blazer Bill Walton has done more dribbling at the mouth than on the court lately, and Oregon basketball fans are fed up. Walton, who had been questioned by the FBI about Fugitive Patty Hearst, appeared at a press conference to denounce the bureau and call for support in "rejection of the United States Government." Later he elaborated: "I meant that people who don't agree with the way the Government does things shouldn't cooperate with it. I don't intend to break the law, but I'm just not going to cooperate with agencies like the FBI when they ask me questions about my friends." Such comments drew some quick foul calls by phone, hundreds of letters, and a few cancellations by season-ticket holders. The $400,000-a-year center "has reaped extraordinary benefits from this system," said team officials in their own public statement. Portland Television Sportscaster Doug Lamear urged the Blazers to exchange one famous vegetarian for another by trading Walton "for Euell Gibbons and a six-pack of carrot juice." That just might be a good deal. Walton, who missed 47 of the Blazers' 82 games this season because of a foot injury, tore ligaments in his left ankle during a pickup basketball game last week and was reassigned to a cast for the offseason.
"I need a lot of money. Not for myself, but for my dancers, so they can look to a future that is not barren." With that, Modern Dance Doyenne Martha Graham, 80, announced a New York benefit in June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her revolutionary dance company. For the occasion, Graham plans a new work called Lucifer. The fallen angel will be played by Rudolf Nureyev. "It's a little typecasting," observed Graham. "I think Nureyev is a God of Light." His longtime partner, Margot Fonteyn, is also scheduled to make her first appearance with a modern dance company in a smaller role. With tickets starting at $50 and climbing to a robust $10,000 a seat, Graham has persuaded a former student, First Lady Betty Ford, to act as honorary chairperson of the event. "I hope it will succeed," said Graham. "But if it is a failure, I hope it is a big one, a scandal. I don't believe in little failures."