September 12, 2001 Page B5 Wtje ^Jortlanb (ßhseruer B METRO/SPORTS Venus Stops Serena for U.S. Open Title S P b " W lB B y J ane M c M anus , T he (W estchester , N.Y.) J ournal N ews r Jordan Hints at Return C H IC A G O — M ichael Jordan has dropped m ore hints that his return to the N BA is im m inent. In a conversation, w hich included reporters from the Chicago Sun- Times and cn n si.co m , Jordan confirm ed that a new s conference has been planned for W ashington, D .C .,in th e n e x t 1 O daysto announce his decision. VerplankScores First Victory of Yearin Canada M O N T R E A L — Scott V erplank sank tw o clutch birdie putts in th e final round and held on to w in the C anadian O pen. V erplank closed w ith a 3-under 67 and w on for the first tim e this year, beating Bob Estes and Joey Sindelar by three strokes. John Daly was tied for the lead after nine holes and finished fourth, four strokes back. Hewitt Heads Off Samprasfor U.S. Open Crown N E W Y O R K — L leyton H ew itt o f A u stralia sw ept past Pete Sampras, clinching his first Grand Slam cham pionship w ith a 7-6 (7-4), 6 -1,6-1 victory in the U .S. O pen final. Hewitt, a 20-year-old Austral ian, coolly ripped one w inner after another as Sam pras m ade ju st five w inners and 38 unforced errors. It m arked the first year since 1992 that Sam pras h as failed to w in a m ajor title. U.S. Basketball Team Wins Goodwill Gold B R IS B A N E , A ustralia — T h e U nited States bounced back from a near-upset against Brazil in the semifinals to win thebasketball gold medal at the Goodwill Gam es, defeating A rgentina 91 -63. Jerm aine O ’Neal led the A m ericans with 14 points w hile Shaw n M arion finished with 13. Islanders’Yashin to Sign Landmark Contract T he N ew Y ork Islanders have m ade center A lexei Y ashin the richest player in N H L history. T h e form er O ttaw a S enator w ill earn $87.5 m illion o v er the next 10 years. Y ashin w as acquired from the O ttaw a Senators in June for the second overall pick in the N H L draft (Jason Spezza) along w ith w in g er Bill M uckalt and defencsem an Zdeno Chara. Report: Elliott Reti ri ng f or TV TU C SO N , Ariz. - Sean Elliott,t he first person to play in the N B A after undergoing a kidney transplant, signed a tw o- year contract to be the San A ntonio S purs TV A nalyst, apparently ending his 12-year N B A career, the A rizona D aily S tar” reported on its W eb site. E lliott, 33, w as not available fo r com m ent. H is business m anager, A rm ando Rios, told the paper that Elliott “hasn ’ t com pletely closed the door on returning to action, but at this tim e is com m itted to startin g ab ro ad castin g career.” 1st g ln n u a l VANPORT FOOTBALL CLASSIC September 20 -22,2001 N EW Y O RK — A fterap o ised V enus W illiam s sch o o led her younger sibling on A rthur A she Stadium in the U.S. O pen w om en’s final, the elder jo g g ed to the net even as Serena W illiam s was re­ trieving her im patiently tossed racket. Reunited, the sisters hugged and as the crow d roared above them, Venus said softly in Serena’s ear," 1 love you, all right?’' It was all right. W ith her careful play and flawless serve, fourth-seeded V e­ nus W illiams, 21, defeated 19-year- old Serena W illiams 6-2,6-4. For one hour an d nine m in­ utes, they were com petitors. O nce it w as over, they co uld go back to being sisters. V enus W illiam s successfully defended her2000 W imbledon and U.S. O pen cham pionships and netted $850,000 in prize money. She earned it w ith an 103 mph average first serve, five m ph faster than Serena W illiam s. T he P ortland T rail B lazers re­ cently announced their 2001-02 television broadcast schedule. B lazers fans throughout the state o f O regon and Southw est W ashington will be treated to over 50BlazersCableNetwork(ASCN). T here w ill be 53 preseason and reg u lar season gam e telecasts, including 25 gam es broadcast live from the Rose G arden. T he Blazers announced that new regional cable sports chan­ nel, Action Sports Cable Network, w ill carry the biggest schedule o f cable gam es the B lazers have ever offered, starting w ith an opening night m atch-up w ith the tw o-tim e Serena W illiam s’ w inningper- centage on first serves is gener­ ally around 70% , but against a competitor intimately familiar with h er strength and strategy, it fell to 53% . She w as successful at the net, but w as pinned to the baseline too often to approach at will. In her ninth W TA T our event o f the year, Serena Williams hasn't played enough to get her ranking higher than No. 10. She reached the quarterfinals each tim e she played, but her relaxed approach to h er schedule this year raised questions. She answ ered with each subsequent win. Serena had by far the toughest path through the w o m en ’s draw . She tu rn ed back six th -seed ed Justine B enin in the fourth round, t No. 3 Lindsay D avenport next and top-seeded M artina Hingis. V enus W illiam s d id n ’t drop a set to any player — including No. 2 JenniferCapnati whom W illiams defeated in the semifinal. defending W orld C ham pions Los A ngeles Lakers, live from the S taple Center. In addition to opening night, A SC N w ill carry heavily antici­ pated m atch-ups w ith W estern C onference rivals San A ntonio (Nov. 3), Sacram ento (Jan. 22 & M ar.4),D allas(Feb. 13& M ar. 14) a n d U ta h (N o v .6 & D e c .27). Sev­ eral E astern C onference pow ers will also be seen on A SC N , includ­ ing M ilw aukee (Nov. 30), Toronto (Jan. 2), M iam i (Jan. 17) and New Y o rk (A p ril4 ). Blazers preseason contents w ith the U tah Jazz and H ouston Rockets w ill also appear on the new cable netw ork. For the sixth year, KGW -TV willcarryBlaz- ers hom e and aw ay gam es, beg in ­ ning w ith a preseason contest against Pacific Division rival Sac­ ram ento K ings on O ctober 12. As a part ofK G W -TV 's 26 Blaz­ ers gam es, fans will see the B laz­ ers hom e-opener with the G olden State W arriors (Oct. 31), new B lazer D erek A nderson ’ s first trip b ac k to S an A ntonio(D ec. 19)and head coach M aurice Cheeks re­ turn to Philadelphia (Feb.25). KGE- TV will also broadcast greatmatch- ups w ith M innesota (Feb. 6 & Mar. 23 ), the Lakers ( Mar. 29 ) an d . the T oronto Raptors (Mar. 1). A ll preseason and regular se a - son Blazers gam es will be b road­ cast on the blazers Radio N et­ work, w hich can be heard on KXL- 750 am throughout Portland and Southw est W ashington. WORKSHOPS ' Web Workshops Website Development .Information Center - o \ Design W EB Finding Quality Information on the Web Tuesday, Sept 18 6:30-9:30 D EN V ER (A P) — San Francisco’s Barry Bonds hit his 61st, 62nd and 63rd home runs, breaking Roger M aris’ record for most homers in a season by a left-handed hitter. With homer No. 61 in the first inning. Bonds matched M aris' then m ajor league- record 61 homers for the New Y ork Y ankees i n 1961. Bonds broke the mark with No. 62 in the fifth. Bonds also became the fast­ est to reach 62 homers, doing it in his 144th gam e. M ark McGwire needed 145 games to reach 62 when he broke Maris’ record by hitting 70 homers in 1998. In the first, on a 1-1 count, Bonds launched a 488-foot solo shot o ff C o lo rad o ’s Scott Elarton. Bonds’ soaring drive struck a beer sign beyond the center-field wall. It was the third-longest homer in Coors Field history, Barry Bonds sets a new record, matching Roger M aris’ own, with a series o f hom erun hits. Quality Business Resources on the Web Tuesday. Sept 25 6:30-9:30 For Beginner to Advanced S55 each class Register: www.dcoheninfo.com 503-774-1413 d. I. cohen information srvs. & Donna L Cohen MLIS. MEd Instructor At Portland Conference Center 300 NE Multnomah [across from convention center] exceeded only by a 496-foot shot by Mike Piazza and a 493- footer by Larry Walker. In the fifth, Bonds lined a 2- 2 pitch from Elarton that just cleared the right-field wall. Maris, whose record stood for 37 years, had been sur­ passed only by McGwire and Sammy Sosa — both right- handed hitters. for the love of jazz Legal Services Preventive Legal Help & Assistance Defensive Driving Violations Comprehensive Wills & Yearly Updates Debts, Dispute Decisions, Divorce And more $26.00 or less per month fla jf tunc t'nlcrtaiiutunl VFC proceeds to benefit the United Negro College Fund The Williams sisters after a grueling face-off. Venus Williams (right) proudly holds up her U.S. Open Cup while Serena looks on. Bonds Hits Nos. 61, 62, 63 Portland State Vikings vs. Grambling State Tigers Sept. 22, 2001 • PGE Park • 6pm Adults: $24.50 • Youth $15.75 I Trail Blazers Televising Their Season Games kmhd ¿Featuring f/tc WORLD FAMOUS Grambling State M arching Band For gam e tickets: 1-888-V1K-Ì IKS .• i*« 89.1 For more in fo rm a tio n c a ll Norman Ross at (503) 757-8409 I