Page A6 £hv |)ortlanb ffihwruer September 8, 1999 Comets Remain WNBA’s Only Champion B a M ICHAEL A. L I T Z ____________ © T he A sso ciated P ress HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Comets found a rallying cry for their third WNBA title: three for 10. The Comets completed a trag­ edy-marred season Sunday with a 59-47 victory over the New York Liberty, giving Houston its third straight WNBA championship. The victory in Game 3, which came after a buzzer-beating loss on a 52-foot 3-pointer by the Lib­ erty, was dedicated to guard Kim Perrot, who wore No. 10 and died Aug. 19 after a seven-month battle with cancer. “These players o f ours, they stayed tough. They won it after the most heart-breaking loss I’ve ever been involved in," Comets coach Van Chancellor said, referring to Saturday’s defeat. “This has proven to be one of the great teams in the history o f sports. And this trophy is for Kim, whose heart and determination will never be forgotten.” Nor will they forget the season filled with emotion. Cooper lost her mother to cancer before losing her best friend, Perrot. All-Star teammate Sheryl Swoopes got a divorce before the season began. "I think it’s especially sweet with everything that this team has gone through, emotionally, mentally, all the personal things that we have all gone through, all the sacrifices we have had to make,” Swoopes said. “Obviously, Kim not being here, Katy Steding Visits the Newly Formed Girls Midnight Basketball League that was very emotional.” Everything finally came to­ gether in the closing seconds of Sunday’s championship game. From the free-throw line, Coo­ per raised her hands, showing the index finger with her right hand and a fist with the other - a referee’s signal for No. 10. Tears welled in the players’ eyes, and the sellout crowd of 16.285 began chanting “three for Kim, three for Kim.” "This championship was the hard one because o f everything going on," forward Janeth Arcain said. “ It’s been a very emotional season watching Kim fight her battle. We won this championship for her, and we know she was watching us.” Brandon Stays with T’wolves for $58M tension last spring, saying he wanted to test free agency for the first time in an eight-year NBA career that included six seasons in Cleveland. “It was nice,” Brandon said of flirtations with other teams, in­ cluding the Toronto Raptors. “And I think people really didn’t under­ stand where I was coming from, just having the opportunity to go through it once in my career. Just being free. I had never been one before.” Still, Brandon said his inten­ tions all along were to stay put. “I don’t think it got very seri­ ous with other teams: phone calls here and there and possible sign- and-trades, it came up a lot,” he said. “As far as putting it in writ­ ing, my agent knew I wanted to be B n AR M E STAPLETON C T he A sso ciated P ress MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Now that he knows what it’s like to be courted as a free agent, Terrell Brandon wants to experience the thrill o f finally playing for a con­ tender. "There really w asn't another team that 1 could say really inter­ ested me as much as Minnesota." the two-time All-Star point guard said Tuesday after signing a six- year, $59 million deal to stay with the Timberwolves. Brandon arrived from Milwau­ kee last March as part of the three- team trade that sent disgruntled point guard Stephon Marbury to New Jersey. Brandon refused to sign an ex­ Holmgren Faces New Challenge in Seattle B a C hris P alochko SroRTs T icker JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (T ic k e r) — W hen M ike Holmgren left Green Bay for Seattle in January, he did not just leave behind one o f the most storied franchises in sports. He also left behind one o f the best quarterbacks o f this decade. Holmgren was named coach and g en eral m an ag er o f the Seahawks on January 8. That fol­ lowed one o f the most impressive coaching stints in league history with the Packers from 1992-98. In Green Bay, Holmgren posted a 75-37 record, a 9-5 postseason mark, and two Super Bowl ap­ pearances, including a 35-21 vic­ tory over the New England Patri­ ots in Super Bowl XXXI. However, that record was with three-time NFL MVP and future Hall o f Famer Brett Favre at his disposal to run the West Coast offense. H olm gren can say goodbye to Favre and say hello to unknown Jon Kitna, who has started all of six games in his ca­ reer, with five of those starts com­ ing last season. Like Favre, Kitna has also won a Most Valuable Player award in his career. But that was in NFL Europe as MVP of the World Bowl in 1997 while playing for the Barcelona Dragons. The quarter­ back returned from that stint in Europe and remained on the bench for the Seahwaks before finally getting his chance last season. In nine career games, Kitna has completed 129-of-217 passes for 1,548 yards with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Even with the little experience Kitna posseses, Holmgren, who is known as a quarterback guru, was still impressed enough to name him the starter heading into this season (Ebe ^¿ìartlanb (Observer Portland’s New WNBA Head Coach pays a surprise visit to Blazer’s Boys and Girls Club to discuss the importance ofw om en's athletics and to congratulate the participants o f the newly formed Girls Midnight Basketball League. Katy Steding, Portland WNBA Community Liaison distrib­ uted awards to participants/volunteers of the newly formed league. Both were accompanied by the V. P. o f Business Operations ot the WNBA, Sandi Bittler. here.” Bill Duffy, Brandon’s agent, said his client wanted dearly to pick his place to play for the first time since choosing to attend Or­ egon in 1988, even though few teams could afford his asking price. “He played the first eight years o f his career without being able to determine that,” Duffy said. “Now, the marketplace changed. It wasn't like there were 12 clubs that could have paid him whatever. So, it would have been on a sign-and- trade basis. We could have ma­ nipulated his destination, but he chose to be here.” Duffy said Brandon valued his short-term exposure to coach Flip Saunders, owner Glen Taylor and vice president o f basketball op­ erations Kevin McHale. “1 think he trusts them and he knows Kevin McHale is all about winning championships and that’s what Terrell wants to do,” Duffy said. “H e’s had a lot of individual success. Now he has the financial security and the only thing left is to reach the top.” Venus Williams Advances to U.S. Open Semis NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Third seed Venus Williams ad­ vanced to the semifinals o f the U.S. Open for the third consecu­ tive year with a 6-4 6-3 victory over 12th seed Barbara Schett of Austria on Tuesday night. Williams used her overpowering groundstrokes and superior court speed to hold Schett at bay and set up a semifinal showdow n with world number one Martina Hingis — a rematch of the 1997 final, which was won by the Swiss sensation. Hingis earlier crushed Anke Huber 6-2 6-0 to grab a final-four berth for the fourth year in a row. $1.00 Off any regular 6”or 12” sub sandwich* •Not w ild with Value Menu or Combo Meal Items present this coupon before ordering Not valid it altered or duplicated One order per coupon One I I Please coupon per customer per visit Customer must pay any sales tax due Not good in combonation with any other I otter Cash value 1/100 ol 1«. Redeemable at participating restaurants. W H A T IS H A P P E N IN G YOUR IN N E IG H B O R H O O D ... ...A n d a r o u n d the w o rld ! a f f o r to capture the first set and three more in the second. The third seed also drilled 27 w inners com pared to ju st 10 for Schett. “She just played better on the big points,” Schett said. d W itness th e lllu s le &*eafity o f,.. a b l e JJ LO CKSM ITH S, KEYS We Make keys From Scratch FAST S E R V IC E HO USE CALLS 4724 NE Killingsworth Portland, OR 97218 Johnny J. Moore 503-284-9582 Rekey