a'*ìt :$Jortlanò (Observer
lune 6, 2012
Page 13
Blazers Hire
General Manager
Executive leaves
Clippers for
Portland
(A P) — T he T rail B lazers have
hired form er Los A ngeles C lippers
general m anager Neil Olshey to serve
in the sam e role w ith Portland.
The announcem ent by the Blazers
on M onday cam e less than an hour
after the Clippers revealed that they
and O lshey had decided to part ways.
Last season, O lshey oversaw a
m ajor retooling o f the C lippers that
included signing A ll-Star point guard
Chris Paul in D ecem ber as part o f the
biggest trade in franchise history. In
the sam e six-day span, O lshey signed
All-Stars Caron B utlerand C hauncey
Billups, and re-signed D eA ndre Jo r
dan.
The Clippers finished 40-26 and
reached the second round o f the play
offs.
"I am very grateful for the opportu
nity to becom e a part o f this success
ful franchise," O lshey said in a state
m ent released by the Blazers. "Port
land is a great basketball city with a
rich tradition, an incredible fan base
and com m itted leadership. I'm joining
an organization that has a strong
foundation and a bright future."
Neil Olshey
The Blazers have been operating
under interim G M C had Buchanan
for the past year. B uchanan, the team's
director o f college scouting, took over
w hen the team fired Rich C ho after
about 10 m onths on the job.
O lshey becom es the 10th general
m anager in Blazers history.
"Neil is som eone w e've had on our
radar for quite a while. O ver the past
tw o seasons he has dem onstrated
success in co n stru ctin g a roster,
m anaging salary cap and evaluating
player talent," Blazers President Larry
M iller said in a statem ent. "We feel
very fortunate to have him in Port
land and are thrilled about what this
m eans for the future."
photo by
D eborah P orter
Major softball players from north and northeast Portland celebrate their first place finish Sunday
in the Little League Urban Initiative Northwest Jamboree at Lents Park.
Jamboree Champions
M a jo r so ftb a ll p la y e rs fro m a P o rtla n d O b
se rv e r- sp o n so re d te am in th e P e n in s u la L ittle
L e a g u e w e re c ro w n e d c h a m p io n s o f th e L ittle
L e a g u e U rb a n in itia tiv e N o rth w e st Ja m b o re e on
Sunday.
T he g irls ’ team w on all five g am es they p lay ed in
the tournam ent at L ents Field in southeast Portland,
including the final contest by a score o f 11-9.
HMM
Elite Players to B attle
in Rose City Showcase
The 1 Oth annual R ose C ity Show M ichael B easley, and K evin L ove
case by N IK E, featuring som e o f the becam e A ll-A m ericans, and before
nation's top basketball players and B randon R ush and M ario C halm ers
future college and N B A stars, tips led Kansas to the 2008 N C A A C ham
o ff Friday, June 8 at L ew is & C lark pionship, they all had o ne thing in
C ollege in southw est Portland.
com m on -- they participated in the
B efore D w ight H ow ard becam e R ose C ity Show case.
an N B A A ll-Star, before Josh Sm ith
P resented by C ourtside E n ter
and Gerald Green won the NBA Slam tainm ent, the tournam ent w ill kick
D unk C ontest, before O .J. M ayo, o ff w ith four pow er-packed, super
17 m atch-ups, featuring m any o f
the top players in the country from
the classes o f 2 0 1 3 ,2 0 1 4 and 2015.
T he action continues through
Sunday evening w hen a R ose C ity
S h o w c a s e c h a m p io n w ill b e
cro w n ed at 6:30 p.m . at L ew is &
C lark College.
F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , v isit
R oseC ityS how case.com
Honored for Courage and Leadership
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 11
R oberts w as the other honoree,
receiving the L ifetim e A chiev e
m ent A w ard "for her tireless and
steadfast activism as an ally to
Oregon's Lesbian, G ay Bisexual and
T ransgender (L G B T ) c o m m u n ity .
Peter Cunningham , executive di
rector o f the Equity Foundation, said,
"We are honoring both Governor
Roberts and C oach M urrell - they
epitomize the strength and persever
ance needed to lead the charge for
equality in Oregon, and everywhere.”
"I am deeply h o n o red to accept
such an aw ard from the equity fo u n
dation," said M urrell. "It w as spe
cial to be alongside G o v ern o r B ar
bara R oberts, w ho is a true p io n eer
and role m odel fo r hum an rights."
D uring her career at Portland State,
M urrell has led the V ikings to un
precedented success at the D ivi
sion I lev^l, including a 98-60 record,
53-27 in the Big Sky C onference.
She led the V ikings to the 2010
N C A A T ournam ent, PSU 's first-
ev er trip to the N C A A s as a D ivi
sion I program . M urrell also guided
the V ikings to the 2009 and 2011
W N IT tournam ents and w as the
2010-11 Big Sky C oach o f the Year.
Original Trail Blazer Dead at 72
F o rm e r P o rtla n d T rail B la ze rs
cen te r/fo rw ard L eR oy E llis p assed
a w ay S a tu rd a y in P o rtla n d at th e
a g e o f 72 a fte r a lo n g b a ttle w ith
c a n c e r.
A m e m b e r o f P o rtla n d 's in a u
g u ra l b a sk e tb a ll te a m , E llis w as
se le c te d b y th e T rail B la ze rs in the
1970 N B A E x p a n sio n D ra ft. E llis
led P o rtla n d w ith 12.3 re b o u n d s
p e r g a m e an d ra n k e d th ird on the
te am w ith a 15.9 sc o rin g a v e ra g e
in 19 7 0 -7 1 , his o n ly se a so n w ith
th e T ra il B lazers.
E llis a p p e a re d in 1,048 N B A
g a m es o v e r 14 s e a so n s w ith the
L .A . L a k e rs, B a ltim o re , P o rtla n d
an d P h ila d e lp h ia . H e p o ste d c a
re e r a v e ra g e s o f 9 .7 p o in ts a n d 8.3
re b o u n d s, an d w as a m e m b e r o f
the 1972 N B A C ham pion L.A. L ak
e rs.
A N ew Y ork n ativ e, E llis p lay ed
h is c o lle g ia te b a sk e tb a ll at St.
J o h n ’s U n iv e rsity . E llis an d his
fa m ily se ttle d in P o rtla n d d u rin g
h is N B A c a re e r a n d c o n tin u e d to
liv e in the a rea a fte r he re tire d from
th e N B A .
LeRoy Ellis