il?e ^Iortlanò (Observer
A pril II, 2007
Page B3
S ports
Blazers to Retire Lionel Hollins’ No. 14
U nion Station and w orked its
way dow n B roadw ay.
The Trail B lazers are also
paying hom age to the team on
its tmilblazers.com website with
a special 1977 W orld C h am ­
pions section, w hich features
new s, stats, photos, video and
a variety o f archived m aterial
from 1977.
The Trail B lazers drafted
H ollins out o f A rizona State
Uni versity with the sixth overal 1
pick in the 1975 N B A Draft.
He played live seasons forthe
Portland Trail B lazers from
1975-1980, averaging 13.6
points per gam e.
Hollins is currently an assis­
tant coach with the M em phis
Grizzlies.
As team pays tribute to
1977 NBA Championship
T hirty years ago this June,
the Portland Trail B lazers
shocked the basketball w orld
w inning the N B A C ham pion-
ship over the heavily-favored
Philadelphia 76ers, 4-2.
Trail Blazers willpayspecial
tribute to the 1977 NBA World
Cham pions during ceremonies
at Portland’s final regular sea­
son gam e against the G olden
State W arriors on W ednes­
day, April 18. The reunion will
be highlighted by the retiring o f
the No. 14 jersey worn by
form er Trail Blazers guard
Lionel Hollins, w hoplayedan
integral role on the cham pion­
ship team.
“The 1977 team set the bar
by w hichallotherTrail Blazers
team s are ju d g ed ," said M ike
Golub, Trail Blazersexecutive
vice president. “ It w as a very
special team and a very special
tim e fo rth e franchise, its fans
and the City o f Portland, and
we very much look forw ard to
welcom ing all the heroes from
that team back to Portland and
honoring them for their incred­
ible accomplishments.”
Fans attending the game will
receive a special com m em ora­
tive poster that features the
1976-77 Trail Blazers on one
side and the current 2006-07
Trail Blazers team on the o p ­
posite side.
“ W e wanted to m ake the
reunion very special for this
team and the consensus among
the alum ni, coaches and orga­
nization was that retiring Lionel
H ollins'jersey was long over­
due and the right thing todo, so
this seem ed the perfect oppor­
tunity,” added G olub. "W e
co u ld n ’t be m ore excited to
raise the “T rain’s ’jersey to the
rafters to jo in the other Trail
Blazergreats."
H ollins jo in s fellow 1977
cham pion team m ates Dave
T w ardzik (#13), Larry Steele
(#15), M aurice Lucas (#20),
Bill W alton (#32), and Lloyd
Neal (#36) to have their je r ­
seys retired. The only other
Trail Blazers to have their je r ­
seys retired are G eoff Petrie
(#45) and Clyde Drexler (#22).
Another highlight o f the 1977
Reunion will be a noonti me ml ly
for the form er cham pions at
Terry Schrunk Plaza. Schrunk
Plaza was the scene o f a mas-
si ve ral 1 y for the team i m med i -
ately following the team 's vic­
tory parade, w hich began at
Lionel Hollins as a
member of the
1977 NBA World
Champion Port­
land Trail Blazers
Tiger Out-Mastered
‘Normal guy’
Johnson wins at
Augusta
(AP) — It all seemed surreal to
Zach Johnson. Three clutch bird­
ies on the back nine at the Masters.
His name atop the leaderboard.
Toppling Tiger Woods. Slipping
on the green jacket.
“I'm from Cedar Rapids. Iowa.”
he said when asked to describe
himself. “That's about it. I’m a nor­
mal guy."
Not anymore.
Normal guys d o n 't beat Woods
in the final round of a major, espe­
cially when W oods is in the lead.
Normal guys aren’t unfazed by
the ground-shaking cheers o f
W oods making an eagle to mount
a charge.
Jack Heck was a normal guy from
Iowa, too. and he took down the
great Ben Hogan in the 1955 LI.S.
Open.
Maybe everyone should have
seen this one coming.
A strange week at Augusta Na­
tional saved the biggest surprise
for the very end — Johnson as the
Masters champion, and beating
Woods to get there.
iM ia it N t i
State Farm*
Zach Johnson (left) receives a customary green jacket from
2006 champion Phil Mickelson for winning the Masters Sunday.
“As they say. a giant has got to
fall at some point," he said.
Johnson pulled aw ay from
Woods anti the rest of the pack
with three birdies in a pivotal four-
hole stretch, closing with a 3-under
69 for a two-shot victory over
Woods, Relief Goosen and Rory
Sabbatini. It was only the second
victory of his career.
Join us for an honest dialogue
about what works in preventing
sexually transmitted disease, HIV
infection, and teen pregnancy in
African American communities.
in
Wednesday, April 25
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
T o n y and L ib b y Ke
Gathering, drum m ing,
and dinner w ill begin
MBA. M.Ed.. Brokers, CRS. ABR.
at 5:30 p.m.
W
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