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Thursday, January 5, 2006
C. JEMAL HORTON
Carolina’s rise or fall starts, ends with Delhonune
‘ Continued from page 1C
And for all the criticism he’s
‘ taken this season for fum
bling the football and making
errant throws, the Panthers
' have won 12 of their 17
‘ games this season. And Jake
had a whole lot to do with
^ that, just as he did during the
* Super Bowl season of 2003.
So we know Jake CAN lead
the Panthers to a big-time
victory on the road.
The thing is, this weekend,
he HAS to lead them.
There can be no sloppy mis
takes against this Bears
defense. Not with a beast like
Brian Uriacher in the middle.
Not with defensive backs
such as Nathan Vasher and
Mike Brown back there
prowling, waiting to pick oflf a
pass. This is a Chicago
defense that not only inter
cepts the football; it runs with
the ball and scores touch
downs with regularity And in
a game that will undoubtedly
be dose from start to finish,
one ill-advised throw fium
Jake could cost the Panthers
their season.
It has been mentioned sev
eral times this week that the
Bears had the No. 2-rated
NBA’s Pistons take heat for
calendar with sexy pictures
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — A 2006 calendar
showing scantily dad women fix)m the Detroit
Pistons dance team has drawn criticism fiom a
Christian group that says the pictures are too
sexy
The calendar is in its third year and shows
members of the Pistons dance team
Automation in • and partially out of - swim
suits.
The American Decency Association last
month started an e-mail campaign to oflBdals
of the NBA dub, saying the calendar is inap
propriate for a team supported by families,
women and young children.
“Tb me, this is a form of prostitution,” said
Barbara Rotary of Pontiac, who said she saw
the calendar while Christmas shopping and
alerted the group. “The Pistons are profiting
fiom using women’s bodies this way”
The assodation is based in Fremont, about
40 miles north of Grand Rapids in rural west
ern ^fichigan.
In a mission statement on its Web site, the
NBDL showcases talents
FROM STAFF REPORTS
FAYETTTEVILLE
Players in the NBA
Development League will
demonstrate their talents for
NBA scouts and fans during a
two-day, MLK Showcase in
Fayetteville Jan. 15-16 at the
Crown Coliseum.
“We expect up to 100 NBA
dignitaries from teams
around the United States to
be in attendance,” said Tbdd
DeMoss, president of the
Fayetteville Patriots. “The
opportunity to see more than
80 players - in real game situ
ations, no less - is invaluable
to the team executives
responsible for discovering
that talent.”
According to NBA rules, D-
League players who are not
designated by NBA teams
can be signed by any NBA
team at any time. The NBA
10-day contract signing peri
od began Jan. 5.
Hie showcase opens at 11
a.m. and doses with an 8 p.m.
game on Jan. 16. Eight
games are scheduled over the
two days, and all will be tele
vised on NBA TV Games are
open to the pubUc.
“By hosting D-League
Showcase, the Patriots have
given Fayetteville a great
opportunity to shine in fiunt
of a national audience,” said
John Meroski, president and
CEO of the Fayetteville Area
Convention and Visitors
Bureau.
One-day passes are $10 and
two-day passes are $15.
Individual game tickets and
group prices are available.
For more information on tick
ets, or a full schedule of
games, contact the
Fayetteville Patriots at 213-
1000.
The NBA Development
League offers players the
opportunity to develop their
talents imder the NBA’s
direction and guidance. D-
League teams have direct
affiliation with NBA Tfeams.
In addition to the Patriots,
other teams include the
Austin Tbros, the Arkansas
RimRockers, the Tulsa 66ers,
the Albuquerque
Thunderbirds, the Florida
Flame, the Roanoke Dazzle
and the Fort Worth Flyers.
Former Hampton standout Mathis
rolls into first Pro Bowl berth
Former
Hampton
standout
Jerome
Mathis
earned his
first Pro
Bowl berth
as a kick
returner.
By Carter Tede
HOUSTON TEXANSjCOM
When your team has posted just two wins
before,Christmas, rai-dy do you have a legiti
mate shot at a winter trip to Honolulu Throw
in the fact tl^t you’re a rookie and the odds are
evai greater.
But you can’t argue with numbers. And
that’s why Jerome Mathis is heading to
Hawaii on the league’s dime as the AFC’s 2006
Pro Bowl kick returns.
“He’s been pretty consistent back there,” for
mer head coach Dbm Capers said. “It’s always
great when you’re honored by your peers. Tb
have a chance to go over there and play as a
rookie is quite an honor.”
Mathis posted phenomenal kick return num
bers in 2005. He returned 47 kickoffs for 1,402
yards and two touchdowns in just 10 games. In
fact, Mathis has the second-hig^iest sin^e-sea-
son kick return average in the NFL dating
back to the 1996 season when Carolina’s
Michael Bates (under Capers) had a 30.2-yard
average.
Mathis is the fourth Ifexan to earn a Pro
Bowl invitatiOTi, not to mention the first rook
ie and special teams player. San Di^ line
backer Siawne Merriman was the only other
rookie selected, uf^iing the league total to
seven this decade.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Mathis said after
Capers made the announcement after practice
Wednesday “Everybody’s giving me all the
credit but most of it, in my heart, goes to Joe
Marciano and the guys blocking for me. The
guys he put in fiunt of me are a wonderful
group who believe in just putting a body on a
body and letting me take care of the rest.”
The Pro Bowl voting is split evady into
three parts - fans, players and coaches.
Players and coaches vote only for their team’s
conference and aren’t allowed to vote for
members of their own team.
Mathis wasn’t even on the online fan ballot
imtil a few weeks ago as the Ibxans had orig
inally submitted comerback Phillip
Buchanon aS their kick returner. So we know
Mathis didn’t get many votes finm the fans.
That left the players and coaches. Yesterday
afternoon the 'feans split into offense and
defense and filed into two auditoriums to con
duct their voting. Meanwhile, the coaches
voted in the respective meeting rooms. Each
was given a list of players by position and,
more importantly for Mathis, a complete set
of league stats through Week 15.
Most players in the AFC couldn’t pick
Mathis out of a lineup. But his numbers were
tough to ignore. Mathis’ 29.8-yard average on
kickoff returns led the conference (and NFL
for that matter), nearly a yard better than
Buffalo’s Terrence McGee, who was last year’s
Pro Bowl representative. And while Mathis
had two touchdowns - one on national televi
sion when many of his peers were tuning in -
Mdjee and the next four players listed after
him didn’t have any scores. That had to jump
out at the players, especially at a rather inain-
spicuous position compared to the ^amour
boys at, say, quarterback, wide receiver and
defensive end.
The coaches? That voting bloc was likely a
slam dunk for Mathis. The Tbxans have
played ei^t AFC opponents to date and each
of them had to be blown away during game
planning by the speed they saw on film We’re
guessing both the (^Its and Chiefs • victims of
Mathis’ touchdown returns of 89and 99 yards,
respectively - cast their votes fra* the rookie.
“Any time he has the ball, he can score,” spe
cial teams coordinator Joe Marciano said
“lhafs what makes him so special.”
defense in the NFL, behind
Tampa Bay But most people
consider Chicago’s to be the
best in the league. Period. So
there’s a good chance the
Bears will be successful at
containing Panthers nmning
back DeShaim Foster, who is
coming off a great first-roimd
performance against the New
York Giants last weekend.
If Foster’s effectiveness in
tlie rumiing game indeed is
minimized, that leaves Jake
to do the bulk of the heavy lift
ing
He’ll have to use aU his
weapons wisely - Foster is a
superb receiver out of the
backfield.
Jake will have to find Smitli
the millisecond he becomes
open, which might not be
often.
Jake will have to hold on to
the ball when he gets liit.
The bottom line?
The PantJiers gotta, wanna,
needa, getta, havea great
game fiom Jake.
E-mail columnist C. Jemal
Horton at
seejefnaiwritei^ aoix'om.
group says, "As C^hristians, we need to be
increasingly discerning legarding our choices
of media entertainment, i^ecc^inizing that our
bodies are the temple of the Lord, and we
should not ©cpose ourselves to that which will
degrade and dishonor.”
Pistons president Tbm W^on said the calen
dar is artistic and tasteful and contains images
anyone could see on the beach.
‘We’ve had far more positive comments than
negative,” Wlson told The Detroit News. “The
girls look beautiful. They don’t look sleazy or
cheap.”
The calendar shows the dancers posing
around Michigan. The team gave away most of
the 8,000 calendars at a December game, while
others are on sale for $13 in team stores.
Buyers must be at least 18 years old. Profits go
to charity
On the Net:
Detroit Pistons:
wwwjibaxrom/pistons/
American Decency Association:
wwwerniericamlecencyetrg
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