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3C SPORTSAE^t CtsrUine $a«t Thursday, March 9. 2006 Boxers pan for gold in Colo. Continued from page 1C last year off just a jab and a straight right hand This year she is going to imple ment five other punches to make it that much easier for her” Courtney Hunter, a mid dle wei^t with a record of 7- 2, believes whatever the pro fessional women she has watched can do, she can do also. “I’m a huge boxing fan, and Tve seen a few professional women box,” she said. “TTiey weren’t exactly what I thought they should be, so I was like, T can do that, I can do it better than them. But the professional women box ing is proof that women can do the same thing as men. Tliey have the combinations, the footwork, the slipping, the bobbing and weaving, and all the intensity of their male counterparts ” Hunter’s coach, A1 Simpson, can’t say enough about the ingredient Hvmter has in the ring. “That beginner’s hunger is what Courtney has, even though Tkmeka still has a great deal of it, Courtney’s going into a territory she’s never been in so everything is unknown to her, but she has a hunger to do it,” Simpson said. “She’s able to have power in both her left and right hand, she’s able to go original as well as south paw, and being able to utUize that will throw her opponent ofif” Forenza: Good car on cheap Winfred B. Cross Test Drive Suzuki nearly gave up the small car market a few years ago to concentrate on the small truck market. Ihat worked well enoxi^, but the company decided to get back into the car maricet because it seemed nearly everyone else abandoned it as well. Suzuki makes a couple of models, one of which is the Forenza. It's fairly innocuous, but once you notice it, mil lions of them seem to magi cally appear on the road. I can kinda see why. The Forenza is blandly handsome and fairly competent for a small car And it’s inexpen sive. The Forenza gets by with a 2.0-liter, 127 hp four cjdinder engine that produces 131 pounds-feet of torque. That gives the car a bit of spunk, especially with the five-speed transmission. The car would be even faster if the gear spacing didn’t feel so sloppy Still, the Forenza is not a bad drive. Handling’s OK, with ride quality about the same. There’s enou^ oomph to get you out of sticky traffic situations but don’t intention ally tiy to race someone. The engine runs out of steam quick The car’s interior is nicely finished. There’s a lot of plas tic, which is to be expected considering the car’s meager cost. The seats are comfy and the fabric is somewhat grip- py There is a good amount of standard equipment. Driver’s side seat mounted side airbag, standard airbags, power steering, air condition ing, power package, height adjustable driver’s seat, CD stereo with ei^t speakers and floor mats are standard. There wasn’t a piece of optional equipment, so the $13,699 base price is the as- tested price. There are better cars, but not at this price. You could do better or worse but you could end up paying more either way New breed of heroes nothing like in Jackie Robinson’s day Robinson By Tony Castro NATIONAL NEWSPAPER PURUSHERS ASSOCIATION LOS ANGELES - When Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color bar rier, in 1947, his role in the historic breakthrough was hardly accidental. Baseball historians believe that any of a number of black ballplay ers playing in the old Negro Leagues could have succeed ed on the field as well as Robinson. But Dodger General Manager Branch Rickey believed that whoever broke baseball’s long history of seg regation had to be someone who could succeed off the field as well - that he had to be the super black athlete and individual, which Robinson was. In an era where few major league players were college men, Robinson had been a four-sport star at UCLA But Rickey also knew that Robinson was a man of unique character. Years before the civil ri^ts move ment, Robinson had the courage to say no when ordered to the back of the bus in the Army, and was court- martialed. The first Mack player in the major leagues, Rickey believed, had to be someone who could emerge in heroic proportions, if neces^fery. It was, after aU, the age of the seemin^y unblemished heroic figure in what was then the national pastime: the two biggest of that era being Joe DiMaggio, about whom the nation sang songs, and Tfed Williams, a figjiter plane hero in Worid War 11. Almost six decades later, it is apparent that Robinson not caily broke the cMor bar rier in baseball but also broke the mold for how America came to look on its spcrts heroes. No individual is immortalized more in baseball, not even Babe Ruth, than RoMnscxi - the cmly player to have his uni form number, 42, retired by the mqor leagues. “Jackie made it possible fcr white Americans to not only cheer for a Mack athlete but fcH" white Americans to idol ize a Mack athlete,” Mickey Mantle said of Robinson, against whom he played in four World Series Tbday the heirs to Robinson’s legacy include the majority of America’s sports superstars - fiom the incom parable MuhammadAli, who transcended boxing, to golfs Tiger Woods; fiom Heisman Hophy winners like Reggie Bu^ to NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks like Warren Moon; fiom basketball leg ends such as Magic Johnson to potential Hall of Famers such as LeBron James. While race has not disap peared fiom the American landscape as an issue, race in sports has achieved perhaps the greatest crossover of any aspect in national life. It was n’t that long ago that Michael Jordan had every kid in the country no matter what color, wanting to be like Mike. But the superstars of today, black and white, have before them an overpowering chal lenge that athletes like RoMnson, Mantle, DiMaggio and Williams didn’t have: a prying, sometimes unfriend ly national sports news media and a curious public now wanting to know every thing, including the dirt of public figures, heroes and celebrities. It may not be that the one time clean-cut sports hero has disappeared, if he ever really existed, so much as that such an image has been replaced by the sports celebrity-star who, if not an anti-hero, is a modeni-day icon reflecting the times as they are. No athlete perhaps person ifies the role that the black sports hero has carved out for himself than Kobe Bryant, the star-crossed bas ketball star of the Los Angeles Lakers. The scandal of Colorado will never com pletely go away The blame for Shaq’s departure from the Lakers is still his to deny The rep for being a show boating, ball-hog is justifi able But they are simply warts, minor imperfections like those on Bedford’s face, that remind us of human vulnera bilities - something that the marketing of America’s pop culture heroes and super- stars has always chosen to ignore, painting instead a one-dimensional image of all li^t and no shadows on the cult icon of the day Almost by sheer will, how ever, Kobe has forced sports and Madison Avenue to grudgingly grow up and finally begin portraying today’s superstars in a more accurate and perhaps more healthy context // Congratu[ations David Thompkins Arnold Palmer Cadillac’s February “Saleman of the Month’* See David for “ALL” your automobile needs, Offering great savings on... New, or Pre-Owned Cars & SUV’s Monday - Saturday, 9am - 6pm ARNOLD PALMER QdtdUldtC 8218 East. Independence Blvd. Call to schedule an appointment; 704-449-0707 PROFESSIONAL FLOORING MOBLEY’S Visit Our Showroom 4930 Albemarle Road Charlotte, NC 28205 Residential & Commercial Carpet Cleaning,Sales & Service • New Carpet Sales • VCT • Hardwood Flooring • Ceramic & Marble Tile Thanks U thU U New Carpet Installed \ Carpet Installed Carpet, Pad & Labor 99 per yard I! ''t Only $21. Carpet Cleaning “3” Rooms & Hallway Only $105-^ 400 Sq. ft. Vinyl Floor Congoleum & Armstrong Only $15 • per yard Duct Cleaning Only $20 per vent “For Your Health” Remove the Dust From Your Vents! Ha . “SPECIALS” Valid With This Ad Only Eddie Mobley, Sr. • Eddie Mobley, Jr. Ph: 704-531-0155 • Fax; 704-536-4272 mfliyread IhePostP Its essential “I couldn’t imagine being a resident of Charlotte and not subscribing to The Charlotte Post. It covers a wide range of news and serves a vital function for the African American community and for the entire Charlotte community. The Post does a great job in covering the local issues; not just news, but sports and leisure as well.” Chris Weiller, executive vice president for marketing and commmications, Charlotte Bolx ats Call (704) 376-0496 to link with news that’s important to you. Cljarlotte
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March 9, 2006, edition 1
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