lune 27, 2007
Page B 6
S ports
Sweep Brings World Series Repeat
Blazers
OSU Beavers
make history
Tap Nike
Executive
First African
American to
lead franchise
T he Portland T rail Blazers has
named Portland resident Larry
Miller as its team president in
charge o f the business aspects
o f the NBA franchise, such as
ticket sales, corporate sponsor
ships and marketing.
M iller is the first A frican
A m erican to hold such a high
ranking p osition w ith the N BA
team . He jo in s the B lazers after
10 years at N ike w here he served
as v ic e-p resid en t and general
m anager o f b ask etb a ll, resp o n
sible for the shoe and apparel
m aker's global bask etb all b u si
n ess.
"For me, w hat I'd like to do is
see this city fall in love again with
the Portland TraiIBIazers,"M iller
said.
“ It is a very e x c itin g day for
the T ra il B lazers o rg a n iz a tio n
to be a b le to a n n o u n c e th e
h irin g o f L arry M ille r as o u r
te am P re s id e n t," sa id T ra il
B la z e rs c h a irm a n an d o w n e r
P aul A lle n . “ L a rry is a p re
e m in e n t fig u re in th e b a s k e t
ball in d u stry an d o n e o f the
m o st w id ely re sp e c te d sp o rts
P at G rlhler
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Larry Miller
p r o fe s s io n a ls in th e c o u n try ,
an d im p o r ta n tly h as b e e n a
lo n g tim e -m e m b e r o f th e P o rt
la n d c o m m u n ity .”
As President o f the Trail Blaz
ers, M iller will be responsible for
all aspectsoftheT rail Blazers busi
ness portfolio, including all team
business activities, the Rose Q uar
ter and Rose City Radio and will
report to V ulcan Sports CE O Tod
Leiweke.
B lazerG eneral M anager Kevin
Pritchard will continue to be in
charge o f player personnel m at
ters.
M iller, a Philadelphia native,
joined Nike as V ice President, USA
Apparel in 1997, having previously
served as P resident o f Jantzen
since 1992. He was prom oted to
president o f Nike Brand Jordan in
19».
“ Larry leaves behind a very tal
ented team at Nike, and w e wish
him much success in his new role,”
said Nike Brand President Charlie
Denson. “W e look forw ard to co n
tinuing N ike’s strong relationship
with the Trail Blazers and with
Larry.”
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The O regon State Beavers swept
North C arolina 9-3 on Sunday night
in O m aha, Neb., to becom e the first
team ever to win the national cham
pionship w hile posting a losing
record in their conference.
The Beavers were also just the
sixth team to ever repeat as national
cham pions, a rem arkable feat after
losing six o f eight positions start
ers from last year's cham pionship
team and tw o o f the three starting
pitchers.
S en io rs D arw in B arney and
M itch Canham picked up their game
this year, with freshmen Joey W ong
and Jorge Reyes also playing huge
roles. Even veteran pitchers Daniel
T u rp e n , M ike S tu te s an d Jo e
Patterson changed their roles from
last year and earlier in the season to
help orchestrate the cham pionship
run.
O n Saturday, the Beavers made
a big first step in repeating as na
tional cham pions when Reyes took
the reigns on the pitching mound
and m ade it very difficult for the Tar
Heels to m uster much on offense.
Reyes pitched six 1/3 innings and
gave up three runs. He really dic
tated the gam e and frustrated the
T ar Heel hitters.
O ffensively the B eavers did in
the cham pionship series what they
have done since getting back into
the co lleg e w orld series. T hey
played their brand o f small ball and
forced the defense to m ake m is
takes. They got the early lead, and
even though they gave up a few
runs, they never relented and kept
getting one-run punches before
Oregon State
players pile onto
the field after the
Beavers beat
North Carolina 9-
3 in Game 2 of
the best-of-three
College World
Series baseball
finals, to win the
championship
Sunday in
Omaha, Neb.
(AP photo)
w inning each gam e com fortably.
The B eavers m ade every play a
challenge. They ran hard to each
bag and forced the T ar Heels d e
fense to m ake bad throws.
T he p o stseaso n fo rm u la has
been the sam e ev er since they faced
tw o elim ination gam es in the same
day in the opening regional mound:
Play strong defense and d o n 't give
the opponent anything easy. W hen
you're on base, run hard to each
bag, slide to outside when going
into home. They laid dow n perfect
bunts and slid head first into first
base. They played perfect funda
mental baseball. No mistakes.
nated Rutgers, before beating V ir
At the end o f the regular season, ginia in the next gam e and again the
slightly m ore than a m onth ago, next day to host a super regional
nobody was quite sure o f the fate o f against M ichigan, and swept the
this season for the Beavers. After W olverines in two games.
To reach the finals they dom i
starting the season ranked in top
15, and moving into the Top 10 nated nearly every gam e that they
twice, and starting out 10-1, the played, putting on defensive and
Beavers struggled when they got offensive exhibitions throughout
into P ac-10 play with a 10-14 record. the tournam ent.
O SU was the last team to m ake it
O SU has now m ade the p la y
into the regional round. A fter w in o ffs three y ea rs in a row and
ning their first game and losing the C o ach Pat C asey o n ce again has
second, the Beavers had a day o ff been rec ru itin g the n a tio n ’s top
before playing tw o elim ination p lay ers. L ook to see the B eavers
gam es in the same day. They elim i co n ten d in 2008.
Wrestler Suspect in Murder-Suicide
Professional wrestling superstar
Chris Benoit was found dead along
with his wife and 7-year-old son in
what police believe was a murder-
suicide, authorities said on Tues
day.
Benoit and his family were dis
covered on M onday afternoon in
side their hom e in Fayetteville, Ga.,
an Atlanta suburb.
The county’s district attorney,
Scott Ballard, declined to give fur
ther details about how the three died,
but authorities said Benoit appeared
to have sm othered his son and
strangled his wife before hanging
h im s e lf w ith th e p u lle y o f a
Chris Benoit during a Smakdown' World Wrestling Entertainment
show in Madrid last year. (AP photo)
weightlifting machine, according to
the Associated Press.
Benoit's em ployer, World W res
tling Entertainment, said in a state
ment on its W eb site that he canceled
two events in Texas over the week
end, citing an undisclosed family
emergency.
Benoit then sent "several curious
text messages" to friends early Sun
day morning, prompting authorities
to check on Benoit and his family at
their home, the statement said.
Nicknamed "The Rabid W olver
ine" and "The Canadian Crippler,"
Benoit was a leading international
star o f professional wrestling.
" lfl Don't Have It In Stock, Z Will Get It For You! ”
■R
S ports C ommentary
INVESTING
IN YOU
Oden or Durant is Step One
by P at G rlhler
T he P ortland O bserver
HAKIM JONES
FINANCIAL ADVISOR
FINANCIAL PLANNING ASSOCIATE
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tionship with your advisor as it does with the quality of
your portfolio. As a Financial Advisor for Smith Barney,
I take great care in working closely with you, learning
your objectives and helping you achieve your goals.
Call me to learn more about stocks, bonds, lending
and a host of financial planning services.
805 SW Broadway
Portland, OR 97205
(503) 221-7600 or (800) 547-1526
superstar Zack Randolph, starting
point guard Jarrett Jack, and even
Last w eek I wrote about w hat the good young players like Travis
Blazers w ere thinking about doing O utlaw and Martel I W ebster.
i n the N B A draft th i s com i ng Th urs-
D o n 't forget the Blazers have
day.
four second-round draft picks to
The big question has been, do play around with.
we pick Greg Oden or Kevin Durant'.’
It’s no secret that the Blazers
But the B lazers 2007-08 season have been trying to get another
will d ep en d on a lot m ore than lottery pick in the draft. Kevin
ju s t that first pick, alth o u g h that Pritchard is ju st greedy. Last year
is step one in the b lu ep rin t to he had to have both LaM arcus
m aking this B lazers team ch am p i A ldridge and Brandon Roy. This
o n sh ip -b o u n d .
year there has been some debate on
W hat else does P o rtland need w hat other player the Blazers will
to do ?
try to draft.
The first thing the team will look
An early rum or had Randolph
to do is m ake a splash in the trade going to the A tlanta Hawks for the
gam e. That will be the best way to third pick so we could draft Mike
add more talent at a good price. C onley and give O den the same
Rum ored players on the block are point guard he has had in high
¡Subscribe
school. But in the month since the
draft lottery that talk has cooled
dow n, but not the am bitions to add
another draft pick.
A m ore recen t ru m o r has the
B lazers trad in g w ith the H aw ks
for the 1 I th pick in the d raft, and
giv in g up startin g p o in t g uard
Jack. W ith that pick, the B lazers
w ould look to add ress th eir need
at sm all forw ard, by d raftin g e i
th er Al T h o rto n or Ju lian W right.
1 w ould be okay w ith th is trade.
T he B lazers could play Roy at
p o in t g u ard o r start ex c itin g sec
ond year guard Sergio R odriguez.
Any sm all forw ard the B lazers
got at 11 w ould p ro b ab ly be an
u p g rad e for the team .
My only concern is m aking this
young team even younger. The
(Dhsemcr
Blazers will be looking to add inex
pensive veteran role players, such
as form er Blazer Steve Blake.
A fter the draft the Blazers will
have a bigger question to answer:
W hat to do with Zack Randolph?
L et’s say the Blazers draft Oden
and Al Thorton, w ho will be the
next small forw ard?
At center w e w ould have Oden
and Joel Prysbilla. I think Randolph
is too much o f a black hole offen
sively, so you start A ldridge at
p o w er forw ard. T rav is O utlaw
w ould play som e m inutes behind
him.
My top priorities would be to
draft O den, get a second lottery
pick, trade Randolph and start prac
ticing. See you at the trophy pre
sentation in June.
^send7' ! L egal N otices
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