Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Dec. 29, 2005, edition 1 / Page 19
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3C SPORTS/ttlie CliarUiRt $o*t Thursday, December 29, 2005 C. JEMAL HORTON With some guidance, Artest would be an asset Continued from page 1C some people like to believe. He’s not a malicious guy who takes pride in destroying things. Sure, Artest has brought much of the public’s criti cism on him self Kicking a basketball into the stands was wrong. Throwing ,a television Artest monitor was wrong. The truth, however, is this; Artest has problems that require professional attention. And Fm not exaggerating. Three years ago, Artest admitted to me that he was taking court-mandated anger-management sessions with a psychologist. The only problem is he didn’t always make the sessions. “Fd be lying if I said I wouldn’t rather be playing basketball,” he told me. The point of the story is this: Artest is a genuinely nice, likable guy But his are too heavy for the Bobcats right now. If Bickerstaff brought in Artest, he’d only be asking for trouble. Basically, that’s the case for ANY team in the league right now, until Artest gets some serious help and sticks with it. But with the Bobcats, it would be magni fied because this is a really good team. And, obviously Fm not talking about its won-loss record. No, the Bobcats are good people — young kids who know their roles and don’t make a point of hassling with in-fitting and airing their grievances in the media. Even the main veteran, Brevin Knight, is the strong, silent type. TbiTeLl Owens to the Panthers? Ali^olutely Go get him. T.O.’s problems aren’t as serious as Artest’s, and the Panthers have plenty of vet erans to guide T. O. But Artest to the Bobcats? No way What they’re building heie might not be great now, but it has a chance to be great one day without adding a com bustible figure such as Artest to the mix. Doing that would set this franchise back a decade. And God only knows what would happen to Ron Artest if he is enabled once again without getting some serious help and sticking to it. E-mail columnist C. Jemal Horton at seeJemahiritekaoU'om. YANKEES RE-SIGN OF WILLIAMS ‘Bemie! Bemie!’ to be heard in the Bronx for another year By Ronald Blum THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — Fans at Yankee Stadium will be chanting “Bemiel Bemie!” again next year. The Yank^s announced Thfirsday that they had agreed to a $1.5 million, one-year contract with the popular outfielder, who has been in pinstripes since 1991 and compiled statistics that put his name alongside the team’s greatest players. “He ranks right there with the Gehrigs and the Berras and the Ruths and the Mantles,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. Williamfl’ playing time will be reduced fol lowing this week’s agreement with Johnny Damon, who takes over as the.starting center fielder. The shaggy-haired and bearded Damon passed his physical Thursday and got a haircut, a Yankees official said, and the team called a Friday news conference to final ize his $52 million, four-year contract. Williama had 485 at-bats last season, start ing 99 games in center and 22 at designated hitter. “There were no promises made in terms of certain amount of at-bats or where,” Cashman said. ‘It could materialize as a pinch hitter, a DH, a pinch runner, an every day outfielder, a defender whether it’s left field, center field. It just remains to be seen.” Williams is now 37, but despite his dimin ished skills he remains a favorite of team mates and fans. He joins Yogi Berra, Frank Crosetti, Bill Dickey, Whitey Ford, Lou Gehrig and Mickey Mantle as the only play ers to spend 16 seasons with the Yankees. “Fm happy to have him in the fold. He’s a gem,” owner Geoige Stednbrenner said in a statement. Williams did not participate in the finaliza tion of his contract, leaving it to agent Scott NEGOTIATKDNS WITH N.C. A&T Boras, and Williama wasn’t on the conference call to announce the deal. ‘1 know he’s not an easy guy to track down in the winter,” Cashman said. Williams’ contract allows him to earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonus es - $115,384.62 for each 25 plate appearances fix)m 150 through 450. New York had declined a $15 million option, Meeting to pay a $3.5 million buyout that concluded an $87.5, mil lion, seven-year contract. Boras, who also represents Damon, said W^ams could have gotten more money else where. “He took a lot less to come back to the Yankees because he values the Yankees tradi tion,” Boras said. Wilhams signed with the Yankees in 1985, took over as the regular center fielder in 1993 and helped lead the Yankees to four World Series titles and six AL pennants fiom 1996- 03. While he is a five-time All-Star and four time Gold Glove winner, Wiliams batted just .249 with 12 homers and 64 RBIs in 485 at- bats last season, and his defense cost the team. Still, he is close to manager Joe Tbire and his importance to the team goes beyond statistics. Williams is taking over a reserve role held by Ruben Sierra since 2003. “Quite fi*ankly, he can do some things more than the individual who hdd that position the previous years,” Cashman said. Cashman said this agreement was “putting him in position to continue to hopefully remain only a Yankee for life and be one of those rare guys in this era to stay with one team.” “That,” Cashman said, “is something extremely special and rare.” Grambling State works to upgrade late-season football THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ■ GRAMBLING, La. - Grambling State hopes to upgrade its opponent for the final regular season game and boost attendance at the same time. The game, which falls just before the Bayou Classic bye week, has been tough to schedule. Most prospective ORxinents have entered their conference schedule by late November, leading to li^tly attended matchups for Grambling against indepen dents like Savannah State, the now-defunct Morris Brown and fledgling Concordia College. Crowds for this date over the past five seasons have averaged a pal try 5,600. So Grambling entered talks with traditional black college powCT* North Carolina A&T about a possible neutral-site classic game. The contest ojuld be played in Phoenix, either at Bank One Park, the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and this month’s Insight Bowl, or at Sim Devil Stadium, site of the 1996 Super Bowl. The game has an extra draw. A&T, which won a con ference title three years ago but strug^ed to a 3-8 record in 2005, hired former Grambling great Lee Fobbs as its new coach this month Fobbs was an All-American imder Grambling legend Eddie Robinson, then a final ist both to replace Robinson in 1997 and again when even tual successor Doug Williama left for an NFL job in 2004. Grambling coach Melvin Spears was given the position a year ago, and led Grambling to an undefeated Southwestern Athletic Conference record on the way to the league championship. “It would be a major Grambling affair,” said Spears. “It would give us a chance to congratulate Coach Eobbs on getting the job. 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The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 29, 2005, edition 1
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