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http://www.thepost.mindspring.com Charlotte ^^nst 11A SPORTS THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1998 Headed south? The Carolina Panthers reach i contract agreement with ! Washington defensive tackle ; Sean Gilbert. Story oh 13A j Despite mounting losses, Jackson a find for Nuggets By Karl Petraroja FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST tVot a lot has gone right /or the Denver Nuggets this season. At 7-58, Denver is on the verge ofsetUng the NBArecordfifr futil ity. One of the bright lights shin ing through those many losses has been the play of rookie guard Bobby Jackson of Salisbury. But evenJacksonhashadtodealuith ups and downs. Jackson, 25, led the Minnesota Golden Gophers to theFinalFour last season and was playing bril liantly for the Nuggets before he brbke the ring finger on his right Hearing no barrier for Pride By Paul Newberry THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Salisbury rookie flashes potential in Denver hand Feb. 19 against the Los Angeles Lakers. He came off the injury list earlier than expected, just in time to play in front of 40 friends and family last week at Charlotte Coliseum. But the Nuggetd first two-game winning streak of the season fell in a 109- 87 loss. Jackson also struggled to r^ain the farm he had through the first four months of the sea son. “It was a thrill just to come back and play in fiont of your home fans, especially when yoitve been autfbraboutanumth,”hesaid.“I had never played here (the Coliseum) before, so it was fun. The only time Tve been in here waswhentheNBAdrafiwashere last year, I had a cheering section that day” Jackson hit his first two shots against the Hornets but firushed only 4-10 for 9 points in 23 min utes. His conditioning wasrit there but he showed dyrtamic flashes ofhowexpheice he ccmbe on the court. “Bobby’s going to be a goodNBAplay- er” Nuggets coach Bill Hamlik said. He did some good dungs, he alsorrmde some mistakes. But after being out for so long and ortly having one practice, he com- Jackson KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Curtis Pride, despite being unable to hear the crack of the bat or the cheerily of the fans, considers himself no (Efferent than anyone else on the field Hdsjust a ballplayer trying to earn ajob in the major leagues. “Fve never looked at my deaf ness as a handicap,” said Pride, contending for a spot on the Atlanta Braves bench. “I just want everyone to treed me as one oftheguys.” His big, brown eyes are firmly fixmsed on the world around him. Surrounded by alnrost toUd sileiwe,they are his greed equaliz er, edloeving him to tune in to everything from a pitchePs curve to a teammatds chatter to a rqrortePs epeestions. Signed by the Braves last month. Pride has been one of the most impressive players during spring tredrdng. Hds on the verge ofeewning a spot as a left-handed finch-hitter, hitting 318 with two homers, 11 BBIs and three stolen “Thefve givenme alotofeppor- tunities and Tm just taking adveudage of it,” he said “I came here with the irdention of making the team.” In dte clubhouse. Pride has fit right in with his new teamrmdes despite the uniqueness of his situ ation. “Believeme, it's not a (Usability,” said fellow outfielder Geredd Williams, whose locker is adja cent to Pridds in the spring train ing clubhouse. “If you spend a Hi de time around him, yem realize dud hds epdeker them most of us in terms of processing informa tion.” Pride has never shied euvay fromhis deafness. He talks about it epenly and goes to greed lengths to put those ((round himedease. “Peeple cue edways telling me. Its reed easy to talk to you. You have a good sense of humor,’” he said, smiling broeuUy. “The only thing is they have to ftece me when they talk, because I read Bps.” Pridds mother, Sadie, contract ed Germem measles while she was pr^nant with Curtis. His hecuing impairment was diag nosed when he was 7 months old ‘T think hds comfortable with U. Thed's the medn thing,” said his mother, who quit her job as a reg- isterednurse after his birthsoshe coulddevoteextradmetohelping him deed with his deafness. SalHe Pride erwouretged her son to take up as memy extrexcurriesi- laracUvitiesashecouldhandlecd cm early age. He tried art. He per formed in a play. But sports, where his hearing impairmerd debit matter as much as his cdh- leticabilitywashisroadtoeuxep- temce. “There was taunting and leas ing when he was in elementary scheal,” send his father, John Pride. “But once kids realized whed cm exceptioned edhlete Curt was, they were more interested in trying to identify with him them See PRIDE on page 13A PHOTO/HERBERT L. WHITE Johnson C. Smith quarterback Bruce Harrison is the Golden Bulls’ only signal-caller during spring drills. He hopes to establish himself as the clear-cut starter for the fall. Change in plans Injuries give JCSU’s Harrison shot at top QB job By Herbert L. White THE CHARLOTTE POST No one can touch Bruce Harrison during Johrtsem C. Smiths spring fbodxdl (bills. No uxmder. Hds the Golden Build only healthy epearter- bewk. During a scrimmage Icest week, a defensive linemem firr- got and flattened Harrison, which drew cm immediate scoleUng from cexich BUI Deals. ‘Hds the only one we have out there right now,” Davis saUL “I was telling them dorit hit him becemse if we do, we might have to caU spring peac- ticeofP’ Irquries to KeUh Mack (knee) and Desmond Brown (heart ttmrmur) made Harrison a starter by default, but hds working to cemerd his hold before fall prewtiex steals. Spring ball, he admits, is his best chance tomakeemimpres- “Fm putting pressure on myself because it is a make or break year for me,” Henrison scad “tve played in geunes and started games, but I haverit reaUy taken over the team. If I dorit step up, I might not get another chance to play, tve got to seize the moment.” Sitwe the end of last season, Ha rrison immersed himselfinthe offense, breaking down teqres Davis and working with coaches. Studying last year’s 2-8 cam- pcdgnhelpedlumgetagraspof whats needed to improve. knew I couldvit come in half-stepping, even if the other quarterbacks were healthy,” Harrison said “I knew if I wanted to play I woeeld have to put the work as far as studying film, talking to coaches and going over everything a epiar- terback is supposed to do.” Harrison has shown promise in drills, enough that Smith coceches are tedking about nuik- inghimNo.lprovidedhehasa strong spring. At emy rede, the experience hds picking up neyw iviU help come fall “We expect him to compete for the stealing position next year,” Smith offen^ve cexjrdi- nedor Tim Henrkness said “We hepe to recruit same freshmen to come in and make the com petition pretty stiff, but I expect Bruce to be one of the guys who could be Uve mean mem.” Henrisonhastheleast experi ence among the returning See SPRING on page 14A peted,heplayedhardThce{saUI cem ask of him —play head” Jacksem got a Icdejump on his baskedaU education. He eUebit start playing until age 12 and wasrit involved in organized bas- ketbaU until his sephomore year at Salisbury High. That wasitt about to hold Jackson back. He played two years cd Western Nebraska JuniorCedlegebefiyre transferring toMinnesota,where he was 47-11 in two yeews. AU that winning must have rtmde it eUffiemlt to endure the losing pains of Denver’s dreadful season, only seven wins in the first 65 games. ‘HsbeenroughbutIdorttthink i tmtheonlyonewhefsbeeninthis; situation,” Jcukson said “I think \ every player has come from great' pregrams and just to step into a | situation like this is tough for \ everybody but we just have to j keep working hard “IhadagreedyearinMinnesota but tiuxts behirul me. tmjust try- \ ing to get better as a player so I cem be successful and help the \ team win,” Jeeeksoeis rmmbers before the injury were good 133 points per • game, 43 rebounds, 53 assists '- See JACKSON on page 14A Evans out as Smith women’s hoop coach Livingstone’s Mitchell a possible successor By Herbert L. White THE CHARLOTTE POST JohnsonC.SmithislooltingfbranewwomerisbasketttaU.cex(ch. Hythia Evans, who led the Golden Bulls for 11 seasons, will ned be • retained. The Post has learned Evans, who took over the program ■ when Steve Joyner was named meets ceeach in 1987, went 15-14 last i season wUh NCAA Division n player ofthe year and natiaeud scoring i champion Konecka Drakefbrd on the team. The coedract of assistant - cexichJulieHeegemwasedsorwtrenewed “We want to try to (hire a new coewh) before schools out. Smith ath- ' letiedireeior Bill Davis said j Smith has already held “mfiermoT’ talks with Lieingstone womeeis | coaek Andrew Mitchell Another potential canddede with ties to the CIAAisNC. CeidralsJoti-Bobinsem, aCharlotteneetivewhobuiltliulepemleeweHighinto one ofthe areets tip prep programs before taking over ed her edmamater two seasons ago. “Folks have called, but tm not ed liberty to say who,”Davis send A former assistant to Joyner with the meets team, Mitchell took livingstone to titeCIAAchanpionship geeme this season, his fourth ed the schexd. The Bears, who had iwt won a toureuemeid game in 24 years, pulled off three consecutive upsets before losing to rwtiomdpower Bowie State. Evans “We heul some infiemud discussions,” Mitchell said, “but we haverit tedked about cemtrewts. Its been emere like therdsemepening.” A Sedidrury native, Mitchell send hds happy ed Livingstone, but: woubirit rule out a return to JCSU. “Itseemslikeagoodplaeetowork,buttmh(qpycdlivingstone,”he said“Itsagoexlsituation(edIivingstone).TherdsalotofyemnglcuUes : graduating, and I feel a conupitmeed to thenu” j NBA labor peace may be a thing of the past By Chris Sheridan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS The NBAs currerd collective bargaining agreement, despised bythecommissioneremdhededby many of the veteran players, worit be around much longer. The leaguds 29 owners voted overwhelmingly Moeulay to reepen the agreemerd and scrap its remedning three years. Commissioner Deuid Stem called fbrtidkstob^nJ^rillonanew deed. The emrrerd sivyear eegreemetd was due to expire after the 2000- 2001 contraet, bid instead will Icpse June 30. “Wdve known for a year now that this was going to be reopened,” Celtics cexech Rick Pitinosaiel’HepefullyUwillbea short and sweet (n^otiatiem) and both sides will exmetegether and do tile right thing for prafessioned basketball” If a new agreemerd isn’t reached by July, a lockout-cred least a sigrdng moratorium - couldb^in. “Tm not sold tiled (a lexkout) is gdng to happen, becemse every body knows that if therds a work steppage, it will be a bitter one,” Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls said. ‘Tt was expected,” Michael JordcmsedeL“l dorit really under stand it because they voted for it the first time. We thought we were getting a screwy deed the first time, but it turned out to be PHOTO/KELLY OWEN NBA veterans despise the col- ; lective bargaining agreement ; because it allows rookies to j become free agents after three ; years. where we had the advantage in j some respects, and now they feel ; the pent they voted on was not | whed they wanted” ■- The 27-2 vote by the Board of \ Governors, which tixrk place cd a j hotel near the Dallas-Fort Wortii r Intemationed Airport, does not J affect this season. | Stem refused to say which two [ teams were against reeperdng. ; “Ourgoed is to have a successor ' agreemerd in place by the time - the currerd agreemerd expires,” i NBA deputy cepimissioner Russ 1 Granik said. “Although the I See NBA on page 15A
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March 26, 1998, edition 1
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