Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current, February 06, 2008, Page 18, Image 18

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    Page BIO
libe
|J u r tla n b (P lis cru er
February 6. 2008
Black Histoiy Month
S ports
Giants Stun the World
With ‘impossible’ victory
(A P )— W ith a snow storm o f
confetti and paper raining down
from skyscrapers, star defensive
end M ichael Strahan cradled the
Super Bowl trophy likeababyT ucs-
day as thousands o f New York Gi-
a n ts
fa n s
c e le b r a te d
on
M anhattan’s streets and saluted
their im probable cham pions.
"I still ca n ’t believe it,” Strahan
said as the team was leaving New
Jersey to com e to New York. " I’m
New York players Michael Strahan (left) and Eli Manning hold the Vince Lombardi trophy to cel­
ebrate during a Super Bowl parade in New York on Tuesday.
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State Farm*
Providing Insurance and financial Services
Home Office. Bloomington. Illinois 61710
still in some kind o f shock.”
The G iants rode in floats and
many players carried video cam ­
eras to record the moment, waving
to the throngs and basking in the
delighted screams. A huge cheer
went up when M V Pquarterback Eli
Manning joined Strahan at the front
o f a float.
The float also carried M ayor
M ichael Bloom berg as well as the
Vince Lombardi Trophy, which was
well protected in S trahan's m as­
sive arms.
The parade, featuring 50 tons o f
confetti, cam e tw o days after the
G iants upset New England 17- 14to
ends the Patriots’ perfect season.
Pans threw hats to the players, who
signed them and threw them back.
Mehdi M achkour, a 26-year-old
restaurant w orker from Brooklyn,
w asn 't quite sure which tw o play­
ers signed his hat. The M orocco
native is more o f a soccer fan, but
this day brought a big change.
“Now I love football.” he said.
W hile it clearly was a day for a
parade, it was also a day for politics.
New York and the 23 other Super
Tuesday states were holding pri­
m aries that could seal the fates of
the D em ocratic and Republican
presidential candidates.
Just south o f City Hall, politics
and the parade crossed paths as
signs for D em ocratic candidate
David Tyree o f the New York Giants celebrates his five-yard
touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. The Giants wrote a
chapter o f National Football League history with an epic 17-14
upset o f previously unbeaten New England on Sunday, denying
the Patriots an unprecedented 19-0 championship run.
Barack O bam a were surrounded by
fans wearing G iants red, white and
blue.
Crow ds were 20 people deep at
som e places, and the presence of
children showed that many consid­
ered the parade to be w orth missing
aday o f school. Arlene R em y,3 2,of
Brooklyn, was with her son and
three o f his friends.
“They haven’t won a Super Bowl
since 1991 and I want to be a part of
history,” she said.
Justice Rodriguez, 11, o f Brook­
lyn, was up at 3 a.m. with his father
and half-dozen friends to secure a
spot along Broadway.
“ I want to see Eli M anning,” said
the boy, w ho w ore a No. 10 M an­
ning shirt over a down jacket. His
father, Juan Rodriguez, took the
day off from his car-w ash job.
“ You never know when they’ll
win again,” he said.
A
Johnson Picks Notre Dame
Ernest J. Hill, Jr.
Ethan Johnson, an outstanding
football player from Lincoln High
Schixil. recently won a full-ride schol­
arship to the university o f Notre
Dame.
Johnson, a multi-sport student
athlete, has been active in the Black
Student Union and isahard-working
member of the student body, main­
taining a grade point average above
a 3.0.
As a senior, he moved from defen­
Agent
4946 N Vancouver Avenue Portland, OR 97717
503 786 1103 tax 503 286 1146
errue lull h5mbi&statetarm com
24 Hour Good Neighbor Service®
sive tackle to defensive end, the
position he expects to play in col­
lege. He received the Multnomah
Athletic C lu b 's Scholar Athlete
Award in 2006 and played varsity
track and field during his sophomore
andjunioryears. participating in shot
put, discus and javelin.
Johnson will be signing his letter
o f intent at a ceremony on W ednes­
day, Feb. 6 at noon in the Lincoln
High gymnasium.
Portland
star player
Ethan
Johnson
makes the
cover of
“Rise,” a
highschool
sports
magazine.
If your youth 6th-8th grade are still
looking to play basketball, they still have
time through the Portland Parks and
Recreation team. We are still looking for
a few young men to come and play.
Our practice time is Tuesdays and Thursdays
6:50 p.ni. until 8 p.ni. at Vernon K-8 School.
Location: 2044 N.E. Killingsworth St.
Contact Person: Coach Miller. 503-933-1763
Roy Becomes All-Star
Blazers’ first
in seven years
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(AP)— Portland Trail Blazers
guard Brandon Roy, who has led
his team 's surprising resurgence,
was nam ed to the NBA A ll-Star
gam e Thursday.
W estern C onference coaches
selected Roy, last seaso n 's NBA
Rookie o f the Year, as a reserve.
Fans picked the All-Star starters.
“ I still d o n 't understand how
m uch th is m e a n s,” R oy said .
"M aybe I’ll have to w ait until I’m
putting on the jersey and sitting in
the locker room with K obe and all
those guys.”
Roy is the first Portland player
selected to the gam e since Rasheed
W allace in 2 0 0 0 and 2001. He aver­
ages 19.3 points. 4.5 rebounds and
5.6 assists for the Blazers, who arc
2 6 -19 and have surpassed expecta­
tions after the loss of No. 1 draft
Roy has tw ice been the N B A ’s
player o f the week, with both hon­
ors coming during the 13-game win­
ning streak.
“ He g e ts it," c o a c h N ate
M cMillan said. “ He understands
where this organization is at, where
we need to go, and what it takes to
get there.”
“It's not about me,” Roy said.
“ It’s about w hat this team has
do n e.”
Los A ngeles' Kobe Bryant and
D enver's Allen Iverson will start in
the backcourt for the W est team on
Feb. 17. T h ey ’ll be joined by H ous­
Brandon Roy
ton center Yao Ming and forw ards
pick Greg Oden to injury in the off­ C arm elo Anthony o f D enver and
Tim Duncan o f San Antonio.
seaso n .
Reserves named to the W est team
The youngest team in the NBA
opened the season 5 - 12 before reel­ include Utah forward Carlos Boozer.
ing off a 13-game winning streak in Phoenix guard Steve Nash, Dallas
December. The Blazers were not as forward Dirk Nowitzki, New Orleans
hot in January, but m anaged to guard Chris Paul, Phoenix forward
post consecutive winning months Amare Stoudem ire and New O r­
leans forward David West.
for the first time since 2004.