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THURSDAY, JUNE 29. 2006
IN BUSINESS
Low-cost carrier
jetBlue launches
Charlotte to New
York service.TC
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Charlotte center Tammy Sutton-Brown pulls down a rebound In a loss to Detroit last week. At 3-11 after Tuesday’s 73-67 win at New York,
Charlotte has the second-worst record in the WNBA.
Not fun in summertime
Sting doesn’t have much time to figure what’s going wrong
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
Muggsy Bogues was at wit’s end
last week.
With a losing streak that
extended to seven games, the
Charlotte Sting head coach
showed his fhastration by issuing
an ultimatum for the team last
week.
“I’m looking for five people who
want to jjlay,” said Bogues. “Five
people who want to compete with
some heart, who want to play
good basketball.”
Even if their time on the floor
wasn’t being questioned, atten
dance has dwindled to where
even the players can’t ignore it.
And while the players have heard
the Bogues make the same state
ment, it’ll take more than words
to make a differ
ence.
“It’s about
accountability,” for
ward Sheri Sam
said. “He’s been
easy on us, think
ing that we are pro
fessionals, and
we’re going to do
our jobs, but we’re not getting it
done. So you have to cut the reins
and you have to do what you have
to do.”
Sam is one of the few players
that comes to play every night.
I
Sam
something Bogues is looking for
in everyone on the roster.
“It’s not about scoring,” said
Sam.
“It’s about boxing your man out,
playing defense, making the rota
tion, knowing your plays, being in
the right spots. You know those
are the little things between win
ning and losing, and we are not
quite getting them right now.”
“It’s disappointing that we con
tinue to lose,” said rookie Tye’sha
Pluker, who is struggling to
adjust to the WNBA. ‘^We just
need to find out what the team
needs to do to make a turn
around, because we can’t continue
Please see STING/2C
Power failures
The Sting is near the bottom
of the 14-team WNBA in points
and rebounds allowed.
Team
Points Rebounds
allowed allowed
Chicago .. , 77.29 •. 36.43
Sting aD-e4 37.57
Phoenix 87.58 39,42
Jordan faces major early decisions with Bobcats
By Tim Whitmore
THE AS$OOA1ED PRESS
Michael Jordan won six NBA
titles and wide
H acclaim as the great
est player in NBA
history. In joining
the Charlotte
Bobcats, he finds
himself with a fran
chise struggling to
build itself from the
Jordan ground up.
And there are ques
tions about whether Jordan -
whose tenure in management was
Derby opens
door for
neweomer
By David Dawson
FOR THE CAHRLOTTF POST
Anganette Byrd searched for
summer camps that would be
suitable for her son Michael, 8.
While searching, she came across
the All-American Soap Box
Derby, a youth initiative of
NASCAR.
The Huntersville Soap Box '
Derby chapter conducted a week
long camp that allowed partici
pants a chance to build gravity
powered cars and train for the
local championship race for a
qualifying spot in the 69th All-
American Soap Box Derby'
Championship on July 22.
“Our family enjoyed this new
experience of soap box derby rac
ing,” Byrd said. ‘We had an oppor
tunity to meet other families,
members of the board personally
took the time to help us with oiu
son’s car, and we aU had so much
hardly a success in Washington - is
the right man to oversee the bas
ketball operations of the 2-year-old
NBA franchise.
Brought in last week by owner
Bob Johnson to be his largest
minority partner. His Airness
already faces a momentous deci
sion: TOio to take with the No. 3
pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
After that, the question becomes
whether Jordan can help Johnson
overcome several early blunders
and sell the Bobcats to a city tfiat
so far has shown scant interest in
the team.
'The Bobcats sold out just seven of
41 home games last season, the
first at their new downtown arena,
and ranked 22nd in the NBA in
attendance. They stiU haven’t sold
naming rights to the building and
are locked in a long-term television
contract that hides most games on
a cable-only news channel instead
of a sports network or an over-the-
air station.
“There have been a number of
missteps • and false stops and
starts,” said sports marketer Marc
Ganis, who heads Chicago’s
Sportscorp Ltd. “They needed to
MieUmt
Michael Byrd Jr. of Charlotte raced
week in Huntersville.
fun, said Byrd.
Although Michael did not
advance to the world champi
onship to compete for the $5,000
college scholarship, he and his
family are considering racing next
PHOTO/ALAN TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
in his first Soap Box Derby last
year. “After the (Huntersville)
race was over and all the awards
had been presented, many par
ents encouraged us to come back
in September for the fall race,”
said Byrd.
me
shotsdll
Brock’s
goal
Heavyweight aims to
prove ‘lackluster’
win an aberration
By Herbert L. White
herb.v/h(Te@fhechariottepo5Lcom
Calvin Brock won the fight but may
have lost ground in his quest for the
world heavyweight boxing champi
onship.
Brock ran his record to 29-0 with a
unanimous decision over Timur
Ibragimov Saturday in Las Vegas. But
there was little action and Brock won
ders if taking on the previously
unbeaten Ibragimov damaged his
chances at landing a title shot.
“I really don’t know,” Brock said. “In
boxing it’s important to win but it’s
more important to make a statement
with a win..I don’t think I made a
statement against this opponent.”
Brock, who is ranked in the top five
in the three major sanctioning bodies,
hopes he’ll land a title shot by year’s
end. He’s hoping for a match against
International Boxing Federation
champion Vitaly Klitschko if a deal
See BROCK/3C
do something, and this (bringing in
Jordan) was the biggest splash
they could have made.”
When Johnson announced Jime
15 that Jordan had bought a stake
in the team, he was emphatic that
Jordan would not be involved in
daily operations.
“Michael is not a day-to-day
employee. He’s not an employee at
all. He is an owner who I have
given the authority to oversee all of
the basketball player-personnel
decisions,” Johnson said.
But that has raised concerns
Please see JORDAN/2C
Top soccer
official slams
referees, too
By John Pye
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLJN - The record stream of
yellow and red cards in the World
Cup has soccer’s highest official
issuing his own caution - to the ref
erees.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter criti
cized Valentin Ivanov’s handling of
Portugal’s 1-0 second-round win
over the Netherlands, when the
Russian referee handed out a
record-tying 16 yellow cards and an
unprecedented four reds.
In a frank assessment to a
Portuguese TV station. Blatter said
Ivanov was not up to the level of the
players.
“I think there could have been a
yellow card for the referee,” Blatter
said.
There were 23 red and 291 yellow
cards handed out in the first 52
matches at Germany 2006, surpass-
SeeTOP?
’ SOCCER/3C
AP PHOTO/JAE C. HONG
Calvin Brock (right) and Timur
Ibragimov exchange punches in
their bout Saturday in Las Vegas.
Brock won a unanimous decision.
BACK FROy NBA DRAFT
Jackson State
coach happy
star returns
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. — Ttevester
Anderson is grateful that his leading
scorer is returning to Jackson, State
for his senior season.
Trey Johnson flirted with entering
this week’s NBA draft before vinth-
drawing his name by last week’s dead
line for imderclassmen.
“It makes us a more complete team,”
Anderson told The Sun Herald of
Gulfyort. “He’s a leader and excep
tional player who represents Jackson
State well. I’m delighted to have him
back and it will add to our program.”
Johnson, who ranked 10th national
ly last season by averaging 23 points,
didn’t sign with an agent and now
hopes next year to become the 14th
player in school history to make an
NBA roster.
Detroit Pistons guard Lindsey
Hunter, who is considering retire
ment, is the only ex-Tiger playing in
the league.
“Everything went weU and there
was interest from teams, but I
thought it would be best to come back
for my senior year,” Johnson said.
See JACKSON/3C
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