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Section
JUL - 7 200i
®fje CJarlotte ^ost
PORTS
THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2006
INSIDE
Carolina Panthers
hire Don Gregory
to lead college
scouting.SC
Morrison fits Bobcats
with savvy, recognition
By Chens F. Hodges
cherfshodges@thechartotfepost.com
If Adam Morrison is the Charlotte
Bobcats’ savior, he’s going to have to
prove it-
At an introductory press conference for
the third pick in the 2006 NBA draft,
Bobcats head coach and general manag
er Bemie Bickerstaff said that Morrison,
who’s best known for crying after
Gonz^a lost in the Final Four and his
diabetes, fits in with the current Bobcats’
roster.
“We know that Adam can shoot the bas
ketball and score the basketball, but that
U.S. soccer
needs better
athletes to
compete
By Kenneth J. Cooper
NAF/ONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBLJSHERS ASSOCIATION
The United States has won more
Olympic medals than any other
country since the modem games
started a century ago, almost twice
as many as its closest competitor, the
late Soviet Union. In another inter
national athletic competition held
every four years, though, the United
States has not fai-ed nearly as well —
soccer’s World Cup.
The early elimination of the best
American team ever fi'om the 18th
World Cup tournament, still under
way in Germany has sports com
mentators bantering about what
went wrong. How badly did it go? AH
you need to know is the U.S. team did
no better than THnidad and Tbbago,
a two-island nation of 1.3 million
making its first appearance in the
finals, in tying one game and losing
two in the first rotmd.
Poor coaching strategy, the imder-
achieving of individual players, a mix
of professionals irom different
leagues, unfair placement in a group
of four tough teams and the relative
ly low level of pre-toumey competi
tion have all been blamed.
However, none of those reasons
quite explains why no squad field^
by one of the world’s most populous
and athletically dominant countries
has ever made it to the championship
game, even more than a decade after
youth soccer leagues began priming
young talent. You have to look more
deeply at the evolution of both the
sport and the competition at what is
the most-watched athletic competi
tion on the planet.
Unlike the nearly monochromatic
Wmter Olymfdcs, you can see the
color of the world at the World Cup.
Every populated continent, except
single-cormtry Australia, is guaran
teed berths in the 32-team tomma-
ment. Europe gets the most because
of a high number of quahty teams,
drawn fium the continent’s profes
sional leagues, which are the world’s
best. North America, South America,
Asia and Afidca are always repre
sented.
Many coromehtators have observed
that most teams reflect continental
or even national stjies of play The
Europeans tend to be methodical and
rovigh, exemplified by the strappii^,
ru^ed Tbutons fielded by Germany
Afiican teams are fast and physical.
Latin American teams play a flow
ing game with fancy footwork, impro
vising moves to get down the field
and go for goals. Brazil, whose five
World Cup championships outnum
ber any other nation, have virtuoso
players whose bipedal mastery of the
ball makes it seem they have been
drinking coffee and tumir^ pages of
newspapers with their feet their
entire fives.
What, then, is the distinctive
American stjie? There isn’t one. (Tb
be fair, Asian nations seem to lack
one, too.) The U.S. team that could
not win a match in Germany played
much like the Europeans, controlled
and deliberate, but without as much
bangir^.
The American sqtiad would do bet-
• *o
was not the selling point to vis. It was how
he plays the game. He fits right in with
our yoimg men,” Bickerstaff said.
Though it hasn’t been said by the oiga-
nization itself, Morrison also brings
crossover appeal that may energize
Charlotteans into coming out to games.
Last season, the Bobcats ranked 22nd in
league attendance and only had seven
home sen outs.
Bickerstaff said Morrison fits the pro
file into what a good Bobcat is and
despite what people have heard, fans
have been supporting the team.
See TOP/2C
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Adam Morrison, the third pick overall in last week’s NBA
draft, shows off his new jersey with Charlotte Bobcats
coach/general manager Bernie Bickerstaff.
PHOTO/CURTiS WILSON
Charlotte’s Monique Currie, Tammy Sutton-Brown and Sheri Sam surround Sacramento’s Kara
Lawson. Wins have been more difficult to corral for the Sting, now 3-13.
Midterm struggles
Sting missing too many ingredients
to be a WNBA playoff contender
By Herbert L. White
herb.white-ithecharioftepost.com
When Muggsy Bogues took
over Ihe Charlotte Sting late
last season, th^e was hope '
the former Charlotte Hornets
star would bring NBA dash to
the struggling WNBA fi-an-
chise.
It hasn’t happened.
The Sting is flovmdering at
3-13 and near the bottom of
the league in every meaning
ful statistic. Precious little is
going right, and to his credit.
Bogues is shouldering the
blame.
‘We do things in practice
and once we get on the court,
we can’t seem to keep that
same aggression going,” he
said. “It’s my responsibility I
take afi the losses, aU of it is
my fault because I’m respon
sible for it. I’ve got to make it
work, and for some reason
I’m not getting what I need.
I’m not getting consistency
out of my players.”
That’s no understatement
Please see STING/2C
Going down
At the midpoint of the WNBA sea
son, the Sting is near the rear on
both ends of the floor.
Category Sting
WNBA
rank
Opp. points 79.31
I1ih
Opp. rebound 37.44
14lh
FG shooting 39.4%
13th
3-pt defense 36.0%
ism
Former Livingstone star 2nd in nationals
See U.S./2C
PHOTORUN PHOTO
Former Livingstone sprinter Jordan Vaden
(right) finished second in the 200 meters at
the USA Track & Field Championships.
By Herbert L. White
herb.whife@/Tiechartoffepostcom
Jordan Vaden has emerged
as one of the world’s top
sprinters.
The former Livingstone
sprinter finished second in
the 200 meters at the USA
Outdoor Thack & Field cham
pionships last month in
Ihdianapofis with a time of
19.98 seconds. World No. 1
Wallace Spearmon won with
a clocking of 19.90. Vaden
also finished fourth in the
100 with a personal best
10.20.
Vaden is on the verge of
finalizing a sponsorship con
tract with Nike and has
received a schedule to com
pete in. one more meet in the
U.S. before spending the rest
of the summer running in
Europe.
Vaden, an eight-time all-
America at Livingstone, won
the Division II 200 meter
title and finished second in
the 400m 2004.
plays
game of
wait, see
Division I still a go
as MEAC holds off
membership vote
Two years ago, Vdnston-Salem State
shocked the CIAA nation by annoimc-
ing it would apply for Division I sta
tus and seek membership in the Nfid-
Eastem Athletic Conference — a move
that seemed guaran- i
teed. I
Two weeks ^o, the I
university received a I
shock of its own when I
the MEAC I
presidents/chancellors I
voted to delay its mem- '
bership vote.
On June 13, that
shock turned electrify
ing after President Harold L. Martin
announced his departure to take a top
position with the UNC system.
Martin is credited with reviving a
dead institution when he took the
hehn in 2000. Nothing fike having a
president/chanceUor who values the
importance of academics AND athlet
ics.
Like North Carolina Central, which
also has applied for D-I status,
WSSNs biggest athletic paydays wore
homecoming and any game against
North Carolina A&T. Once the MEAC
issued a ruling that no conference
school could play more than, one
Division II opponent, WSSU was
dropped fi'om the Aggies’ schedule.
The Eagles got the boot last year after
dropkicking A&Ts behind in the
A^ie-Eagle Classic.
WSSUs entry into the MEAC - re
entry for NCCU - means a reunion
party fike no other. But that reunion
could get shortchanged.
Who’s to say if Martin’s successor
wfil be what the media fike to term
See WSSU/3C
Asbury takes
over as Shaw
head coach
By Eric N. Moore •
THE TRIANGLE TRIBUNE
RALEIGH - Less than two weeks
after losing their head football coach,
Shaw University has found a replace
ment.
“It is my joy to introduce the new
head coach for football at Shaw
University” said President Clarence
Newsome at an afternoon press con
ference for Darrell Asberry who
became the third head coach sirice
Shaw revived its gridiron program
fom' years ago.
Citing an impressive fist of offensive
statistics fiom Asb^rys previous posi
tion as offensive coordinator and
assistant head coach at North
Carolina Central,
Newsome literally
handed a footbaU and
cap to his new coach,
expressing confidence
that Asberry would con
tinue the success he had
experienced in the past.
In 2004, Asberry
helped engineer the Asbury
Eagles to the top-
ranked offense in the CIAA. NCCU
led the conference in total offeise, and
passing and scoring offense. The team
finished second in rushing offense.
Last season, NCCU averaged nearly
31 points per game on thedi- way to the
conference championship and a berth
in the NCAA playoffs.
Anative of Baton Rouge, La., Asbury
lettered two seasons as quarterback at
Jackson State, and played profession
ally in the Canadian FootbaU League
and NFL Europe.
As a coach, he has been an offensive
Please see N.C. CENTRAL/3C
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