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THURSDAY, JULY 13, 2006
SPORTS
Section
INSIDE
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PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Monique Currie (right) and the Chariotte Sting
haven’t figured how to pick themseives up.
Sting looks to
improve one
play at a time
Inconsistency still an issue as
second half of season tips off
By Erica Singleton
FOR THE CHARLOTTE POST
to make an ei
I
Bogues
It’s beginning to feel like a broken record: the
Charlotte Sting falls behind; battles back and falls
short. With only 15 games left in the season, Charlotte
has to start playing for a full 40 minutes on a consistent
basis.
“The intensity is there, but 'we have to play smart bas
ketball,” said head coach Muggsy Bogues. “It’s nothing,
no secret behind that. You have to be able to know how
to make an entry pass; gotta know when you’re being
denied to get through. We’re having too
much standing around, and not much
movement.” The Sting will face the San
Antonio Silver Stars at the Bobcats Arena
Friday at 7 p.m. The first 2,500 fans in
attendance will receive rally towels, cour
tesy of Charlotte Metro Credit Union.
Although Bogues is taking the blame
for losses, the players have to turn the
season around.
“I’m not {accepting this},” said Bogues, “and I believe
they’re not accepting this either. And I know they want
to turn this thing around, and the only way to do it is on
the court. We’ve gotta stop beating ourselves.”
Charlotte has talent, yet tends to shoot itself in the
foot. Against Connecticut in a 76-71 loss last week, the
Sting outscored the Sun in the paint 38-26 and had
fewer turnovers, yet faded down the stretch. In back to
back losses to Los Angeles and Sacramento last week
end, the Sting played hard but to no avail. The Sting
had a chance to send the Los Angeles game into over
time, but Tangela Smith was unable to convert a lay-up
with 6.9 seconds left in a 66-64 loss. Charlotte is 0-2 in
games decided by three points or less.
“We just have to learn to close out games in the end,”
said center Tammy-Sutton Brown.
On Sunday, Sacramento took advantage of the energy
Please see CONSISTENCY/2C
Pittsburgh All-Star
festivities recalls
black baseball’s past
By Alan Robinson
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PITTSBURGH - Baseball in Pittsburgh wasn’t
always about Roberto Clemente, Barry Bonds or Honus
Wagner. It also was about Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson
and Cool Papa Bell, too, during an 11-year stretch of
championships in the 1930s and 1940s unmatched by
any city in the sport.
As baseball broke for the All-Star game Tuesday night
at PNC Park, some of the game’s greats who never
played in the majors or did so only briefly because of
racial discrimination are being remembered - at the
very time blacks are disappearing from the sport at an
alarming rate.
The Pirates recently unveiled at PNC Park seven stat
ues of former black baseball stars who played in the city,
as part of an exhibit about the black game that includes
interactive kiosks and educational films.
All seven players are enshrined in Cooperstown,
although only Paige played in the majors. Considered by
the likes of Bob Feller as the greatest pitcher in history,
Paige was at least 41 (and possibly older) when he was
, a Cleveland Indians “rookie” in 1948 - a year after
Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier.
The seven played for either or both of Pittsburgh’s two
black teams, the Crawfords and the Homestead Grays,
during the span from 1925-50 when the city had at least
one black team. The Crawfords won the Negro National
League title in 1935 and 1936, and the Grays won each
of the next nine seasons through 1945.
Think a team composed of Paige or Smokey Joe
Williams pitching, Gibson catching. Buck Leonard at
first base, Judy Johnson in the infield and Bell and
Oscar Charleston in the outfield wouldn’t have been a
contender in the majors?
“While segregation was a very sad chapter in the
nation’s history ...they (the Grays and Crawfords) built
See PITTSBURGH/2C
PHOTO/CURTIS WILSON
Charlotte Knights outfielder Jerry Owens is one of four Knights to drive in at least 40 runs going into the second half of the
International League season. Charlotte has the league’s best record at 58-31.
Edge of Knights
Charlotte has offense and pitching to stay atop International League
By Herbert L. White
be/t>.wh(fe@fhecHar/ofteposf.'com
What’s not to like about
the Charlotte Knights?
They have the best record
in the
International
League at the
All-Star
break at 58-
31 and play
as if
Charlotte is a
Shines stepping
stone to the
majors, not a stumbling
block. The Knights did
ever3fthing right before
recess, turning fundamental
baseball into a reason to
make the trip to across the
state line to Fort Mill. After
a dismal 2005 in which
Charlotte didn’t break 50
wins until season’s end,
these Knights are motivated
to win.
How many will get a call
from the Major League
Chicago White Sox? It’s
hard to teU because the Sox
are loaded and a hot AL
Central race with Detroit
could dictate how the roster
shakes out for the postsea
son. But quite a few are
deserving of at least some
seat time up north.
BEST SURPRISE: That
the Knights are this good.
Under Nick Leyva, the 2005
team didn’t break 60 wins
and played as if it didn’t
care. With an infusion of
new talent from the lower
levels and a change in man
agers, the 2006 team, bar
ring a second-half swoon, is
the team to beat in the IL.
RAZOR’S BUMPS: What
See KNIGHTS/2C
On a tear
At the AU-Star break, the
Charlotte Knights had the
International League's best record
and among the best in several key
statistical categories. '
Category Knights IL rank
White Sox winning again, but so is Detroit
By Rick Gano
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO - They’re 26
games over ..500 at the All-Star
break. The Chicago White Sox
have played most of the sea
son’s first half like defending
World Series champions, even if
they’re not in first place in their
division.
It took a while for the White
Sox to get to the break. They
beat the Boston Red Sox in 19
innings Sunday, needing more
than six hours to salvage one
win against a team they swept
in the playoffs a year ago.
“It means a lot, especially
going into the break. We needed
this just to keep everybody
sane,” said All-Star Jermaine
Dye, who had a ninth-inning
homer off Boston closer
Jonathan Papelbon to force
extra innings.
“We’ll take a couple of days off
and get ready for the second
half,” Dye said.
The White Sox’s 57-31 record
isn’t good enough for first place
in'the AL Central because the
Detroit Tigers have the best
record in the majors and lead by
two games.
Chicago has a 5-1 record
Please see WHITE SOX/2C
Soccer match part of campaign
to help kids in war-tom Uganda
By Herbert L. White
herb. wh/Te@fhec/iarfo lfepost.com
The Charlotte Eagles are playing for
the children of Gulu, Uganda Saturday.
The minor-league soccer club is collect
ing food, clothes, toiletries and soccer
gear as part of “Gifts For Gulu” night at
Waddell High. At 5:30 p.m., the Lady
Eagles play Hampton Roads, followed by
the men’s match against Richmond at 8
p.m. Advance tickets are available online
at $8 for adults and $5 for students.
Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for stu
dents at the gate.
Children are especially vulnerable in
Gulu, an area hard-hit by Uganda’s civil
war. On any given -night, up to 44,000
walk 8 miles to the cities to sleep without
fear of abduction by rebel forces.
‘You have millions of children walking
into the city to not get kidnapped,” said
Nathan Krum, the Eagles’ director of
ticket sales. “We’re in this (affluent) bub
ble in Charlotte and it’s just unbelievable
what’s going on elsewhere.”
Last December, 18 Eagles players, staff
and head coach Mark Steffens went to
Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya as part of
the team’s missionary work, which has
taken them to 26 countries in the last 14
years.
“We’ve always been preaching to the
world,” Krum said. “We’re using our gifts
to spread the message around the world
to countries that don’t have it.”
The Africa tour revealed the devastat
ing effects of war and poverty, but it also
Please see EAGLES/3C
Patrick Daka (left) and the Charlotte Eagles
are playing to support children in Uganda
with clothing, shelter and food.
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