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Hath} ®ar MM f ■ 105 years of editorial freedom Serving the students and the University community since 1893 FAIR WE ILL Bulls' Guard Michael Jordan Retires From Basketball By Brian Murphy Sports Editor -CHICAGO - Michael Jordan said goodbye again. The Chicago Bulls superstar ended months of speculation by officially announcing his retirement from basketball Wednesday for the second time. “I played it the best I could,"Jordan said in front of a media onslaught and a barrage of camera flashes. “I tried to be the best basketball player I could be." , The best player he could be was arguably the greatest play er ever. Jordan carried the Bulls to six NBA titles in his last six lull NBA seasons. Jordan retired previously in October 1993, after winning three consecutive NBA crowns. He played minor-league base ball for a year in the Chicago White Sox organization before returning to basketball late in the 1994-95 season. But Jordan said this time retirement is for real. “It’s not really 100 percent, but it’s close," he said. “You can take that for what it’s worth, but I’m very secure in my deci sion.” Jordan sat at a table on the floor of the United Center, a sta dium opened prior to the 1994-95 season based largely on the money Jordan’s presence brought to the Bulls. At the table sat Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, Jordan’s wife Juanita and NBA Commissioner David Stem. Reinsdorf, whom Jordan had public debates with over the composition and coach of the team, spoke after Jordan fin ished his statement. Reinsdorf presentedjordan with his sixth NBA championship ring - the one Jordan clinched by scor ing four points and stripping Utah forward Karl Malone of the ball in the final minute of Game 6 in last season’s NBA Finals. Reinsdorf also unveiled Jordan’s jersey in the rafters above the United Center. “Today is a day I hoped would never come,” Reinsdorf said. “It is the toughest day in the history of the Chicago Bulls, the NBA and the city of Chicago. “He was simply the best player ever to put on a uniform.” Stern, on the other hand, tried to put a positive spin on a move that will not help his efforts to rebuild fan support for the NBA following a six-month lockout. “The greatest basketball player in the history of the game is getting to retire with the same grace that he played the game," Stem said. For his part, Jordan seemed upbeat, talking easily with the media. He said he considered announcing his decision by merely saying, “I’m gone,” but felt he owed the fans more than that. The decision, he said, came down to the simple fact that he See JORDAN, Page 11 B c hicago m I I J(| MICHAEL 1984-1993 Trial of President to Open With Arguments in Senate The House made a formal request this week to call Monica Lewinsky as a witness in the Senate trial. Associated Press WASHINGTON - Bracing for open ing arguments in his impeachment trial, President Clinton said Wednesday he will tend studiously to “the business of the people” while his fate is settled in historic Senate proceedings. House prosecutors said Monica Lewinsky had recently rejected their request for a pre trial interview. With the first formal presentation of evidence set for Thursday, Judiciary This is the perfect time to walk away from the same. I'm at peace with that. Michael Jordan Jjg — 3 t’.cj ■ \\ p | 0. V s; 0 Jgjtfk Hi ” ■ : . • ; •■: v : _ ' ' rVBT bH : ? dCc/V’ 4 . ' V ”< I MS RB J jppjF DTH/DAVID SANDLER Former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan laughs with his wife, Juanita, at Wednesday's press conference in which Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA. Retirement Should Equal Relaxation for Jordan Michael Jordan's cousin says the retirement will allow Jordan to spend more time with family. By T. Nolan Hayes Assistant Sports Editor Michael Jordan’s retirement from basket ball on Wednesday means many things to a lot of different people. Children have to say a sad goodbye to their hero. NBA commissioner David Stem loses the world’s best salesman. The Chicago Bulls have to find a way to win without the game’s greatest player. < ***' : ifflgj Committee Republicans said they had sought permission earlier in the week to talk with the woman at the center of the sex-and-cover-up scandal. Her attor neys “declined to make her avail able,” said a com mittee spokesman, PaulJ. McNulty. Legal sources, who spoke on condition of Chief Justice William Rehnquist will preside over the impeachment trial that opens today in the Senate. anonymity, disclosed that a similar request was made to at least one other potential witness, Kathleen Willey. Thursday, January 14,1999 Volume 106, Issue 141 But what does retirement mean to Jordan himself? Second helpings at the dinner table, according to his cousin Kenny Newkirk. “Finally he gets to rest,” said Newkirk, who knew of Jordan’s intentions since the summer. “Now he can sit back at family reunions and eat as much as he wants. He can work on get ting a stomach.” Newkirk’s sentiments aboutjordan deserv ing a respite were echoed by North Carolina men’s basketball coach Bill Guthridge, who was an assistant duringjordan’s three years at UNC. “We’re happy for Michael,” Guthridge said. “He certainly deserves to retire. He’s done an unbelievable job as an ambassador for this university.” Apart from Clinton’s remarks Wednesday, his legal team dispatched a formal trial brief to the Senate arguing that neither “fact or law” warranted his removal from office. “The vote the American people ren dered ... is hanging in the balance,” the brief said. “They have their job to do in the Senate, and I have mine,” the president told reporters in his first public utterance in three weeks on an issue that has tar nished his presidency for posterity. “I trust that the right thing will be done.” A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required to convict him and remove him from office. The trial is to resume at 1 p.m., with See TRIAL, Page 13 Student Announces Plans To Run for RHA President Sophomore Jermain Reeves says he wants to improve the environment of UNC residence halls. By Lindsay Kim Staff Writer One student declared plans to mn for Residence Hall Association president at an interest meeting for candidates held Wednesday night. Sophomore Jermain Reeves was the only candidate that attended the meet ing with RHA President Davidjemigan. “This gives me something to get involved with to try to help other stu dents and to somehow better life on this campus,” Reeves said. He said he had no experience with RHA, but was involved with the Race Jordan also did a fairly decent job pro moting basketball. He helped turn the NBA into the worldwide attraction it is right now, becoming one of the most famous people on the planet His competitiveness and pure talent left anyone who met him in awe and caused many people to question his decision to leave when he was still on top of the basketball world. “It’s easy for us sportscasters to say, ‘Mike, how can you do it?’” said Stuart Scott, an anchor on ESPN’s Sport Center and a 1987 UNC graduate. “But it’s not about us. It’s about Mike and his family.” And Jordan aims to spend much more time on the golf course and with his family - Relations and Greek Affairs Committees of student government. Reeves, who has lived in Morrison Residence Hall for two years, said he wanted to improve the environment of UNC residence halls. “Living conditions are not what I thought they would be because they’re really not up to par, especially with the money people are paying to come here,” he said. Jemigan said he knew of one other candidate interested in running for RHA president, but would not divulge the name. “People are really in the early stages of this,” Jemigan said. “Unfortunately people are also get ting a late start.” Elections Board Chairwoman Heather Faulk, Assistant Director of See RHA, Page 13 News/Features/Arts/Sports 962-0245 Business/Advertising 962-1163 Chapel Hill, North Carolina ® 1999 DTH Publishing Corp. All rights reserved. his wife, Juanita, and three children - now that he won’t have to contend with NBA dou ble-teams. “Juanita is fully for (the decision to retire),” Newkirk said. “She gets to have him at home a lot, and plus he gets to be with the kids a lot more.” At his press conference Wednesday, Jordan said he was already thoroughly enjoy ing the one-on-one battles he gets to witness on a daily basis between his two young sons, Marcus and Jeffrey. Jordan engaged in simi lar combat throughout his own childhood when he took on his older brother Larry on a dirt court in Wilmington. Jordan used to get beaten and beaten up See REACTION, Page 11 Terrapin Trouble Fifth-ranked Maryland used a second-half surge to turn a close game into a 89-76 victory over the No. 9 Tar Heels at the Smith Center. See Page 10. Calling All Donations Chapel Hill and Carrboro police are collecting cellular phones for needy people so they can dial 911 in emergencies. See Page 4. Today’s Weather Mostly Cloudy, Upper 50s; Friday: Cloudy, Upper 40s. .'CI.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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