Tradition in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, can be summed up in one word, baseball. In the small western town, population 100,000, baseball is a legacy passed father to son, generation to generation and is part of the city’s heritage, morale and history.
The Mayaguez Indians team is no stranger to overcoming the odds, to playing "David" to the Island much richer teams' "Goliath." When the 1987-88 team, lead by manager Jim Rigglemann, wins its 8th State Championship in 50 years, it is almost unexpected.
ESPN would adopt a reality series where 15 to 50 pure athletes or ex- athletes would compete for an opportunity to get to an NFL or Arena training camp. It would have position series, so one season would be running back, the next linebacker, the next offensive line.
It would be good because it would be intense competition, people would see what it takes to be a professional, and maybe some anonymous people would get a chance for something big. It would be interesting just to see all the specialty training and workouts these guys need to learn.
Story takes place during segregation times. Black people begin to protest to let black go to the same school as whites and whites protest against the idea. One school finally decides to let black students in their college. The black students try out for the football team and both white and black don't get along.
The more they play together to they begin to like each other and after past years where they didn't win more the 4 games they are now 8-0, but the parents and rest of the world still has a problem with it. White parents begin making threats in black neighborhoods to the black players telling them to go home and don't come back, throwing rocks threw their windows and cars.
Football players wanna play, they want to win, every game every time. Die hard fans want their team to play, to win every game every time. These two groups share the same goal. Some times at almost any cost.
What they don't want are penalties, penalties, penalties. So the people demanded and voted for a new football league. The WFL world football league. Anyone can play. Bringing together the players and the player haters, oil and water, many styles of play, but one team is known for unnecessary roughness because in this league there is no unnecessary roughness.
THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, LEE Benson seemed like a lock for the NBA. After playing just a year of high school ball in Dayton, dozens of Division I schools, including Oklahoma, Clemson, and California, wanted the 6'11" Benson badly. Benson averaged 22.0 ppg and 15.6 rpg, winning city MVP honors.
Then he screwed up. The way Benson explains things, he began hanging out with a group of "thugs from the neighborhood" and getting in trouble. It was the biggest mistake of his life. He ended up getting convicted of drug trafficking and abduction with a firearm--and spending 8 1/2 years in prison.
