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Thursday, July 20, 2006
Sting needs marketing push,
WNBA president contends
Continued from page 1C
agement on the Sting that
tha:«’s a lot that’s gone on
with this move to the arena.
There are many business ele
ments that are requiring
resources. I think the WNBA
and the Sting in particular
will be successful provided
they have the right kind of
resource focus.”
Q: Why has the team strug
gled as a business?
No marketir^, no advertis
ing, the attendance goes
down for a variety of reasons,
and I don’t think that has
anything to do with the prod
uct itself ...We firmly beHeve
the WNBA will do well in
Charlotte.”
Q; Are you disappointed in
the Sting given its place as an
original fi'anchise?
A; “Anytime you have
somethir^ that produces less
than what you would expect
is disappointing, without a
doubt. That said, I think
Mioggsy brings a lot of energy,
he has talented players. I
think (forward) Tangela
Smith being named to the
All-Star team is another
feather in this team’s cap..
Q: Eleven of the league’s 14
head coaches are men. What
is the league’s stance on hir
ing more women as head
coaches?
A: “Our position in general
is we want the best available
coaches who are available to
work in our league. We have
an open door policy if they are
available women who are
qualified to coach in the
WNBA. But the way it is
right now is the best women
coaches are coaching in colle
giate ball and there’s a stabil
ity in college ball that the pro
ranks don't offer, and there’s
probably a pay scale as well.
As the game continues to
glow and develop and I think
more coaches begin to devel
op, I think you’ll see more
female coaches in our le^ue.
One thing we are looking at is
some type of development
progi'am to create some kind
of encouragement and oppor
tunities for women to train at
the professional level.”
Q: Chicago was added this
year as the 14th team. TOU
there be more expansion?
A: ‘We are aggressively
looldi^ at expansion across
the country We are in multi
ple talks right now with a
variety of markets. These
deals have a tendency to be a
bit time-consuming to puU
together ...but I can tell you
several of them are progress-
ir^ and we look forward to
adding several in the next
several years.”
Q; Where do you see the
WNBA in 10 years?
A: “I think the real impact
of the WNBA is palpable.
When you look at the number
of athletes - females - who are
playing basketball, there’s
ejqx)nential growth and what
it allows us to do is pick finm
the best possible pool of ath
letic talent and you see the
talent rise. When you look at
players like Kathy Pondexter
and Simone Augustus, you
see an incremental, exponen
tial leap in terms of what we
have to look forward to. You
have girls coming in finm
junior hi^ school knowing
the WNBA is there. What
you’re seeing is a lot of
tremendous growth.”
TO.: I’m so misunderstood
Continued from page 1C
said he believes McNabb was jealous of the
attention Owens was receiving in Philadelphia
and that things boiled over when McNabb
cursed at him in a huddle after a play Owens
said he took it as more than something said in
the heat of competition.
WANTS ANOTHER NBA TITLE
Mourning celebrates return
to Heat with charity game
By Michelle Spitzer
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
MIAMI - More money couldn’t lure Alonzo
Mourning away fix)m Miami. It was the fans
who convinced him to delay retirement and
play one more season with the Heat.
The 36-year-old center said Sunday he
declined high-paying offers fix)m other teams,
including the San Antonio Spurs, to help the
hfiami Heat defend their NBA championship.
‘T had received lucrative offers fi'om other
teams and it was very difficult to turn those
down,” he said before the start of his annual
Zo’s Summer' Groove charity basketball game
at the Heat’s home arena. ‘T’ve invested here in
the community and I expect to spend the rest
of my life here with my kids. I didn't feel it was
worth leaving.”
The game - which also featured Heat team
mate Antoine Walker and other NBA playea's -
is part of a weeklong series of events he orga
nizes to benefit underprivileged children.
Mourning aimounced late Saturday at his
cliarity gala that he would return to the Heat
nect season. It wiU be his 14th in tlie NBA - not
including a year he missed because of kidney
disease that necessitated a transplant in
December 2003.
He got a standir^ ovation Srmday fix)m the
15,000 fans at AmeiicanAirlines Arena when
he repeated his decision to return to Miami
and promised another championship run.
“Zo coming back for another year makes
N.C. A&T eliminates men’s tennis
By Herbert L. White
herb.wh(fe@thechariofteposf.com
A budget squeeze at N.C.
A&T has claimed the men’s
tennis program.
Athletics department offi
cials announced the decision
to drop the sport .effective
immediately, but current
scholarships
win be honored
for the 2006-07
academic year.
Players won’t
be charged a
year of ehgibil-
Todd
ity and can
transfer imme
diately to any
other sdiool.
“This was an extremely dif
ficult decision; no athletics
director aijoys eliminating a
sport,” A&T Athletics
Director Dee Tbdd said. “The
department will investigate
the possibility of adding
men’s golf in tiie near future.”
With men’s tennis gone,
A&T has 15 varsity sports,
one more than the NCAA
requires for Division I status. •
• Marjdand-Eastem Shore
alumni want to bring football
back.
Hawks for Football, a gi'oup
made up of UMES alumni
and former student-athletes,
is tryir^ to raise money and
awareaiess to reinstate foot
ball, which was cancelled in
1979. The organization is
planning a “Legends
Banquet” to honor past
coadies and 32 alumni who
pureued careers as profes
sional football players,
includir^ former NFL stand
outs Art Shell, Emerson
Boozer, Johnny Sample, Earl
Christy, Charles Stakes and
James Duncan.
♦ The Florida A&M-S.C.
State, football game sched
uled for Oct. 14 in
Tallahassee, Fla., won’t be
nationally televised after aU.
FAMU officials decided not
to move the game to Oct. 12
as part of ESPNlTs MEAC
television package. The con
test win remain FAMU’s
Sports HaU of Fame Game,
which includes induction of
the dass of 2006.
• Florida AfelvTs Chris
Hargett earned a pair of
SPORTS OF NOTE
Gliders sprint to AAU meet
A pair of Charlotte Gliders
sprinters are riding momen
tum going into the AAU
national track and field
championships.
Isaac Johnson and sister
Varonica Johnson have
regional championships
going into the national meet
July 31-Aug. 5 in Hampton,
Va. Isaac won the boys’ 8-
under 100-, 200 and 400
meters in the regional cham
pionship in Knoxville, Tfenn..
He posted a docking of 14.46
seconds in the 100; 30.05 in
the 200 and 1 minute, 10.59
in the 400.
Varonica Johnson was first
in the 13-year-old girls’ 100
(12.64 seconds) and '200
(26.12). She finished third in
the 400 with a time of 1
minute, 1.78 seconds.
GOLF: Jason Mosley won
the A group championship at
the Linkman’s Golf Club
tournament at Wlage
Greens Golf Club in Inman,
S.C.
Mosley shot a two-romd
total of 140, beating Chris
Hamilton in a playoff Cory
McEwen finished third at
“When I tried to address that after the game,
he blew me off,” Owens said. “So, that let me
know it’s more than just being competitive. It
was more than that.”
Owens is scheduled to report to his first
training camp with Dallas Cowboys at the end
of next week.
everyone smile,” said Heat teammate Dwyane
Wade, who arrived to watch the game wearing
a soft cast on his ri^t wrist.
“I need to put my wrist to rest a httle bit, so
any time I’m not playing Fve got to keep this
on. Doctors’ orders,” said Wade, who sprained
the wrist before the All-Star break this season.
Mourning averaged 7.8 points, 5.5 rebounds
and 2.66 blocks in an average of 20 minutes
last season, making 20 starts as ShaquiUe
ONeal’s backup and ranking third in the NBA
in blocks per game.
“I tiiink it’s only fitting I retire in a Heat jer
sey,” Mourning said. ‘T just felt I would have let
so many people down. This is home for me. I
love Miami, I love the fans.”
With Mourning’s decision to return, aU aght
primary members of the Heat’s playoff rotation
will hkely be back next season.
Ail five stai'tei's - O’Neal, Dwyane Wade,
Walker, Jason Wiliams and Udonis Haslem -
are set to return, along with sixth man James
Posey (who exercised a $6.4 million option to
stay in. Miami at least one more season) and
guard Gary Payton, who intends to play a 17th
season and second with Miami
Mourning hopes to coax coach Pat Riley, who
has not yet annormced whether he would be
coming back, to return as well.
‘We’ve got enoi^h voices to weigh on that
decision. As soon as he gets back (fimn vaca
tion), we’ve got to work on him,” he said.
medals at the North
American, Central American
and Caribbean imder-23
track and field champi
onships in Santo Domingo,
Dominican Republic.
Hargett, the 2006 MEAC
champion .in the 100 and 200
meters and 400 relay took
gold with Tbam USA’s 400
meter squad and a bronze in
the 100. Hai^tt, who is the
third Rattler to compete in
national and international
meets in as many years, ran
the third leg in the 400 relay
which won the gold with a
time of 39.38 seconds.
• Morgan State will host
more than 7,000 athletes
finm around the country for
the USA National Junior
Olympics track and field
championships July 25.
MSU is the fiirst historical-
ly-black school to host the
meet, which crowns champi
ons fit)m age 7 to 18. Some of
this year’s winnere wiU be
selected to compete in the
International Association of
Athletics Federation’s World
Youth Championships next
month.
145.
HoUie Perry won the B
group title with a score of
158. Neal Wlson was second.
HONOR: Adonis “Sporty”
Jeralds has been named a
recipient of the VanderZwaag
Distinguished Alumni Award
by the University of
Massachusetts sport man
agement program.
Jeralds, a consultant to
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
management, was cited for
professional excellence and
achievement in the sports
industry
Sports reporting
you can put your
hands on
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