4C
SPORTSAT^c Charlotte ^ofit
Thursday, April 6, 2006
49ers jumper aims for aii^erica form
Continued from page 1C
always had people aroimd
me that were saying, Tt’s
OK, you’re going to get
back,”’
Olsen said Johnson is a
complete performer, who will
continue to work on the finer
aspects of jumping to
improve on her comeback
“Sharonda’s really got it
all, every aspect of what
makes a student athlete in
college, she’s very driven,”
Olsen said. “Even with the
rehab we had some work to
get her ready technically,
and strength wise, we set a
goal for late in the outdoor
season, but last weekend she
used her full extension for
jumping and she improved a
few inches.”
Johnson, who aspires to
compete in the Olympics,
also long jumps and high
jumps, but the triple is what
she does best.
“The most challenging
event for me, I would say is
the long jump, because I
hadn’t figured it out yet, but
my favorite is the triple
jump,” Johnson said. ‘It was
the first one that I picked up.
It was pretty easy”
Seattle native Burleson goes
home without Vikings eseort
'nie ASSOCIATED PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - A unique fight
over restricted free agents between Seattle
and Minnesota ended when the Vikings chose
not to match the Seahawks’ contract offer to
receiver Nate Burleson.
Vikings vice president for football opera
tions Rob Brzezinski confirmed the decision,
which allowed Burleson to join his hometown
team.
“This is a dream come true for Nate,” his
agent Ken Samoff said Friday
Burleson signed an offer sheet last week for
a seven-year contract worth up to $49 million,
including $5.25 million guaranteed. In
response to a similar tactic Minnesota used to
sign AU-Pro guard Steve Hutchinson to an
offer sheet earlier this month, Seattle put a
pair of provisions in the deal that would make
it impractical for the Vikings to match.
If Burleson plays at least five games in the
state of Minnesota or if his annual salary
average is more than the average of his
team’s highest-paid running back, then the
entire $49 million would be guaranteed.
The Vldngs signed Hutchinson to an offer
sheet-that the Seahawks didn’t match, after
an arbitrator ruled that their contract didn’t
violate the collective bargaining agreement.
Hutchinson’s seven-year, $49 million deal
becomes guaranteed if he’s not his team’s
highest-paid oSensive lineman. He had previ
ously been named Seattle’s transition player.
These poison pills caused some consterna
tion at the league meetings this week, and
outgoing commissioner Paul Thgliabue said
such loopholes were "not in the spirit” of the
NFL’s agreement with the players’ union.
But Burleson, who caught 30 passes for 328
yards and one touchdown last season while
bothered by multiple injuries, is moving on.
Minnesota is left with Belmont native
Keren Robinson, Thoy Williamson, Marcus
Robinson and Thavis Tkylor at receiver, after
nobody emerged as a top target in 2005 fol
lowing the trade of Randy Moss to Oakland.
Burleson was expected to be. that, after accu
mulating 1,006 yards receiving and nine
touchdowns in 2004.
The Seahawks owe the VQdngs a third-
round pick, based on Burleson’s draft position
in 2003. Minnesota now has two third-
rounders and two second-rounders.
Your
source for
championship
sports coverage
®I)c Cljarlotte Host
Brown, Hornets adjust to
nomadic, competitive season
By Karl Petraroja
FOR WE CHARLOm: POST
OAKLAND, Calif. - The
last six years has been a
strange road traveled for P. J.
Brown.
After just two seasons as a
Charlotte Hornet, Brown
was uprooted when the fran
chise was moved to New
Orleans. This season has
been truly bizarre with the
Hornets playing just three
home games in New Orleans
and the other 38 in
Oklahoma City after
Hurricane Katrina ravaged
Louisiana and Mississippi.
“It’s been a tough season,
something that nobody in the
history of our game has had
to deal with but to our credit,
I think we’ve done a good job
with it, I think overall we’ve
played good basketball up
until the last couple of
weeks,” Brown said before
the Hornets snapped a six-
game road losing streak with
a 86-85 victory over the
Golden State Warriors,
March 29.
“A lot of credit goes to coach
(Byron) Scott for keeping us
together, for not letting us
make excuses. You just say
you’re going to play, these are
the cards that we’ve been
dealt, we’ve got to play them
and we’ve got to do the best
we can with them.”
The devastating power of
Hurricane Katrina affected
Brown deeply He was raised
in Slidell, La., went to high
school in nearby VTnnfield,
then attended Louisiana
Tfech. The destruction caused
by Hurricane Katrina last
August shook-up Brown and
his family
“It was disheartening and a
lot of sadness being from
there and going through my
own personal situation, and
seeing other people going
through tough times,” Brown
said.
‘Tt has been a little over
whelming at times but we
have a very high spirit down
in that area, in that region
the people just refuse to give
up.
“They believe that things
are going to get back to
where they were and it’s just
going to take some time.”
It’s that fighting spirit that
has helped keep the Hornets
in playoff contention this sea
son. Before the season start
ed, the Hornets winners of
only 18 games last year,
could have thrown in the
towel and said the year was a
washout. But behind
Brown’s strong leadership,
the team has contended for a
playoff spot aU year in the
tough Western Conference.
“P.J.’s been great. If we had
another six P. J.s on the team
we would be in unbelievable
condition,” Scott said. “P.J.
has been a true professional
ever since he’s been here,
ever since I’ve been here.
He’s the one guy I can talk to
and kind of lean on to get a
pulse on what the other guys
are thinking and what
they’re going through and
he’s the one guy that kind of
pulls guys to the side and
talks to them about what
they need to do and what we
have to do as a team.”
The Hornets have been
successful at their home
away.fixim home, the Ford
Center in Oklahoma City
They’ve played in finnt of
capacity crowds most nights
and the • enthusiasm and
warmth they’ve received has
been tremendous.
“They’ve embraced us and
made our transition from
New Orleans about as easy
as it could possibly be,”
Brown said.
“The energy that we have
in that building and the
enthusiasm, we’re very
appreciative of the people
there. We definitely think
we have one of the top sixth
men in the NBA with the
crowd we have in Oklahoma
City”
Never far finm the Hornets
minds is their real home in
New Orleans. The Hornets
fans have missed their team
and they welcomed them
back with open arms on
March 8 when the Hornets
played the first of only three
games in the newly rebuilt
New Orleans Arena. It was
a time of healing for both the
fans and the players.
‘Tt was a lot of emotion,
you could feel the energy
finm our fans down there,
they were glad to be back in
the arena and they were just
hollering their hearts out,”
Brown said.
Brown, 36, is now in his
13th NBA season. He’s aver
aging 9 points and 7.5
reboimds this year and
shows no signs of slowing
down. He’s been remarkably
healthy especially the last 5
seasons missing only 5
games. He’s been to the
playoffs 9 times including
both years in Charlotte.
This year would be his most
satisfying if the Hornets can
make the playoffs after aH
they’ve been through.
Brown admits looking back
over last six years and mov
ing finm Charlotte to New
Orleanfe to Oklahoma City
has been one strange roller
coaster ride.
‘T don’t know if we have
something hanging over our
franchise right now, I don’t
know what it is, I don’t want
to say it’s a bad luck charm
or something but we havai’t
been able to catch a break,”
he said.
“Hopefully there’s got to be
something at the end of the
road, something good has to
be down this path.”
Mt. Olive Presbyterian Church
5125 Mt. Olive Church Road • Charlotte, NC 28278 • 704-394-8814
2ncf Annual Mt Olive Presbyterian Church
Golf Tournament • May 12,2006
Sponsored by: The Men’s Ministry Aaaoo
$80^
Entry Fee Per Player
Location: Renaissance Golf Conrse
1525 West Tyvola Road
Charlotte, NC
Women and Men are invited to play: Three Flights: Men • Women • Seniors (62 or older
Captains Choice is the format of the tournament
Registration will be held from 7:00 am until 7:45 am
For additional information, please contact:
Ernest C. Grier
704-421-5228
John Lathan
704-591-0914