Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, July 24, 1996, Page 10, Image 10

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J uly 24, 1996 • T he P ori la n d O bserver
P age B2
Kazaam! Shaq is a Laker
BRIEFS
Evans fails to qualify,
Dream Team in
action at Atlanta
Games
The third day o f the A tlanta
O lym pics got off to a stunning
start this m orning when four-tim e
O lym pic sw im m ing gold m edalist
Janet Evans, one o f the key figures
in F riday's opening cerem onies,
failed to qualify for the finals o f
the w om en's 4 00 m eter freestyle.
T od ay ’s com petition will also in­
clude the United S tales' basket­
ball Dream Team opposing A ngola
and the first medal in gym nastics.
NFL likely to rule on
Cowboy WR Irvin
this week
National Fixitball League C om ­
missioner Paul Tagliabue said it is a
“virtual certainty" that a disciplin­
ary ruling on Dallas Cow boys All-
Pro receiver Michael Irvin will be
announced early this week. I rv in ,
who was sentenced to lour years
probation and a $ 10,000 tine at his
drug possession trial in Dallas, is
expected to receive a four-game
su spension F o rm er P ittsb u rg h
Steelers running back Bam Morris
was suspended for four games by
the NFL after he pleaded guilty to a
felony marijuana possession charge
last month. Irvin is not with the
Cowboys at training cam p in A us­
tin, Te xas, say i ng he needed to spend
more lime with his family. H ow ­
ever, he did attend a Miami D ol­
phins scrimmage Sunday in Davie,
Florida and was greeted by D ol­
phins coach Jimmy Johnson, his
formercoach with theC ow boysand
the University o f Miami.
Strickland must
report for physical
today; trade in
jeopardy
Point guard RixJ Strickland m ust
report for a physical exam ination
with the W ashington Bullets today
or last M onday’s four-player trade
with the Portland Trail B lazers
could be voided. The Bullets sent
forw ard R asheed W allace and
sw ingm an M itchell Butler to the
T rail B lazers in ex c h an g e for
Strickland and forw ard H arvey
Grant. But the deal can be voided
if Strickland refuses to take a physi­
cal within a week o f the trade.
Strickland averaged 18.8 points
and 9.4 assists last season playing
for Portland despite having m ajor
personality conflicts with coach
P J . Carlesim o Portland will re­
portedly sign Kenny A nderson to
a seven-year contract worth $50
million if the four-player deal with
W ashington is not voided.
Murray back with
Orioles; expected to
DH tonight
fiddic Murray will likely be the
starting designated hitter tonight
against the Minnesota Twins, as he
returns to the Baltimore O rioles
lineup for the first tune in eight years
after being acquired from the C leve­
land Indians on Sunday. The Indi­
ans traded Murray to the Orioles foi
pitcher Kent M erckcr in a deal that
sends the 40-year-old first baseman/
designated hitler back to where he
starred from 1977-88 He will be
used primarily as the full-time des­
ignated hitter with the Orioles.
Murray joined the Indians as a free
agent before the 1993 campaign and
helped the team to its first post­
season appearance in 4 1 years last
season Thceight-time All-Starlcads
all active players in hits (3,159),
home runs (491) and RBI (1,865).
He is I Ith all-time in hits, 16th in
homers, eighth in RBI and ninth in
games played, including first among
all first basemen.
The Los A ngeles Lakers, signed
A ll-S tar free agent center Shaquille
O ’N eal to a seven-year contract.
T e rm s w ere n o t d is c lo s e d , b ut
O 'N e a l reportedly received $120
m illion, the richest total package in
sports history.
“ I c a n ’t tell you how ex cited
S outhern C alifo rn ia is today. The
response o f bringing Shaq to the
L akers is one that is unprecedented
in our h isto ry ,” said L akers P resi­
dent Jerry W est at a new s co n fer­
ence today in A tlanta, w here O ’Neal
is particip atin g for D ream T eam III
in the O lym pic G am es. "I think in
to d a y ’s sports w orld there are p lay ­
ers that are stars and one w ord that is
used very loosely is superstar. The
L akers today have signed a 24-year-
old su p erstar.”
It w as believed the only team that
could lure O 'N e al aw ay from the
O rlan d o M agic w as the L ak ers b e­
cause o f his secondary careers as a
rap singer and m ovie star that could
be en hanced by playing near H olly­
w ood. O ’Neal already has released
tw o album s and had a role in the
basketball m ovie "B lue C h ip s.” He
stars in “ K azaam ,” a film about a
rapping genie released this w eek.
“ K eep in m ind the w ord change,
for me change is g o o d ,” said O ’ N eal.
“ I m ade a lot o f friends and played
w ith a lot o f great players in O r­
lando. I ’d lik e to th an k Penny
H ardaw ay. N ick A nderson, D ennis
Scott and I’d also like to set the
record straight. T here w as no feud
betw een me and Brian Hill (O rlando
coach). I ju st think change is good. "
O 'N e a l m et w ith L akers P resi­
dent Jerry W est W ednesday night in
A tlanta and agreed to term s early
this m orning.
"W hen we agreed on the deal at
2:15 a.m , it w as the m ost relieved I
ever felt in my life,” said W est.
T he Lakers presented O ’ Neal wi th
a sizeable increase from their o rig i­
nal seven-year, $95.5 m illion offer
after creating m ore room under the
salary cap tw o days ago. T he Lakers
sent guard A nthony P eeler and for­
w ard G eorge Lynch to V ancouver
T uesday for d raft choices, enabling
them to increase their offer to O ' Neal.
L akerscoach Del H arrisexplained
the pow er and pressure o f coaching
a p lay er as good as O ’N eal at a new s
co n feren ce at the G reat W estern F o ­
rum in Inglew ood, C alifornia. Los
A ngeles won at least 50 gam es in
each o f the last tw o seasons and is
adding one o f the leag u e’s best ce n ­
ters to that team .
“A s a coach, it puts m ore pressure
Shaquille O'Neal
on to w in," H arris said. " It’s alw ays
easier to coach the underdog team ,
alw ays easier to bring team s along.
... But with this, we are taking the
m ost solid part o f that nucleus and
w orking from that to continue the
core that w e’ve built."
T he M agic m ade a strong pitch to
retain O 'N e a l, an A ll-Star in each o f
his four years with the M agic, offer­
ing a seven-year contract worth $ 115
m illion.
O 'N eal will w ear num ber 34 with
the Lakers. He w ore num ber 32 with
the M agic, but 32 is Magic Jo h n so n 's
retired num ber with the Lakers.
Perhaps the strongest hint that
VOLLEYBALL LEAGUE COMES TO SEASIDE
The Bud Light Pro Beach V olley­
ball League will make a lour stop in
Seaside, Ore, Friday, Aug 9th through
Sunday Aug. 1 Ith The Oregon tourna­
ment is the I Oth stop of the 13-citytour
featuring m en’s and w om en’s profes­
sional beach volleyball players com ­
peting for $820,800 in total league
prize money. The event will be tied
into the 60,000 person Seaside Bud
Light amateur volleyball tournament
at Seaside Beach.
The league which enters its sixth
season of operation features the 4-0n-
by D anny
B ell
4 beach volleyball format. In what has
become tradition for the Bud Light Pro
Beach Volleyball League, players con­
sist o f former and future Olympians
from both the indixirand beach disci­
plines. Com petition will begin on Fri­
day, Aug 9th at 10 a.m. and admission
free to the public all weekend.
The league kicked o ff the 1996
season M em orial Day w eekend in
C learw ater, Fla, and will conclude
Labor Day w eekend in Santa C ru /.
C alif., and will generate up to 34
hours o f television program m ing via
ESPN. F.SPN2 and CB S including
four live show s on ESPN and one on
CBS.
"We have some of the finest Olympic
medalists in the volleyball world," said
CTaig El ledge President ofCESPorts, the
ci impany I hat runs and < iperates the league.
“It isevident that the beach volleyball and
4 pci si >n volleybal I is only getting bigger,
better and more popular by the amount of
people playing, television interest and tlie
explosion of competitions around the
world. We Certainly hope to follow the
doubles game into the Olympics in 2000.
O ' Neal w ould leave the M agic cam e
from C harles Barkley, his D ream
Team III team m ate, at an O lym pic
team practice W ednesday in O r­
lando.
W hen asked w hat he thought of
an O rlando Sentinel poll in w hich
fans voted by a w hopping 91 per
cent against re-signing O 'N e al to a
seven-year, $115 m illion contract,
Barkley said the fans will regret los­
ing O ’Neal.
"T h e y 're going to be sorry this
tim e tom orrow , because th e y 're g o ­
ing to he id io ts," said B ark ley
W ednesday. "They are going to miss
him .”
O 'N e al said the poll had no b ear­
ing on his decision to leave O rlando.
“T hat really had no part in my
d ecisio n ," said O 'N e al "O rlando
hashed m e so m uch I stopped read ­
ing the papers in my second year,"
said O ’N eal.
The L akers traded center V lade
D ivac to the C harlotte H ornets last
w eek, gam bling that they w ould be
able to lure O 'N e al aw ay from O r­
lando. T hey also dealt guard A n ­
thony Peeler and forw ard G eorge
Lynch to the V ancouver G rizzlies
for draft picks to clear m ore salary
cap room.
O ’Neal exercised an option in his
Leisure Hour Golf Club
C e l e b r a te s Its
52nd Annual Golf Tournament
Friday, Saturday & Sunday
August 2nd, 3rd, & 4th, 1996
Hosted In The City of Portland
Special Events Include:
Friday, August 2nd
Practice Round
Broadmoor G o lf Course at 3509 NE Columbia BI vd.
Tee Time: 11:00 AM I st and I Oth Tees
Honey Pol & Skins: 11:00 - 12:30
Friday Evening
Friday Fish Fry: 6:30 PM until...
Peninsula Park al Portland Blvd. & Albina Ave.
A CASE OF MURPHY’S LAW
S atu rd ay the R iv ersid e L ittle
League A ll-Stars played the team
from Rose City. It was a classic case
o f M u rp h y ’s Law after ju m p in g out
to com m anding 8-0 lead in the third
inning, things began to unravel for
River Side in the fourth and fifth
innings going on to lose 8-11.
H ere’s what happened. T he d is­
trict play-offs are now being held in
advance to divisional play-offs and
they go on regional play in San
B ernadino C alifornia. The w inner
o f the regional play advances to the
little L eague W orld Series.
Saturday was the first round of
play This is the 50th year o f W orld
Series tournam ent play. A fter an un­
eventful first inning R iverside got
things going by scoring the first run
on a forced walk with bases loaded.
The inning ended with bases loaded
on one hit, In the bottom o f the
second inning, pitcher Durel W ash­
ington struck out three consecutive
batters retiring the inning.
L eading o ff the tip o f third M ark
W ashington m ade a hit to the short
stop w ho co u ld n ’t get it to first in
time. The next batter C urtis Norris,
who played third base hit a triple
scoring a run. The next batter Durel
W ashignton hit a hom e run, scoring
tw o runs. The next batter was hit and
took first base, K evin S pencer Jr
follow ing with a sacrifice line to
first base and R iverside fu rth ercap i-
talized with a run and ad o u b lc steal
M iles Q u iy ’oy scored later in the
inning o ff a wild pitch A nd the
inning is retired with 5 runs on fours
hits and three men left on base. At
the top the fourth inning M ark W ash
ington hit a single then advanced to
second base on an erran t throw s.
C urtis N orris follow ed with o f first
hasc. His second hit o f the gam e on
a double . C urtis N orris then scored
on overthrow s to third m aking the
score 8 to 0 . T he follow ing batters
struck out.
The bottom o f the fourth inning
was a little m ore productive for Rose
City as Durel W ashington begins to
show signs o f tirin g . T wo runs scored
on an error, T he top o f fifth inning
saw R iver C ity stirke out. fly-out
and strike out.
Rose City starts the bottom ol
fifth w ith a w alk. Subsequently, two
baiters are hit in the inning another
baiter hits a single scoring a man.
an o th er batter hits a hom e run.
At 9 to 8 Rose C ity, C oach Chuck
W ashington changed pitchers going
with O m ar W ashignton. O m ar a l­
r
current contract and was the most
coveted free agent since M ichael
Jordan re-signed with the C hicago
Bulls last week.
T he 7 - 1, 300-pound O ’Neal av er­
aged 26.6 points, 11.0 rebounds and
2.2 blocks in 54 gam es last season,
m issing 28 gam es with a broken
thum b and other ailm ents. He ranked
third in the NBA in scoring, third in
field goal percentage (.573) and ninth
in blocked shots.
O ’N eal w as th e first p ic k o f
th e 1992 d ra ft an d w as th e 1993
N B A R o o k ie o f the Y ear. He led
th e M ag ic to th e ir first p la y o ff
b erth in 1994 and w on th e s c o r ­
in g tit le in 1995 as O r la n d o
re a c h e d th e F in a ls , lo sin g to the
H o u sto n R o c k e ts.
O ’Neal has career averages of
27.2 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.79
blocked shots in 295 career gam es.
H a rd a w a y c a lle d the lo ss o f
O 'N e a l “ d e v a s t a t i n g " to th e
M ag ic. Iro n ic a lly , the M ag ic now
b e c o m e H a rd a w a y ’s team on h is
2 4 th b irth d a y .
W ith O ’N e a l's d ep a rtu re , Jon
K oncak becom es the starting center
for the M agic O rlando re-signed
pow er forw ard H orace G rant to a
fiv e -y e a r, $50 m illio n c o n tra c t
W ednesday.
Saturday, August 3rd
low ed three runs and clo sed out the
inning. The fifth inning m anaged a
run on three hits for Rose City.
T h a t ju s t a b o u t s u m m a riz e s the
g a m e . T h e se I I an d 12 y e a r k id s
e x h ib ite d a lo t o f m a c k e y p la y in g
in e x tre m e w e a th e r c o n d itio n s .
B o th te a m s s h o u l d b e c o m ­
m e n d e d fo r te n a c io u s n e s s an d
c o m p e titiv e s p irtit. B ui in the en d
y o u can h a v e o n ly o n e w in n e r.
T h a t’s to o b ad , b e c a u s e th ey b o th
p la y e d g re a t.
First Day o f Tournament
Col wood Golt Course al 7313 NE Columbia Blvd.
Tee Time: 11 :(M) AM Island lOthTees
Saturday Evening
Airport Travelodge at 9727 NE Sandy Blvd.
Cocktail Hour: 6:30 PM
Dinner & Dance: 7:30
Sunday, August 4th
Last Day o f Tournament
Broadmoor G olf Course
Tee Time: 8:00 AM I st and I Oth Tecs
Sunday at 4:00
Awards Ceremony
Handicaps Not Necessary
For more Information Please Call: Leon McKenzie, Sr. Tournament
Chairman (503) 233-9588
A d v e r tis e In
A U T O P A IN T S A L E !
(¿ b e I J n r t la n b ( O b s e r v e r
Call (503) 288-0033
L____
_____ u
£
KOIN
if
SUMMER CLASSIC
Week 6 Results
Saturday, J u ly 20,1996
HAWKS 92
ROCKETS 86
A . S TE W A R D 3 t N . H A R R IS O N 28
L A V O N V A N N 22 JESSIE S H E ILS 22
RAPTORS 96
SUNS 95
D A M O N S T O U D A M IR E 35 C. A N D E R S O N 16 A . G EO RG E 33 T. G R E E N 24
LAKERS 121
CAVS 111 (2OT)
K W E M A T T A K IN G 41 K. D U C K W O R T H 18
A . S T O U D M IR E 42 R. L U C A S 17
SONICS 117
HORNETS 77
C. M C K IN N E Y 22 A . BELL 26
K. S T O N E H O U S E 25 T. M A N I O V E 20
Was
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Sunday, J u ly 21,1996
HAWKS 101
SUNS 79
l l u t K O to iro G N 33 J. v v 'E s ib iu jo k io
R O N G R A D i 21 A . G E O R G E 18
LAKERS 111
HORNETS 86
K W E M A T T A K IN G 36 K .D U C K W O K T H 15
C A N A A N C H A T M A N 39 S T O N E H O U S E 22
CAVS 120
ROCKETS 110
TE RRE LL B R A N D O N 45 A S T O U D A M IR E 28
JOCK PAGE 29 L A V O N V A N N 22
RAPTORS 113
SONICS 108
D A M O N S T O U D A M IR E 40 D . |A C S O N 20
a IARLES M C K IN N E Y 30 A A R O N B F I.1 24
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Standings
iSONICS
2RAPTORS
j CAVS
«HAWKS
10-2
9-3
7-5
7-5
sLAKERS
«HORNETS
7ROCKETS
«SUNS
5-7
4-8
3-9
3-9
Week 6 BIG Guns
P A IN T & B O D Y
“THK NBA REPORT"
11
TERRELL BRANDON CAVS
AI St» BRANDON led tha CAVS to a 120 110 victory Sunday «garnit the ROCKETS T B in mid season form handed (he Rockets
a season hyh 45 pontsl
« 0 DAMON STOUDAMIRE RAPTORS
The NBA s 1996 ROOKIE OF THE >IA R led the RAPTORS to a big victory Sunday scoring 40 points wMe handing tie Irat piece
SONICS only the« second toss o< toa year
« 2 CLIFF ROBINSON HAWKS
Portland s veteran swing nan poured in a Waring 33 poinl «(tort, retodng 5 3p«nt«rsl
fS5 KEVIN DUCKWORTH
LAKERS
Due* make ha debut cortrtHJUng 16 points Setuday and 15 Stxtday both resulting m big wins lor the lakers
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