Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, June 09, 1999, Page 9, Image 9

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    June 9, 1999
PageB3
(Tlje or t lattò (Obsmwr
BRIEFS
______________________________
USA Women Beat Canada
in Soccer 4-2
Instead o f the dominant per­
formance it has come to expect,
the United States women’s soccer
team got a wake-up call heading
into the World Cup.
Mia Hamm had one goal and
two assists Sunday as the United
States fought o ff a tenacious Ca­
nadian national team 4-2 in the
Americans’ final exhibition be­
fore the third women’s Cup be­
gins play in less than two weeks.
“They did a good job o f dis­
rupting us from the beginning,”
said Hamm, whose 109th interna­
tional goal extended her own
record. “They played a very dis­
tinct style and won a lot o f first and
second balls, which we didn’t do.”
The U.S. team struggled with
its timing and organization for
much o f the game. Canada led 1-
0 and was tied 2-2 late in the first
half, but Kristine Lilly’s goal in
the 45th minute gave the United
States the lead for good.
“ This crow d is getting us
geared up and ready for the crowds
that w e’re going to encounter in
the W orld Cup, and the kind o f
game w e’re going to encounter."
Milbrett said.
Portland is one o f seven host
cities for the third women’s World
Cup. A total of425,000 tickets have
been sold for the tournament.
WHAT
B y LA N DON H ALL
© T he A s so c ia t e d P ress
PORTLAND, Ore.
(AP) — When the Port­
land Trail Blazers re­
cover from the pain and
embarrassment o f getting
swept in the Western
Conference finals, they’ll
realize what a tremen­
dous season they had.
For now, however,
going higher in the play­
offs only meant a harder
fall for the Blazers.
“ I t’s hard. I cried,”
Portland guard Damon
Stoudam ire said after
the San A ntonio Spurs elim inated
his team from the best-of-7 series
94-80. “ I think a couple o f other
guys teared up, too. This team has
been through so m uch this year, I
don’t think people realize all o f
what w e’ve been through.
“W e’ve had people on our backs
all year, talking that we would melt
down. But the guys really do care
about winning. We did pull together.
The Blazers entered the season
having lost in the first round o f the
p lay o ff six straight years, but by
the end o f the lockout-shortened
season, they were evoking m em o­
ries o f Clyde D rexler and Terry
Porter. The Blazers beat Phoenix
in the first round and then toppled
the two-time defending conference
Summer's Coming Soon...
Watch Out For Kids Playing
Greg Anthony in action on the court.
They're O ur Most Valuable Resource
You look out for mine, I'll look out for yours.
Tiger Woods Uses Shor
Game to Win Memorial
Boxing-Jones Dominant in
Unifying Light-Heavy Title«
Roy Jones Jr becam e the only
current undisputed world box­
ing cham pion after dom inating
International Boxing Federation
lig h t h eav y w eig h t cham pion
Reggie Johnson Saturday to win
a unanim ous decision.
Jones added the IBF title to his
World Boxing Association and
World Boxing Council crowns as
he improved to 40-1
Jo h n so n , w ho lo st ev ery
ro u n d on all th re e ju d g e s
scorecards and was dropped ta
the canvas in the first and third
rounds, fell to 39-6-1.
Jones became the first boxer in
nine years to hold the WB A, WBC
and IBF titles in the same weight
class, and the first light heavy­
weight to do it since Michael
Spinks in 1985.
The 30-year-old cham pion,
whose only loss came in dispuMd
fashion to Montell Griffin in Mamh
1997, further underlined his claim
as best fighter in the world,
for 2OOO
The WNBA is growing up fast.
Set to enter its third season this
week, the w om en's basketball
league on Monday added four
teams that will begin play in 2000
— Miami, Seattle, Indianapolis and
P ortland, O re.
The expansion, yet another step
up for a league backed by the NBA ’ s
money and marketing savvy, comes
six months after the rival American
Basketball League folded, leaving
the WNBA the only pro women’s
league in the country.
“We had not anticipated expand­
ing this quickly,” WNBA president
Val Ackerman said. “But the com­
bination o f the success of the league
in the first two seasons and the
strong interest expressed by NBA
owners has convinced us that the
time is right.”
The additions will bring the
league to 16 teams, double the
number from the first season.
Ackerman would not disclose the
cost of the new franchises.
Charismatic OK After
Leg Surgery
Sometimes fairy tales just don’t
work out.
The connections o f Charis­
matic, a record crowd o f 85,818
at Belmont Park and millions o f
TV viewers found out the hard
way when the Kentucky Derby
and Preakness winner took a bad
step near the finish line and pulled
up yards short o f a Triple Crown.
The charts will show Charis­
matic finishing third Saturday be­
hind long-shots Lemon Drop Kid
and runner-up Vision and Verse.
DUBLIN, O hio (Reuters) - Ti­
ger W oods show ed there is more
than one path to victory when he
used a magnificent short game Sun­
day to win the $2.55 million M e­
morial Tournament.
T he 2 3 -y e a r-o ld A m e ric a n ,
know n for his prodigious length
o ff the tee, made a series o f out­
standing recovery shots to lead
throughout the final round on his
w ay to a tw o-stroke trium ph over
V ijay Singh o f Fiji.
Five times in the first seven holes
he made spectacular up-and-downs,
twice for birdies on par-5 holes and
the rest to save par.
Woods did not make a bogey until
the final hole, but by then it hardly
mattered as he posted a three-under­
par 69 in steam y conditions at
Muirfield Village.
He finished at 15-under-par
273, w hile Singh also carded 69
for second place at 275, with world
num ber one D avid Duval (70) an­
other four shots back in a tie for
third w ith fellow -A m erican Olin
B ro w n e (6 5 ) an d P a r a g u a y ’s
C arlos Franco (68).
Woods collected $459,000 for his
12th professional victory, his second
in a row after winning the TPC of
Europe in Germany two weeks ago.
“ I told everybody last year I
was m aking (sw ing) changes in
my game that w ere going to ben­
eficial for the long haul, said
W oods. “ The press was all over
me, especially w ith D avid (D uval)
playing well.
“ The last couple o f w eeks it’s
Tennis at it's Best
B y ST E V E W IL S T E IN
© T he A ssociated P ress
PA RIS (A P) — T ennis roared
back to life ju st when it w as look­
ing so sickly, thanks to A ndre
A gassi, Steffi G ra f and a pair o f
finals that w ill go dow n among
the g reatest finishes in G rand
Slam history.
The French Open, often the least
exciting o f the majors, gave tennis
ju st what it needed: compelling
m atches, historic m om ents and
champions who thrilled the crowds.
There were so m any tears from
A g assi and G ra f and M artina
H ingis last w eekend that Center
C ourt looked like the kiss-and-cry
area in figure skating.
But these weren’t crocodile tears.
They flowed from years o f emo­
tional comebacks by Agassi and
Graf, and a performance by Hingis
in which she blew near-certain vic­
tory and was booed mercilessly.
but somewhere before the finish
line the former claimer turned
champion fractured two bones in
his left front ankle.
On Sunday, he underwent suc­
cessful surgery, in which four screws
were inserted to align the broken
bones in the ankle. His career as a
racehorse is over, but the great-
grandson of Secretariat can look
forward to a career as a stallion.
Magic Name Rivers
New Coach
Doc Rivers was hired as coach
o f the Orlando Magic Monday,
succeeding Chuck Daly and tak­
ing over a team that was upset in
the first round o f the playoffs.
Hesignedafour-year guaranteed
contract worth about $8 million.
Although Rivers has no previ­
ous coaching experience, he
played for some o f the league’s
best — Pat Riley, Larry Brown
and Mike Fratello.
“He has demonstrated over the
course o f his career to be a true
leader and has been preparing for
this day for some time,” Orlando
general manager John Gabriel
said. “He has a very magnetic
personality and a sharp basketball
mind. He is an outstanding fit for
cham pion Utah Jazz.
“N obody expected us to get
above seventh place (in the W est)
this year,” Blazers guard Isaiah
Rider told reporters. “The joke is
on you guys and the others that
doubted us.”
As good as the Blazers were in
the regular season and the first
two rounds o f the playoffs, the
Spurs showed them ju st how far
they have to go to be a cham pion­
ship-caliber team.
There was unw arranted cruelty
in the French fans’ treatm ent o f
Hingis in the w om en’s final.
Yes, Hingis com plained about
calls a little too much. And she
played the part o f the spoiled child
when she d id n ’t get her way, bang­
ing her racket on the court.
But in January she made a cut­
ting rem ark about Frenchw om an
A m elie M auresm o’s hom osexual­
ity, and on Saturday she was beat­
ing the popular G ra f for m ost o f
the first tw o sets.
But Hingis is, after all, ju st 18
years old, and nothing she did de­
served nonstop jeers. She w asn ’t
John M cEnroe cursing an um pire
or throw ing his racket across the
court. She w asn’t Je ff Tarango
stom ping aw ay in m idm atch or
spitting at an um pire.
Yet, the boos toward H ingis, jux­
taposed with the roars and chants
for Graf, made for grand theater. It
meant the fans really cared.
our organization.”
Rivers, who played 13 sea­
sons in the NBA, has spent the
last three years as a television
analyst for Turner Sports.
all come together, w inning in G er­
many, then w inning h ere.”
W oods b e c a m e th e seco n d
youngest player to w in nine times
on the U.S. PGA Tour, behind
Horton Sm ith, w ho had 10 victo­
ries by age 22.
“I’m starting to understand how
to play the gam e a little better
than before,” said W oods, who
even though he rem ains second in
the w orld rankings, issued an em ­
phatic rem inder that he w ill be a
huge threat at the U .S. O pen at
P inehurst No. 2 in N orth C arolina
in two w eeks.
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6th A n n u a l
William« Slater« Take
Venus and Serena Williams took
home the French Open women’s
doubles title on Sunday, but it didn ' t
relieve the pain of going out in the
singles tournament.
“No, 1 don’t feel better," Venus
said. Her younger sister said she was
still “pretty bitter and resentful.”
The W illiams sisters, both
knocked out o f the singles in the
first week, beat Martina Hingis
and Anna Koumikova 6-3, 6-7
(2-7), 8-6 in the doubles final.
The first set came easy to the
A m e ric a n s,
w ho
b roke
Koumikova’s service once on the
way to a 6-3 win.
“They were killing us in the
beginning. We had no rhythm,
didn’t know what to do out there,’ ’
Hingis said.
In the second set, the W ill­
iams gained a 4 - 1 lead when play
was suspended for rain. After a
20-m inute delay, H ingis and
Koumikova came out fighting.
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