PageB3
BRIEFS
Real Sports with
Bryant Gumbel
N o m in a te d fo r six 1998
Sports Em m y A w ards - m ore
than any other scheduled series—
presents m ore provocative sto­
ries w hen it returns w ith a new
edition TU ESD A Y , A PR IL 20
(10:00-11:00 P.M. ET/PT), ex­
clusively on HBO.
Other play dates: April 22 (7:30
p.m.), 24 (1:30p.m.), 26(6:00a.m.),
27 (10:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m.) and 30
(12:30 p.m.), and May 2 (10:00
a.m.). All times ET/PT.
Segments include:
Counterfeit Clubs. The U.S.
Custom s D epartm ent estimates
that up to $4 billion w orth o f golf
equipm ent in this country is ei­
ther counterfeit or “knockoff,”
m eaning that com panies are sell­
ing equipment under a false name,
or copying com pany’s design.
W hile seriously affecting the bot­
tom line o f legitim ate m anufac­
turers, this unregulated equipment
also raises quality issues. REA L
S P O R T S ’ in v e stig a tiv e team
heads to Taiwan to exam ine the
factories pum ping out fake equip­
ment, test the performance o f these
products, and trace their route to
the A m erican consumer.
Producer: Sydney Trattner.
Lakers waive
Dennis Rodman
The Los A ngeles Lakers fi­
nally had enough o f D ennis Rod-
man and his bizarre behavior,
waiving him Thursday night.
R o d m a n sh o w e d up la te
ag a in fo r th e te a m ’s m o rn in g
p rac tice at L os A n g ele s S o u th ­
w est C o lleg e , and w as slo w
g e ttin g re a d y b e c a u s e he
c o u ld n ’t fin d h is so ck s and
shoes.
T hat apparently turned out to
be the last straw.
Lakers coach K urt Ram bis
told Rodm an to go hom e, and
said the team was through with
its special treatm ent o f the ec­
centric forward, who led the NBA
in rebounding in each o f the last
seven seasons.
“A t this tim e w e feel it ’ s in the
best interests o f the Lakers to
end the relationship,” Lakers vice
president Jerry W est said in a
statem ent issued Thursday night.
“This obviously d id n ’t w ork out
like w e had hoped, but w e w ould
like to thank D ennis for the con­
tributions he did m ake to the
team and w ish him the best o f
luck in the future.”
R odm an said he is a scape­
goat for the team ’s perform ance.
“T hey have to have a fall guy
and I’m basically the fall guy,”
he told Fox Sports late Thursday
night.
“I w anted to play and ... the
Lakers are cow ards not to take
the fall for som e o f the things that
have happened this year. I hope
I’m still loved by people here in
the state o f C alifornia,” he said.
(Elje IJorUanò (ßbamier
Gretzky Nominated Blazers Take on Denver to
to Hockey Hall of
Hold
Top
Spot
in
the
West
Fame
Portland Trail Blazers
TORONTO, April 19 (Reuters) -
One day after playing his final game,
Wayne Gretzky has been nominated for
election to the Hockey Hall o f Fame.
The Hall ofFam e ’ s selection com ­
m ittee nom inated G retzky on M on­
day and said a vote will be held April
29 to determ ine if the custom ary
three-year w aiting period for selec­
tion will be w aived.
“W ayne G retzky’s achievem ents,
both on and o ff the ice, are unparal­
leled in the sport o f hockey,” com ­
m ittee chairm an Jim G regory said.
G retzky needs to receive an affir­
m ative vote from at least three-quar­
ters o f the 18 com m ittee m em bers
for the m atter to be presented to the
Hall o f F am e’s board o f directors for
consideration.
G retzky,ow nerof61 N H Lrecords
and w inner o f four Stanley Cups,
could becom e the 1 Oth H all o fF am e
m em ber to bypass the w aiting p e­
riod, joining M ario Lem ieux, B obby
Orr, G ordie H ow e, Jean Beliveau,
T erry Saw chuk, Leonard Kelly, Ted
L in d s a y , M a u ric e R ic h a rd an d
A ubrey Clapper.
Lem ieux entered six m onths after
he re tire d in 1997. T his y e a r’s
honourees — Peter Stastnv M ichael
G oulet and four others — w ill be
inducted N ovem ber 22.
r -
i
U nbeaten IBO heavyw eight
cham pion Brian N ielsen o f D en­
mark knocked out form er W BA
and W BC w orld cham pion Tim
W itherspoon in the fourth round
o f a non-title fight Friday night.
The 240-poundNielsen landed
a good series o f blow s in the
fourth round, sending the 240-
pound W itherspoon to his knees
and the 41 -year-old never got up.
N ielsen, 34, im proved to 49-
0 w ith 33 k n o ck o u ts, equalin g
R ocky M a rc ian o ’s 44 -y ear-o ld
reco rd for c o n sec u tiv e v icto ­
ries at the start o f a career.
H o w ev er, N ie lse n has been
w id ely criticiz ed for choosing
m ediocre opponents and his run
at the reco rd has rec eiv e d little
attention.
W ith e r s p o o n , 4 1 , n e v e r
seem ed to get back into the fight
after taking a clean right in the
first round. His record dropped
to 46-9 w ith 31 knockouts.
Gretzky, w ho played his last three
seasons w ith the N ew Y ork Rangers,
ended his 20-year career Sunday.
The centre retired with an NHL-
record 2,857 points — 894 goals and
Wayne Gretzky
1,963 assists w ith the Rangers, St.
Louis Blues, Los A ngeles K ings and
Edm onton Oilers.
G retzky also holds p lay o ff highs
with 122 goals, 260 assists and 382
points.
The G reat O ne w on nine H art
Trophies as the league’s m ost valu­
able player, w as an A ll-Star 18 tim es
and led the league in scoring 10 tim es
and in assists 14 times.
1999 NFL Draft
Selections
.C The Associated Press
N EW Y O RK (A P) — Selections
from the 1999 N FL draft w ith team,
player, projected position and col­
lege (x-supplem ental selection; y-
com pensatory selection):
< ■ • -N
First Round
1. Cleveland, Tim Couch, qb. K en­
tucky.
v
2. P h ila d e lp h ia ,
M cN abb, qb, Syracuse.
6. St. Louis, T orry H olt, WR,
N orth Carolina State.
(30*10) at Denver
Nuggets (13-29).
W ith the reg u la r seaso n q u ick ly
com ing to a c lo se , th e P o rtlan d
T rail B lazers, lo o k in g to catch the
U tah Jazz for the le a g u e ’s b est
record, w ill lo o k to av o id a le t­
dow n w hen th ey tak e o n the D e n ­
ver N u g g ets.
P o rtlan d sits tw o gam es b eh in d
the Jazz w ith 10 g am es rem ain in g .
T he tw o team s w ill m eet in w h at
could prove to be a cru cial m atchup
Friday. T h eir se aso n series is c u r­
ren tly tied at one.
D esp ite its d ism al reco rd , D en ­
v er p la y s to u g h a t M c N ic h o ls
A rena, w here it’s o v e r .500. A n to ­
nio M cD yess has d e v e lo p e d into
one o f the N B A ’s m o re d o m in a n t
p layers, N ick V an E x el is p la y in g
som e o f the b est b ask etb a ll o f his
ca re e r an d D an n y F o rts o n h as
com e into his o w n sin ce rep la cin g
in ju red ro o k ie R a e f L aF re n tz in
the startin g lineup.
T he gam e w ill cap the B la z e rs ’
four-gam e road trip , on w h ich they
are 1-2 so far. T h ey w ill retu rn to
the R ose G ard en to h o st th e L os
A ngeles L ak ers o n W e d n esd ay in
a P acific D iv isio n sh o w d o w n b e­
fore trav e lin g to U tah.
Greg Anthony Is a major factor off the bench.
13. Pittsburgh, T roy Edw ards, wr,
Louisiana Tech.
16. T ennessee, Jevon K earse. lb,
Florida.
14. K ansas C ity, John Tait, ot,
Brigham Young.
17. N ew England (from Seattle),
D am ien W oody, c, B oston College.
15. T anxpa B a y ,
M cFarland, dt, LSU.
18. O akland, M att Stinchcom b,
ot, Georgia.
A n th o n y
19. N ew Y o rk G ian ts, L u k e
Petitgout, ot, N otre Dame.
20. D allas (from N ew E ngland
through Seattle), Ebenezer E kuban,
de, N orth Carolina.
-4L*
7. W ashington (from Chicago),
C ham p Bailey, db, Georgia,
8. A rizona (from San D iego),
D avid Boston, wr, O hio State.
9. D etroit, Chris C laiborne, lb,
Southern California.
D onovan
3. Cincinnati, A kili Sm ith, qb,
Oregon.
4. Indianapolis, Edgerrin Jam es,
fb, M iam i.
5. N ew O rleans (from C arolina
through W ashington), R icky W ill­
iams, tb, Texas.
10. B altim ore, Chris M cA lister,
db, Arizona.
11. M innesota (from W ashing­
ton), D aunte C ulpepper, qb, Central
Florida.
Home Run
12. Chicago (from N ew O rleans
th r o u g h
W a s h in g to n ),
C ade
M cNow n, qb, UCLA.
DEALS
Lett Faces
Suspension Over
Drugs
B y J aime A ron
.c The Associated Press
Nielsen Knocks Out
Witherspoon
April 21, 1999
IR V IN G , T ex as (A P ) — F or
the fo u rth tim e in fiv e y ea rs, the
D allas C o w b o y s m u st p rep a re to
p la y w ith o u t P ro B o w l d efe n siv e
ta c k le L eon L ett — an d th is tim e,
it co u ld be fo r good.
L ett is fac in g a p u n ish m e n t o f
at le ast a y e a r a fte r failin g an N FL
drug test for the th ird tim e, a league
so u rc e w h o re q u e ste d an o n y m ity
to ld T he A sso c ia te d P ress on F ri­
day. T he v io la tio n also co u ld carry
a life tim e ban.
L ett has b ee n e n ro lle d in the
N F L ’s su b sta n c e -a b u se p ro g ram
since 1995. H e w as su sp en d ed four
g am es th a t se aso n , th en w as su s­
p en d e d for th e la st three g am es o f
1996 an d th e first 13 o f 1997.
T his p ast y e a r w as his first co m ­
p le te o n e since 1994. L ik e th at
se aso n , he m a d e th e P ro B ow l.
L ett, w h o se ld o m sp e ak s to the
m ed ia, has not co m m en ted . T he
team said it co u ld n ot co m m en t,
citin g leag u e c o n fid e n tia lity rale s
A g en t Jim S te in e r, w h o refu sed
to co n firm o r d en y th e rep o rts,
said the 3 0 -y e a r-o ld L ett has been
hit h ard by th e new s sto ries.
L ett, w ho u n d erw en t elbow su r­
g ery tw o w eek s ago, w o u ld n ot be
e lig ib le to ap p ly for rein state m e n t
u n til 60 d ay s b efo re the o n e-y e ar
an n iv ersary o f his su sp en sio n .
T h e 6 -fo o t-6 , 3 0 0 -p o u n d L ett
w as a se v en th -ro u n d d raft pick
from E m p o ria S tate in 1991.
H e h ad 51 ta ck le s, four sacks,
20 q u arte rb a ck p ressu res an d a
te am -h ig h sev en tack les for losses
la st season.
H e 's also k now n for tw o o n ­
field gaffes.
In the 1993 Super Bowl, Lett set a
record for returning a fumble 64 yards
— but he needed 65 for a touchdown.
Thinking h e’d score easily, Lett was
raising the ball in celebration when
B uffalo’s Don Beebe swatted it away
at the goal line.
T hat N o v em b e r, on a snow y
T h an k sg iv in g D ay gam e ag ain st
the M iam i D o lp h in s, L ett m ista k ­
en ly tried p ick in g up a m issed field
g o al in stead o f le ttin g it b ec o m e a
d ead ball. H e en d ed up k n o ck in g it
to a D o lp h in , se ttin g up M ia m i's
su c cessfu l seco n d ch an ce k ick for
the v icto ry .
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