JUNE 17, 1998 ----------------------------------------------- Ilj? JlortUwà JACKSON. PIPPEN CALL 6ÏH TITLE “ LAST DANCE” AT BULLS PARADE Coach Phil Jackson and for­ ward Scottie Pippen officially called the sixtii NBA title for the Chicago Bulls “the last dance” w hile the legendary Michael Jo r­ dan left the door open for a pos­ sible return today at the team ’s victory parade. In what has been a June tradi­ tion for the better part o f this decade, Bulls fans gathered in dow ntow n C hicago's Grant Park this m orning to celebrate the B ulls’ third straight NBA title and sixth in eight years. But the festive atm osphere was quickly d a m p e n e d by J a c k s o n an d Pippen, who both indicated they will leave the organization. “This was our last dance, and it was a w onderful w altz,” said Jackson in capping o ff his b rief speech to the crowd. A fter thanking the Bulls fans for their support over his 11-year career in Chicago, Pippen closed by saying, “thank you for our last dance.” H ow ever, Jordan, the six-tim e NBA Finals MVP, was serenaded w ith chants o f “one more year, one more year", and left open the Michael Jordan possibility that he will continue his legendary career with a heartfelt speech to the fans. “ My heart, my soul, my love has alw ays gone to the city o f C hi­ cago,” said Jordan. “ No m atter what happens, my heart, my soul, my love will always be with the city part o f all six titles — all have contracts that expire on July 1st. Jordan stated throughout the year that he will retire if Pippen and Jackson do not return in 1998-99. Pippen has had a long-running feud with m anagem ent and intends to test the free-agent market, w here he could rem ove his unofficial title o f most underpaid superstar in the league. Jackson, w ho m oved past John Kundla o fth e pre-shot clock M in­ neapolis L akers w ith his sixth coaching ch am p io n sh ip , also has feuded w ith m anagem ent. B ulls general m anager Jerry K rause, w ho w as b o o e d to d ay by the crow d, stated before the season that Jackson w ould only coach for one m ore year. Jackson even expressed a d esire to w alk aw ay from coaching after the 1997-98 season and had a long em brace w ith Jordan a fte r the final b u z z e r on Sunday. Jackson actually thanked K rause today, but then took a subtle shot at the general manager. “ I thank Jerry Krause for giving us the opportunity to repeat,” said Jackson. "He had another plan and Scottie Pippen superhum an perform ance, Jordan scored45 points, including tw o bas­ kets and a steal in the final 38 seconds, in the series-clinching 87- 86 win over the Utah Jazz in Game Six ofthe NBA Finals Sunday night. Jordan, Pippen and Phil Jackson - the only Bulls who have been a o f Chicago. Thank you for your support, your energy and hope and pray we have the opportunity to celebrate again.” A ppropriately, a large banner with Jordan adorned in a Superman costum e was unfurled before he addressed the crowd. In another he pu, it aside for another year.” The six cham pionship trophies were held aloft by Jordan, Pippen, Jackson, D ennis Rodman, Ron Harper and Toni Kukoc at the conclusion o f today’s celebration. “ If this was our last dance, it was a great dance," said Harper. The flam boyant Rodman, who is also eligible for free agency and not expected to return, added his usual spice to the proceed­ ings. “They say this is a family show, well I’m going to change this (bleep),” said Rodman in open­ ing his address. But Rodman quickly tam ed his act and pro­ ceeded to thank Jackson and his team m ates. Jordan called C hicago’s sixth title the most difficult in the run o f cham pionships. Before beat­ ing the Jazz in six gam es in the Finals forthe second straightyear, the Bulls were forced to a seven- game series by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern C onference finals. The Bulls won three straight titles from 1991-93, with Jordan retiring before the next season and returning 17 m onths later. Town goes wild over boxing’s golden boy B y EDUARDO MONTES When a party lasts a week, y ou’d think it would eventually run out o f steam. But with a guest o f honor like Oscar De La Hoya and an invitation list that appeared to include an entire city, El Paso seemed like it would never stop celebrating. Some 50,000 people packed the Sun Bowl on Saturday night to watch De La Hoya successfully defend his WBC welterweight title against No. 1 challenger Patrick Charpentier. “ I thank the city o f El Paso for giving me the strength, the opportu­ nity to fight here (and) for all these wonderful, beautiful fans," De La Hoya said. “ I promise you one more thing - that I will be back." To a person, excited fans agreed this was the city’s biggest event in years. "The Cowboys were a big deal and the Rolling Stones, but this is definitely bigger,” said MillieGarcia, one ofhundreds of women who turned out to get a glimpse o f De La Hoya. The Dallas Cowboys have scrim­ maged twice in the Sun Bowl, once before a sellout crowd, and the Roll­ ing Stones have also filled the sta­ dium in recent years. De La H oya’s fight topped them all when it came to blazers donated and honored E3oys & Girls Clubs fo r 5 0 years of service to Portland’s Youth To help support youth programs at all four Boys & Girls Clubs in the Port­ land metropolitan area (Blazers, Hillsboro, L e n ts a n d M eyer), the Blazers presented a $50,000 check to Virginia Hensen, Executive Direc­ tor of Boys & Girls clubs of Portland. The dona­ tion is in recognition of 50 years of outstanding achievements in the field of youth development. Boys & Girls Clubs pro- v i d e d a ily p r o ­ g ra m s and ser­ vice to 10,000 young people each year. They are generally open Mon­ day through Friday after school and all day during spring and summer breaks. BLAZERS. Congratulations Jake! On A JOB Well Done We Love You Very Much! -Mom & Dad excitement. Unlike the other one-day events, De La Hoya’s trip to El Paso kicked o ff a week-long frenzy that seemed to consume most o f the city, or at least the city’s women. H undreds showed up to greet De La 1 toya at the airport Tuesday. 11 undreds more crashed a “secret” workout Wednesday apparently discovered by some young girls who followed De La Hoya’s tour bus through the city. On Saturday, the Sun Bowl field disappeared under lights, cameras and a voluminous tent shielding a party for some ofthe city’s notables, among others. There was also unexpected ex­ citement as wind gusting over 25 mph buffeting the scaffolding sup­ porting the lights over the ring. As the metal bars swayed, security offi­ cials cleared ringside seats and an undercard fight was delayed for about 20 minutes until the scaffold could be secured. Amidst all this, the boxing match seemed almost incidental. Except to people like Debbie O ’Sullivan, a fight fan from Sacra­ mento, Calif,, who trekked to El Paso because she thought it was her best shot to watch a premiere event with a fighter like De La Hoya. U.S. Open Tickets Valued at $360,000 Stolen From Olympic Club More than 6,000 tickets to the U.S. Open were stolen from an of­ fice at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, w here the golf tourna­ ment is scheduled to be played next week, the Associated Press reported. The tickets, which police believe were stolen between 7 p.m. Tuesday Tuesday’s Sports Scoreboard Tickets to the 98th U.S. Open Golf Championship are sold out All Tim es E astern A m erican League Any redistribution o f Bloomberg content, including by framing or sim iliar m eans, is expressly pro­ hibited w ithout the prior w ritten consent o f Bloom berg L.P. Any reference to the material m ust be properly attributed to Bloom berg News. The inform ation herein w as ob­ ta in e d from s o u rc e s w h ic h Bloom berg L.P. and its suppliers believe reliable, but they do not Cleveland 3 Kansas City 0 -2 Minnesota 0 Detroit 0 - 1 DEL Toronto I Tampa Bay 0 -2 N.Y. Yankees at Baltimore, 7:35 p.m. Boston at Chicago White Sox, 8:05 p.m. Oakland at Texas, 8:35 p.m. Seattle at Anaheim, 10:05 p.m. N atio n al League Milwaukee 11, Chicago Cubs 2 F Arizona 1 Cincinnati 0 -1 N.Y. Mets 0 Montreal 0 -3 Pittsburgh 0 Philadelphia 0 - * 1 Florida at Atlanta, 7:40 p.m. St. Louis at Houston, 8:05 p.m. Colorado at San Francisco, 10:05 p.m. Los Angeles at San Diego, 10:05 p.m. N atio n a l H ockey League Detroit at W ashington, 8 p.m. guarantee its accuracy. N either the inform ation, nor any opinion ex­ pressed, constitutes a solicitation o fth e purchase or sale o f any secu­ rities or com m odities.(C) Copyright 1998 B lo o m b e rg L .P . BLOOM BERG, Bloomberg News, B lo o m b e rg F in an cial M arkets, Bloom berg Television, Bloomberg N e w s R a d io a re tr a d e m a r k s , tradenam es and service m arks o f B loom berg L.P. W N B A B a s k e tb a ll Los Angeles at Sacramento, 10 p.m. M a jo r League S o cc er No games today. World Cup Soccer Scotland I, Norway I F Brazil 3, Morocco 0 JEA N IES CLEA N ERS F PHONE DISCONNECTEDP 5403 N E 42nd NO PROBLEM AT SIMPLY CELLULAR S TELEPHONE NO Portland, Oregon 97218 CREDIT CHECKS (503) 287-0008 DEPOSITS 9:00 - 6:00 M -F TURNDOWNS I REGARDLESS OF YOUR BACK BILL PHONE SERVICE RESTORED IN 3-5 DAYS AFFORDABLE RATES • NO HIDDEN FEES 3939 NE MLK JR BLVD 1 280-8000 I THIS AD GOOD FOR 1 FREE LONG DISTANCE CALLING CARD WHEN PHONE SERVICE IS ORDERED 1 J I PORTLAND AREA RESIDENTS ONLY ♦ and 8 a.m. W ednesday, are valued at as much as $360,000. W hile it appears that at least one thief en­ tered an unlocked window in the tw o-story clubhouse, investigators said they have no suspects and no other items were reported missing, AP said. ) 9:00 - 4:00 Sat. Jeanies Cleaners T 1 Jeanies Cleaners 1 Coupon 1 . Coupon 1 1 $8 off o f I $ 4 2 o ff o f 1 1 $20 I $ 3 0 o r ttfoKe . 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