2B
SPORTS/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, June 18, 1998-
Lane thinking large for 1998
Continued from page 1B
my face when I’m doing good
but if I mess up or something,
they’d be snickering and
telling me ‘I knew you were not
going to be nothing and stuff
like that.”’
If it sounds like Lane has a
chip on his shoulder, he does.
But not against any of his cur
rent Panther teammates, espe
cially the man he’s battling for
the starting halfback job,
Tshimanga Biakabutuka.
Right now the job is Lane’s to
lose but if Biakabutuka
regains the form he showed
during his college career at
Michigan, Lane could be in for
a real battle.
“I don’t hate the man because
when I came here he took care
of me, so I got nothing but love
for him,” Lane said. “I didn’t
know anybody so he brought
me over to his house, he fed me
a little bit now and then, stuff
like that, gave me some
encoimagement.
“When he goes out there and
does a good job, I pat him on
the back and when I do a good
job he pats me on the back.”
Lane has set lofty goals for
this season - rush for 1,500
yards and make the Pro Bowl.
But he knows he has to be on
the field to make that happen.
“Goals don’t mean a thing
unless I hold onto the starting
position, so once I conquer
keeping the
Lane
starting
position,
then I can go
into my
goals,” he
said.
Lane isn’t
worried his
goals may be
a httle high
for a second
year back.
an offense that should suit
Lane because he’s not a one
dimensional running back, he’s
an aU-puipose back, more than
just a ball-carrier.
“For running backs the
biggest thing is they have to be
all-round,” Panthers new
Offensive Coordinator Gil
Haskell said. “They can’t just
be a blocker, a runner and if
‘If you don’t set your stakes
high then what?” he asked.
“I’m going to set them high so I
can raise my level, so I can
reach them. If I leave them
low, then my level’s not going
to go that high and I’ll still be a
mediocre guy.”
The Panthers’ new West
Coast offense should be any
thing but mediocre. It’s a quick
strike offense, utilizing the
skills of the running backs and
receivers in a series of fast,
short plays, designed to move
the ball rapidly up the field. It’s
you re a pass receiver, you
don’t play so they have to be all
three.
“We’ve done very well, you
have to like our two backs
(Lane and Biakabutuka); those
two guys and (Anthony
Johnson) and Scott
(Greene)...we’re in good
shape.”
Does Lane worry that he
might be too well known
around the NFL and won’t
catch defenses off guard this
season?
“No, not really, football is
football, the coaches is going to
give a great offensive plan for
the game and we’ve got to exe
cute. If we execute it’s all
good.”
It sounds like Lane is ready
to put to rest aU the doubts
“they” have about him.
Feeling better, Biakabutuka is ready
Continued from page 1B
“Last year was fhistrating to
set on the bench and look at
the guys
play
of the preseason’s hottest com
petition, Biakabutuka helped
Lane adjust to the NFL even
as Lane became Carolina’s top
and
have fun,
but at the
end of the
season, my
knee was in
worse shape
than we
thought it
was,” he
said. ‘Tf I had Biakabutuka
played more,
maybe I would’ve hurt it more.
But it was a blessing. It was an
opportunity for Fred to make
his own money and have fun.”
Although they are the focus
runner.
“We were close from the first
minicamp,” Biakabutuka said.
“Fred’s a good guy and there’s
no hate between me and him.”
Biakabutuka is a backup for
now, but Panthers coach Dom
Capers isn’t declaring a clear-
cut No. 1 just yet. With train
ing camp opening next month
and four weeks of preseason
games, there’s no need to rush
a decision.
“We don’t get too caught up in
depth charts right now
because we’re going to evalu
ate people, and there’s going to
be a lot of time for that to work
itself out,” he said. “Fred Lane
finished the season as our
starter and right now he lines
up with the first group, but I
wouldn’t read too much into
that.. .because things will
change.
“Thatll all work itself out.
We have talent at that posi
tion, guys that we think are
very capable, and I don’t think
you can have enough good run
ning backs.”
Biakabutuka agrees.
“I think coach Capers is look
ing for wins,” he said.
“Whoever comes ready and
shows he can carry the team
the farthest will be the best
running back.”
1968 Olympic team one for the ages
By Bert Rosenthal
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW ORLEANS - The 1968
U.S. men’s Olympic track and
field team had a certain magic. It
was also immensely talented and
controversial.
“It was a very special team,”
long jumper Bob Beamon said.
“This team was so great. We
could do so many things. Anyone
nmning the mile on down could
run the 100 meters and win.”
That year, the United States
was rocked by the assassinations
of Martin Luther King Jr. and
Robert ■ Kennedy, civil rights
demonstrations and anti-war
protests.
Into the mix came the Olympics
in Mexico City. Black Americans
and Africans threatened to boy
cott the games, and shortly before
the opening ceremony, 30 stu
dents were killed during a stu
dent rally in the host city.
But the games began on sched
ule, and the United States
brought its greatest track and
field team ever.
Tbnight, 23 medalists from the
team will attend USA 'Track and
Field’s 30th Anniversary of
America’s Champions, sponsored
by Xerox, in New Orleans, site of
this weekend’s national champi
onships.
'There, they will be able to reUve
their memories - good or bad.
The men would win 12 of 24
gold medals in Mexico City and
the overall team would set eight
world records, including
Beamon’s remarkable 29-foot-2
1/2-inch long jump, Lee Evans’
43.86-second clocking in the 400
meters, Jim Hines’ 9.95 in the
men’s 100 and Wyomia 'Tyus’
11.08 in the women’s 100.
Winning performances also
included Dick Fosbury in the
men’s high jump with his unique
“Fosbury Flop,” a style that revo
lutionized the event, and A1
Oerter, the men’s discus gold
medalist for the fourth consecu
tive time.
'This was a close-knit group,
having trained for two months in
Spartan conditions in South Lake
Tahoe, Calif And it was caught in
the social upheaval of the day.
FILE PHOTO
Bob Beamon was one of many stars from the 1968 Olympic track
and field team. Beamon set the world long jump record of 29 feet,
2/12 inches, one of severai records set by Americans. Some team
members also were singled out for their political stances.
Most prominent was the black-
gloved demonstration on the
medals podium by Tbmmie Smith
and John Carlos, the first and
third finishers in the 200 meters.
Their gesture was interpreted
as too political, and Smith and
Carlos were expelled from the
Olympic Village by the U.S.
Olympic Committee, following
pressure fi’om the International
Olympic Committee.
(Tt was so unfortunate that we
took a nonviolent activity that
devastated two fine athletes,”
Beamon said. “The same thing
could happen today and it could
have a different meaning. It’s
unfortunate how it was interpret
ed. It was not planned.”
Vince Matthews, a member of
See OLYMPIC on page 4B
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