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July 21,1999
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Don King’s Promotional
A Rite Of Passage
| British Open Ratings Slip Slightly
as Lawrie Captures Playoff
This year, lawrie, who started
Sunday tied for 14th place at 10-over-
par, won a playoff with 1997 British
Open winner Justin Leonard and
France’s Jean Van de Velde, who led
I by five shots going into the final round.
Van de V elde needed just a double-
bogeyonthe 18thholetoclinchawin,
but his triple-bogey forced the play
off. The three players tied at 6-over-
par 290 at the end of four rounds.
Lawrie was the first Scotsman to
twin the British Open since Sandy
| Lyle in 1985.
B y C ollie J. N icholson
commentary
Ratings measure the number of
lu .S . households with televisions
I watching the game, while the share is
the numberofhouseholds with televi-
I sions turned on watching the event
I Cone Comes Back to Stadium
As a Hero
NEW YORK (AP) - David
Letterman asked for him. So did Regis
and Kathie Lee. The Hall o f Fame
called, and umpires sent over some
| balls to be signed.
Everyone wanted David Cone on
| Monday.
“1 was completely disoriented for a
I penodoftime,”theNewYorkYankees
ace said. “I probably still am ”
Cone took awayjust one memento
from his perfect game Sunday against
Montreal. He kept the final ball, and
plans to give it to his dad.
Cone’s jersey will end up in
Cooperstown once it’s presented to
Hall ofFamerepresentativeson Aug. 3
before a game against Toronto. Other
souvenirs from his first no-hitter since
a seven-inning job in Little League -
and the 14th perfect game in modem
I history - will go to help chanties.
A tier talking to fellow perfect-game
pitcher David WelLs in Toronto follow
ing his gem Cone spent the night out
toastingwithDerekJeter.Tino Martinez
and Chuck Knoblauch 1 le talked with
I his family back in Kansas City - his
lather listened to the final innings on the
| radio, via the Internet.
All the activity on Yogi Berra
Day - Don Larsen, who pitched a
perfect game at Yankee Stadium in
the 1956 World Series, threw out
the ceremonial first ball - left Cone
I a bit “frazzled,” he said.
Over the years, Don King made
boxing feel good about itself by
promoting the biggest events in the
sports’ h isto ry ...T h at’s what sets
him apart.
To say that King is a boxing icon
is an understatement that is tanta
mount to claiming that Walt Disney
was a minor movie mogul or that
Bamum and Bailey were minor min
strels searching for a big top they
could call their own.
To denigrate King— the acknowl
edged best promoter the fight game
has ever seen— is an exercise that
takes the green out o f envy and is an
abuse o f one’s right to be silly.
The abuse o f silliness, however,
is an exercise that is being done
against King all over again and some
thing that envious sportswriters and
the U.S. Justice Department seem to
be making sport of.
It is hard to believe, in view o f
K ing’s excellent record as a pro
moter, that there are still dissidents
out there who seem bent on giving
D on’s reputation another shellack
ing. Like in the past, though, King
is likely to come out o f all o f the
acrimony, the innuendo and the
false claims smelling like a rose.
T a lk and new s show h o st
Geraldo Rivera said on a recent
“Geraldo Rivera Live show,” on
CNBC Television, “The govern
m ent has sucker-punched King
three tim es.” Each time King has
e m e rg e d e x o n e ra te d and the
chances are better than even he will
survive this latest try at besm irch
ing his dignity a fourth time.
Criticism o f King is based on per
ception, not reality, as famed boxing
Irwin Wins Third Ameritech
Senior Open in Five Years
LONG GROVE, 111. (AP) - On |
I the first day o f the Ameritech Se
niors, Hale Irwin had one o f those |
[rounds where everything was oft.
Putting, chipping, driving - it was all
just kind o f blah, and his score, a 1 -
lover 73, reflected it.
He thought about practicing after-1
ward. Instead, he put the clubs away,
wotked out and then called his son for
some putting advice.
“I had a good workout, got rid of
| some of my frustrations," he said.
“My son just gave me that little bit of I
aputting tip, and I putted very well the '
| last two days.”
That’s an understatement.
“He made every putt he needed to
I make,” said Raymond Floyd, Irwin’s I
playing partner Sunday.
That’s why Irwin has yet another
| trophy. He shot a 5-under 67 Sun
day for a 1-stroke victory at the
Ameritech Senior Open. It was his I
second straight victory at the
| Ameritech, and third in five years.
Armstrong has lead going into
15th stage of Tour de France
ST. GAUDENS, France (Ticker)
| — The Tour de France resumes today
as American Lance Armstrong carries j
asevenmmute,44secondcushioninto
I the 107-mile 15thstagetoPiau-Engaly.
Monday ’ s final rest day at the event
| was not without incident as stage 11
winnerLudoDierckxsensofBelgium |
[was excluded by the Italian team
Lampre-Daikin after admitting to tak
ing a banned substance.
Dierckxsens claimed the 123-mile
leg from Bourgd’Oisans to St. Etienne
on Thursday and subsequently passed
| a mandatory drug test.
However, the 34-year-old Belgian |
champion confessed to taking the cor-
ticoid Synacthen to cure some ten
dinitis. Riders must declareifthey are
I using such medication or face the
I possibility of sanctions
Dierckxsens had a prescription to
take the drug, but did so without in
forming his team’s staff. Monday he
was sent home by lanipre-Daikin,
which does not have a nder in the top |
20 in the overall standings
trainer Don Turner pointed out.
While the government’s effort to
make King the proverbial three-times
loser has been unsuccessful, the smart
choice now, it seems, would be for
the feds, and the media, to toss aside
the silliness and look at the good that
King has done for the sport as well as
what he has contributed to society.
King is in a stew right now over
whether or not he conspired with
International Boxing Federation
President Bob Lee, Sr. to influence
ratings and ranking o f fighters.
Detractors say he did. King and
Lee insist that they have done noth
ing wrong. It is not Don’s nature to
take licks quietly.
For what it’s w orth, it may be
noted that both King and Lee are
A frican-A m ericans and the m ost
prom inent members o f their race
in boxing today. W hile the IBF is
at center ring in this controversy,
it may also be w orthy o f noting
that the other two m ajor fight or
ganizations— the W orld Boxing
A ssociation and the W orld Box
ing Council— have summarily hon
ored King for his contributions to
the fight game.
In 1994, the WBC named King
“The Greatest Prom oter o f All-
Tim e.” Also in 1994, the WBA
named King “The Prom oter o f the
Century.” Thus, there seems to be
no squabbling and no adversary
feelings among the other two box
ing organizations about K ing’s re
vered place in boxing. Their decla
rations along with K ing’s uncount
able— but very notable— accom
plishments and achievement in box
ing are the very stuff o f which leg
ends are made, plus proof enough
that King is a man o f considerable
talent and unbesmirchable charac
ter, despite what you hear and read
to the contrary.
What Don King has done for box
ing would fill volumes. To wit, here
are just some o f what King has done
to move boxing to an exalted status:
• King was the first promoter to
advocate that professional boxing
immediately institute well-posted,
official round-by-round scoring— a
major issue, currently being consid
ered, in boxing today. He made his
seven-point proposal in a New York
Times article, Oct. 3, 1993.
• In 11 major promotions in
1993, more than 300,000 people
purchased tickets to watch fights
promoted by King.
• King was the first fight pro
moter to establish his own television
network the Don King Sports and
Entertainment Network (DKSEN).
It was established in 1982 and tele
vised a fight once a month.
• King formed the second pay-per-
view sports and entertainment net
work, King Vision in January 1991.
• King was the promoter for such
classic boxing matches as “The
Thrilla in M anila,” “The Rumble in
the Jungle,” “The Sound and the
Fury,” “The Grand Slam o f Box
ing,” and other multi-million dol
lar fights that featured such boxing
luminaries as M uhammad Ali, Joe
Frazier, George Foreman, Larry
Holmes, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray
Leonard and Evander Holyfield, to
m ention a few o f the m any o f
boxing’s all-time greats.
King’s promotion o f Holyfield
vs. Tyson was the largest TV audi
ence in the history o f boxing. The
fight was watched by more than 1.5
billion people across the globe.
• King was the first fight promoter
to put three world heavyweight cham-
Don King
pionship bouts on one card—Nov. 9,
1996, at the MGM Grand — Tyson
vs. Holyfield (WBA); Moorer vs.
Botha (IBF), and Akinwande vs.
Zolkin (WBO).
• On February 20, 1963, King
promoted the fight between Julio
Cesar Chavez and Greg Haugen in
Mexico City that drew 136,274 fight
fans, the largest live attendance in
the history o f boxing.
• King was the originator o f the
record-setting $ 150 million Jackson
Victory tour. He also negotiated the
Michael Jackson Pepsi-Cola com
mercial, one o f the most successful
TV spots in history.
• No other promoter can match
K ing’s record. No other can come
within hailing distance. No other
will fill his place in the history of
boxing. The records that he has
achieved, including being named to
the sports’ Hall o f Fame, will stand
well into the next millennium.
K ing's reputation for greatness is
not just associated with boxing. He
has been a mover and a shaker and a
giver to more community and civic
causes than even he can enumerate.
When a cause has called. King has
responded, in no small manner.
He has been especially kind to
education, contributing million of
dollars to colleges and universities
all over the nation.
Two years ago at the New Orleans
Superdome at the famed Bayou Clas
sic, King was given a Lifetime
Achievement Award by Grambling
State University.
S im ila rly , he re c e iv e d the
N A A CO ’s President’s Award and
was recently honored as the New
York Republican C ouncil’s “ Man
o f the Year.” For more than 30
years King has given away turkeys
during holiday seasons to the poor
and homeless.
So many other King contributions
have been made and kept well away
from public notice. It is the nature o f
the man to be giving and beneficent,
perhaps like few other philanthro
pists o f our time.
He gives g e n ero u sly to the
NAACP.unitedNegroCollege Fund,
the Martin Luther King, Jr. Founda
tion, the Indiana Black Expo, the
Simon Weisenthal Center, the Na
tional Hispanic Scholarship Fund
the National Coalition o f Title V
Chapter I Parents, W heelchairChari-
tie s,
the
O ur
C h ild r e n ’s
Foundation.. and on and on and on.
His beneficence has crossed ra
cial barriers and goes by one guide
line: Need.
Thus, it seems pointless and with
out factual basis for detractors o f
King to again be working the rumor
mill, creating innuendo, and framing
allegations which can only be called
sinister, purposeless and totally vin
dictive actions.
Davis Cup Celebration
Sale!
Sale!
Sale!
Crumbles
B y STEVE WILSTEIN________________
© T he A ssociated P ress
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) - In
the end, Tom G ullikson knew he
made a bad deal with Pete Sampras,
one that blew apart the team ’ s spirit
and led to a shocking collapse
against Australia.
By accepting Sam pras’ insis
tence that he play only doubles,
G ullikson set up a w eekend o f ac
rim o n y
and
s u s p e c te d
flim flam m ery that tainted the cen
tennial celebration o f the Davis
Cup at its birthplace.
"Maybe it is a character builder,”
Gullikson said, trying to muster a
weak smile after the Americans went
d o w n in flam es, 4 -1 , in this
quarterfinal. “Hopefully, we learn
from these lessons and go on.
Y ou’ve got to play the cards you’re
dealt.”
W hen G u llik s o n a c c e p te d
Sam pras’ condition, he guaranteed
endless speculation about a last-
minute substitution for M artin or
Courier. Gullikson had until Thurs
day to change his mind, and when
he put Martin and Courier in singles
the Australians barely suppressed
their glee.
No sooner was that match over
than Longwood was rife with ru
mors about M artin being injured.
Former Rage Coach
on Blazers’ List
Three- time Olympian and former
Philadelphia Rage coach Anne
Donovan has joined Lin Dunn, Linda
Hargrove and K.C. Jones on the list
o f candidates to become the Trail
Blazers’ first WNBA coach and gen
eral manager.
Donovan was in her first season
with the Rage when the American
Basketball League folded in Decem
ber. Despite being one o f the worst
draws in the ABL, the Rage was in
second place in the Eastern Confer
ence at 9-5.
B efore jo in in g Philadelphia,
Donovan spent three years at East
Carolina. She was an assistant coach
on the 1998 Olympic team, and
was an A ll-America forward at Old
Dominion.
Blazers senior vice president
Harry Hutt said the team hopes to
have its final interview done within
the next week or so. The team is
hoping to have the hire made by the
end of the month.
The Blazers must sell 5,500 sea
son tickets by Oct. 15 to officially
secure the franchise. The team is
scheduled to begin play next summer
★ Jefferson Youth Football ★
Summer/Fall 1999
YOU SHOULD’VE BEEN A DEMO!
Police Activities League (P A L) • Portland Youth Football (P Y F A )
Sign up information for the Jefferson Democrats Youth Football Program 1 <**>
We will have sign-ups on Saturday July 31" @ Peninsula Park. @ Will also have
sign-ups and Mini Skills Camp on Saturday. August 7* from 10 am to 2 p.m w
Jefferson High School. The mini Camp is FREE to all ktds.
If vou are going into the 5* and 6'" grades call for more information:
Coach Clarence Bethune @ 775-0206 • Coach Ron Holmes @ 493-3566
Coach John Perry @ 240-4795
7'* and 8"1 Grades call: Coach Murray Todd @ 285-2568
H u m a n H a ir
'B raid in g H a ir
G ullikson fed such talk by saying
his players w eren’t 100 percent.
So the A ustralians naturally
questioned the Americans hon
esty when M artin claim ed he felt
woozy after practicing a h a lf hour
and couldn’t play. Even Sam pras
couldn’t believe it when G ullikson
called him at 11:30 a m. - 90 m in
utes before the m atch - and told
him to warm up.
When it was over, the A m eri
cans had managed to turn a w eek
end celebration into a wild mess.
They had “the best player on the
p la n e t,” as G u llik so n c a lle d
Sampras, sitting out singles - the
equivalent o f Michael Jordan sit
ting out the NBA Finals. They lost
badly on their own court. And they
left the impression, right or wrong,
they were willing to cheat to win.
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