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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1998)
• >. » 4 r- -j »«¡¡tò - • ’ •■/• • ■ R S m f c .” ** Page B2 •• i ■ **« .’ x *•»• . •••■ . \ •• IM h HMÍMNMI ,|.\IN . ¿n, (Tlje JJo rt lattò O ibsm arr tv v n SPREWELL ARBITRATION HEARING BEGINS IN PORTLAND C arlesim o's former players with the Portland Trail Blazers could testify. Sprewell initially was suspended a m inim um o f lO gam es without pay for tw ice attacking Carlesim o at a prac tice December 1 st. Tw o days later, the W arriors term inated Sprewell s con tract, which had two-plus years and nearly $25 million remaining. The NBA then banned Sprewell for one year and Players Association execu tive director Billy Hunter filed an ap peal. In a teleconference Sunday. the sides exchanged witness lists and Feerick opted not to impose a gag order, which the NBA and the Warriors wanted Following each d ay, it will be revealed who testified and for how long, but no other details will be made available. Executives, attorneys and witnesses for both sides will gather at the PacWest Center in Portland today through Fri day. Additional days already have been scheduled for February 3rd-4th in New York. Feerick has 3 0 days to make his ruling and it is believed he will not rule P J. Carlesimo Head Coach for the Golden State Warriors I atrell Sprew ell’s immediate N BA future begins w ith an arduous arbitration bearing in Portland that will determ ine if his one year league suspension lot assaulting lorm ereoaeh P J. Carlesim o was properpum shm ent or too harsh. In d e p e n d e n t a r b itr a to r Jo h n Feerick. dean of Fordham University I .aw School, will hear argum ents both from attorneys for the NBA and the NBA Players Association. In addi tion. Feerick will hear testim ony and d e p o s itio n s from a h a n d fu l o f Sprewell s former team m ates on the G olden State W arriors Som e of quickly. W hile the N BA merely w ants Feerick to uphold its ban of Sprewell — the longest non-drug suspension in league history — the NBPA wants Sprewell reinstated with his contrac tual rights. That is considered a long shot, w ith a more likely outcome al lowing the former All-Star to return at the beginning of next season A rbitrators of ten use precedent in their rulings in these cases. Although there never has been a situation in which an NBA player lias attacked a coach, there have been incidents in which players have attacked other team em ployees, including an incident early this season in which former Phoenix Suns forw ard l oin Chambers attac ked the trainer. Prior to Sprewell s ban. the longest suspensions for violence in league his lory were 26 games given to Kermit Washingtiin ft >rpunching i >pp< ment Rudy Tomjanovichduring a game in 1977; 11 games given to Dennis Ri xlman lor kick ing acourtside cameraman last year. and lOgames to Vernon Maxwell forgoing into the stands in Portland and attacking a heckler in 1995. Sprewell already has missed 26 games. 'Hie union also believes there is c o n flic tin g te stim o n y reg a rd in g whether Sprew ell punched Carlesimo when he returned to practice alter the initial attack 20 minutes earlier lluntei said that six Warriors have stated that Sprewell did not throw a punch at Carlesimo. although Warriors man agem ent and numerous accounts of the incident have said otherwise. The hearing is being held in Port land because the W arriors visit the Broncos’ offensive line dominant in Super Bowl XXXII B y J ohn P i zzi i i . o S pu r is I n kh < NFL E ditor Action alw ays speaks louder than words W hen Super Bowl week began, ihe offensive line of the D envcrB ron- cos becam e a story because of their ref usal to speak to the media. But in the end. they made the loudest noise .is the Broncos stunned the G reen Bay Packers. 31-24. in Super Bowl XXXII Sunday. "That was pretty good lor the light est line in the N FL ," said Broncos quarterback John Elway. "They co n trolled the line o f scrim m age and out-physicalled G reen Bay ” All week, the Broncos had to hear how their offensive line was too small to handle the Packers. How can a line with an average size o f ju st u n der 6-5 and 290 pounds deal with a W INTER S T A N D IN G S 1997/98 W 5 5 4 3 2 2 2 1 1 0 L 0 0 1 2 3 3 3 4 4 5 GIRLS BASKETBALL Jefferson Lincoln Benson Wilson Grant Franklin Cleveland Marshall Madison Roosevelt W 6 5 4 3 4 3 1 1 0 0 L 0 1 1 1 2 2 5 5 6 6 WRESTLING Benson Franklin Grant Madison Cleveland Wilson Jefferson Marshall Lincoln Roosevelt W 4 2 2 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 L 0 0 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 4 More Choices For You. More Help W here It Counts. t h * C o l o m b in W ll l « r n * t t < w ill not sit in on the hearings. Sprewell has been playing unorga nized basketball in the Bay area. He not accepted any of fers to play else where during Ins suspension, includ ing one from the Atlantic C ity Seagulls of the USBL that called for him loearn the median U S . household income of $592.04 per week Join Us The Les Schwab Blazer Alumni Basketball Team versus The Emmanuel Lions Basketball Team (Presented by Emmanuel Community General Services) Saturday, February 7, 1998 7:00 p.m. at the Henson High School Gymnasium 546 N.E. 12th Avenue Tickets: $5.00 Adults $3.00 Under Age 13 “P ow er”TM Kimberly Jenkins l eaches A 46 week nutrition and exercise program for women needing to loose at least 50 lbs. “A quatone” Michael I lampton leads a water aerobics class for weight loss and mussel tone. “ I leart T o I le a rt” l'onie Gatlin heads up a energetic floor aerobics program. “Senior E xercise” Susan Macelli our aquatics director leads a water aerobics class two mornings each week. Moore St. C om m unity C en ter Salvation A rm y 5335 N. Williams Phone: (239-1241) P A G IN G & C E L L U L A R New DEBIT PHILIPS FIZZ PHONES for only $159.00 That includes: The Philips Fizz Phone, 33 minutes of Local Airtime and the Activation Fee No Credit Check, No Gimmicks, No Turn Downs. Everyone is approved! 0 Every Dollar Counts U n ite d W a y nt why you play the g am e, to show people that w hat ex p e rts say is not n ecessarily tru e." "It kind of ticked u s o ffa little bit." said left tackle G ary Zim m erm an "W e had to bite our tongues We pride ourselves on being a running team ." I'lie tact is. the line consistently opened holes lor Super Bowl M VP Terrell Davis. I ind deputy commissioner Russ Granik are not expected to be directly in volved in the proceedings. For the most part. Sprewell has kept a low profile since the incident. He apolo gized but did not answer questions dur ing a news conference in Oakland on December 9th that was attended by Hunter, agent AmTellem. several of his former teammates and a handful of attor neys, including JohnnieCochran Jr., who P lig h t - fri SPORTS STANDINGS BOYS BASKETBALL Benson Wilson Jefferson Cleveland Franklin Grant Lincoln Marshall Roosevelt Madison P ackers' defensive front w hich lea lures 345-pound G ilbert Brown and 304-pound Reggie W hite? "A ll we h e a rd w as how w e c o u ld n 't run on th e m ,” said B ro n c o s ’ left guard M ark S chlereth. w ho p rev io u sly e a rn e d a S u p er Bow l ring w ith the W ashington R edskins "I w as th in k in g , ‘H eck, we have run on ev e ry b o d y all seaso n long. W hat is the d iffe re n c e ? ’ But that is Trail Blazers tonight. Sprewell and Carlesim o both will give testimony, as will W arriors players and executives. Ihe union may request Blazers who played under Carlesim o to testify to the coach's style, which some have called abrasive. R epresenting Sprew ell will be Hunter. NBPA chief counsel Bob I anza. w ho w ill try the case; associate counsel Ron Klempner; deputy coun sel Hal Biagas; and Jeffrey Kessler, who headed the f ailed union decertifi cation m ovem ent in 1995. i’he NBA will counter with execu tive vice president and chief legal of ficer Jeffrey Mishkin and private at torneys H ow ard G anz and Frank Rothman, both former colleagues of NBA commissioner David Stem. Stem OB LONG Os’w » Call now for more details 503.288.9180 9« wkM PW M w r •» IkTWOON StIVKB.lK MAVWION. OMiC* I or come visit us at: 3213 N.E. MLK Jr. Blvd. Portland, OR 97212 Seating based on availability. Service charges apply. Not valid in conjunction with any other offer. No cancellations, refunds, or exchanges. Not valid in conjunction with previously purchased tickets.
