4C
SPORTS/trde Cliaclotte S^oftt
Thursday, May 11,2006
NASCAR diversity driver Davis
wins second race at Hickory
For Bonds, chasing home run
mark an ‘overwhelming’ exercise
SPECIAL TO THE POST
Drive for Diversity rookie
Marc Davis continued his
impressive start to the 2006
season by earning his second
career win in
the Limited
Late Model
division
recently at
Hickory Motor
Speedway.
Davis, 15,
who began the
night on the
pole, negotiated his No. 92
Levi Strauss Signature
Chevrolet through the .363-
mile, 36-lap oval to claim his
second checkered flag in five
weeks for Joe Gibbs Racing.
The Mitchelville, Md.
native won the season-open
ing Limited Late Model race
at Hickory last March. Davis
now holds a six-point lead
over his nearest pursuer,
Matt DiBenedetto, in the
Davis
series’ points standings.
“My crew gave me an awe
some car,” said Davis, just a
few weeks away fi’om finish
ing his sophomore year at
Lake Norman High in
MooresviUe.
“It feels great to perform
well each week and have
such a great team and spon
sor behind me.”
In a telephone call to his
young driver, Joe Gibbs
Racing President J.D. Gibbs
congratulated Davis and his
crew.
‘We’re pleased with Marc’s
progress and have high
expectations for him at JGR,”
Gibbs said.
“The Levi Strauss
Signature brand is proud to
support Marc and congratu
lates him on reaching victory
lane for the second time this
season, “ said Scott LaPorta,
president, the Levi Strauss
Signature brand. ‘Marc is a
great competitor, a first-class
yoimg man, and we are proud
to partner with him.”
The rookie’s on-track suc
cess continues to pay. divi
dends for the Drive for
Diversity program.
“Davis opened the 2006 sea
son with a victory and has
continued to race with great
passion and determination,”
said Bryan Kryder, program
, director of the Drive for
Diversity. “It has been a fim,
action-filled season already
with Marc, and we wish him
the best.”
Also present to support
Davis was mentor Wendell
Scott Jr., along with drivers
Chris Bristol and Jesus
Hernandez, who participated
in the NASCAR Dodge
Weekly Series Late Model
division race at Hickory.
Davis will continue his sea
son at Hickory for the
remainder of the year.
CIAA rivals won’t schedule game
My mother, God rest her
soul, had a sick sense of
humor.
Whenever one of her
daughters would get in deep
doo-doo, she’d make us go in
the backyard,
break a switch
off one of the
trees - and it’d
better be a BIG
switch - to get
our whupping.
Those weren’t
spankings
back then but
whuppings.
Sick, sick
sense of humor.
But as I grew up, I came to
appreciate those rare times
for me (cough, cough.)
Neither I nor any of my other
sisters will ever forget her
words: “As long as I’m alive,
youll never be too old for a
beating.”
. After what I learned this
week, other people should
never be too old.
With that said, I’d like to
extend an invitation to foot
ball coaches Michael Costa
and Deondri Clark.
Gentlemen, come and get
your whupping.
You first coach Costa since
you outrank Clark by a year.
I was there the day you were
named head coach to revive
St. Aug’s football program in
2002. For over three decades,
St. Aug’s fans had suffered
before you came on board to
put the spark back into cam
pus life.
I watched you suffer that
first year of conference play
when you didn’t win a game.
Still, we knew you were the
right man for the job. OK,
most of us did. And we were
right.
A 5-5 season the following
year had campus spirits soar
ing. You dipped to 4-6 in 2004,
but your win over Shaw
saved Falcon pride, and prob
ably your job.
Last season, however, with
your first recruiting class hit
ting senior status, you proved
your mettle by winning your
first eight games and finish
ing 8-2.
Coach Clark, you took the
helm under awkward and
embarrassing circumstances
for Shaw. Previous head
coach Gregory Ruffin had
been suspended and subse
quently fired for conduct
unbecoming...something.
And right before the 2003
coaches luncheon at that. But
there you were - cool, calm
and collected - as you began
your bowtie-wearing reign.
After a successful 7-3 club
season by Ruffin, you led the
Bears to a 7-3 conference sea
son, the 2004 CIAA champi
onship and thisclose to a
repeat last year. All with a
recruiting budget about the
size of my monthly salary.
Kudos to both of you, now
come get your whupping.
How can two otherwise
intelligent men be
such... such.. .boneheads?
How could you? How could
you not schedule each other
for the 2006 football season?
And your pathetic “It’s his
fault” excuses are worthy of
double switches.
Did you two forget some
where along the way that St.
Aug’s vs. Shaw is one of the
best rivalries in all of sports?
Coach Costa, you have a
two-game win streak over
Shaw.
Coach Clark, don’t you
want revenge?
Costa: “They’d rather play
North Carolina Central, so
let them play NCCU in a
classic.”
I said SHADDUP!
Fm not going to blame your
athletic directors who proba
bly had some hand in making
the schedules. You two could
have pushed the issue if you
wanted.
But hey. I’m not one to stay
mad. I’ll feel much better just
as soon as you both find the
nearest tree, break off two
switches - BIG switches -
head on up 1-40 to Durham,
step into my office and get
your whupping.
BONITTA BEST is sports editor
at The Triangle Tribune.
Continued from page 1C
Babe before a crowd that isn’t quite sure how
it should feel.
The blast is so mammoth even the guys
dressed in inflatable Bonds muscle suits
watch with jaws open. Some stand and cheer,
others simply stand mute as the ball bounces
off a fast food sign hanging off the upper deck
at Citizens Bank Park.
Before the sixth inning of the final game on
the road, the trip had been a disaster. Now
Bonds is at No. 713 with a bullet and headed
home.
Philadelphia fans quickly recover. They boo
Bonds lustily when he comes up one last time,
erupt in a standing ovation when he strikes
out, and a few even beat it for the exits when
he’s replaced in the eighth inning.
The Phillies win 9-5, sending the Giants to
their fourth straight loss. Afterward, Bonds
opens up. Not about steroids, but about base
ball. For the first time, he acknowledges that
chasing a legend is a tough thing to do.
“It’s overwhelming right now,” Bonds says.
“It’s a little bit larger than a single-season
home run record. It’s big. It’s really, really
big.”
He’s soft-spoken, almost humble. He talks
about his mother, his teammates and how it
would be a lot more gratifying if the Giants
had won.
He acknowledges the greatness of Babe
Ruth, but makes it clear that his name
deserves to be listed among the all-time
greats.
Asked if he is better than the Babe, Bonds
says: “I don’t know yet, but the numbers
speak for themselves.”
It will be a long, quiet flight home. Bonds
will be able to sleep before resuming his
march into baseball history.
Sleeping is something Bonds does well, per
haps because he dreams of a day when he
won’t be asked about steroids. Back in
Milwaukee, where the Giants started this
road trip, the feared slugger has been sacked
out on a green leather couch in the visitors
clubhouse at Miller Park for more than an
hovir.
Another player might have gotten a shaving
cream pie in the face or his hand dipped in
water from playful teammates. No one mess
es with Bonds, though.
The night before. Bonds took a foul ball on
his head while leaning against the batting
cage and then went O-fbr-4, with his last out
punctuated by a giant whiff on a fastball.
Afterward, he’s not in a good mood, a trend
that will continue on this five-game trip as he
chases Ruth’s mark of 714 home runs.
A group of reporters wants to know how he
feels.
Apparently not well.
“No, not today,” he says. “Get... out.”
The trip started with Bonds coming off
home run No. 712, a blast over the center field
wall in San Francisco on a 96 mph fastball
from San Diego’s Scott Linebrink. That
sparks hope on the Giants that he is working
out the kinks in his swing and blocking out
the controversy that swirls around him.
In the locker room before the first game
against the Brewers, Bonds talks to a woman
while his personal videographer fi'om “Bonds
on Bonds” films away. He tapes his bat and
tries to ignore a crowd of reporters, but there
are too many of them.
‘You don’t want to talk to me. No you don’t,”
he says. “Just say ‘Barry sucks, he’s a (jerk),
he’s this, he’s that,’ and just put it in the
paper. It’s freehand. That’s fi-eehand. You
don’t even need me to talk for that. And yet
you still keep coming over here. Why?”
Actually, Barry, it has something to do with
you approaching the Babe’s mark. Oh, yeah,
and that steroids thing.
By the way, what do you think about Major
League Baseball not celebrating the mark,
and Bud Selig not bothering to drive 10 min
utes to the ballpark to watch?
“That’s just a slap in my face, that’s all this
is with you guys,” he says. “That’s not fair to
M.L.B. or Bud. This is slapping me down
again.”
City Manager Recommends Budget of Basics
On Monday,. May 8^ Gify Manager Pam Syfert recommended a bu(fyet to Charlotte
Qty Coimcil that anpfiasizes safety streets Md service.
Impact of the proposed tax
increase on the citizen’s tax bill
The City can cover current
services, mcluding higher costs
for than, without additional
revenue. The bucket does
include aproposed 4.5^5 incre^
in die propoty tax rate to p^ for
new police officers, needed read
improvements, revMizbg
neighborhoods, and increasing
die availability of aifbrdable
housing
The proposed increase would fund the
following:
Capital Investments (Allocation of3.25^)
• Transportetion Project (Le. roads, sidewalks
and bike lanes)
• Nei^borhood Improvements
• Affordable Housing
• FireStetions
Public Safety (Allocation of .75^
Includes the addition of 55 sworn Police jresitions and other civilian positions'
mcluding a Gang of One coordinator and aime lab technicians.
Street resurfacing (Allocation of .50^)
Allows City to resurface streets every 18 years insteadof every 28-31 years.
User Fees
• Water and Sewer Service
Residential water and sewer customers vtill ree
an increase of 6.5% in 'v^ter and sewer rat^.
The increase will help fund coital investments
aich as additional water and sewer lines and
facilidK. The averse monthly Water/sewer bill
for residential customers will increase S3.08
from $47.39 to $50.47.
• Storm WatK-
To support gre\^ in the City’s aggressive storm
water management program, storm water rates
will rise 7%, increasing the avoage fee 34)i from
$4.81 to $5.15.
Whaf s Next?
Council Budget Adjratments
Public Hearing (mcluding storm water)
Adjustments and straw votes
BudgetAdoption
Want More Information?
Visit citybudgetcharmeck.org or tune in to City Source, the City’s weekly news show,
which airs Thuredays at 5:30 p.m. on The Government Channel-Cable 16.
Clip here _
Have Your Say on Proposed Budget
On May 22 at 7 p.m., Charlotte City Council will conduct
a public hearing for residents to offer feedback on the
budgetrecommendations. In addition to that forum and
also for your convenience, we have developed this form to
gather public input
1. To what extent do you believe these additions are
important? Rate on a scale of 1-10 by
circling your responses. l=not all important and
10=very important
Capital Additional Fire Stations
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 -8 9 10
Capital Affordable Housing
I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Capital Neighborhood Irrqirovements
12345678 9 10
2. I am willing to pay more for additionalpoHce, road
improvements and capital investments. Please
5. Are you a property owner? Yes No
circle your response:
6. Whelp do you live? (Qrcle one)
Additional Fire Stations
Yes
No'
Inside Charlotte’s City limits
Additional Police Personnel
Yes
No
Outside Charlotte’s City limte
Affordable Housing
Yes
No
Neighborhood Improvements
Yes
No
7. If you reside in the Qly limits, for how long have
Repaving streets, pothole repair
Yes
No
you lived there? Please circle your response:
Transportation Projects
Yes
No
0-2yrs 3-5yrs 6-lOyrs ll-15yrs 15-i-yrs
3. If these additions are important, but not enough
for an increase, what services would you reduce or
cut to achieve funding?
Capital Transportation Projects
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Additional Police Personnel
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Repaving Streets
Please dip and fe your conqjfeted form to
104-336-S587 or mail i to City of Charloae,
'Corporate Communications, 600 E. 4th Street,
Charlotte, NC 28202.
4. Are there additional services you bdieve are
necessary that have not been funded? If so, what
are they?
aiARumi:.