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Show renee sera a DAILY HERALD Tuesday, February 28, 2006 WEDNESDAY ; y ‘| COLLEGE BASKETBALL AT ele Weber State fires Cravens ON THE AIR OGDEN — WeberState basketball coach Joe Cra- vens lost his coaching tive losing seasons,the job Mondayafter two consecu- |, Tele school reported. | nalfourganesfish wieDAT ane0 bg Sky) and failed to qualify for the conference tourna- mentforthe first time since 1981. Cravens has twoyearsleft on his contract and will be reassigned to other duties in the school’s athletics department, WSUAthletic Director Jerry Graybeal id in statement. *Graybealsid the university will soon form a search committee to begin looking for a new cen pucal es tea eine he Wat's recorded backthe fourth-Jowest total in the 5program’shistory. >» Northern Colorado coach resigns: At Greeley, Colo., Northern Colorado's Craig Rasmuson said he knew the time would come when he wouldnolonger be a head basketball coach, and whenthat day came Monday,he stepped into a new job as full-time fundraiser for school athletics. “This is an opportunity to get into college athletic administration,” Rasmusonsaid.“I felt all along this would be mynext step if coaching ever ended.” Rasmuson,36, resigned after compiling a 63-129 recordin seven seasons.His decision was first reported in Monday'seditions of the Greeley Tribune. PREP SPORTS Bruin baseball auction Monday The annual Bruins baseball fundraiser auctionis Mondaybeginning at 6 p.m.at the Mountain View High gym. The event will feature ComedySportz, a fast-paced comedy show for the whole family. Dinnerwill be provided by Marvelous Catering. The even also includes an auction and prize drawings. Tickets are $10 per person, $30 for four, $40 for six and $50 for eight. Tickets are available at the door or by calling Mountain View High. COLLEGE FOOTBALL . Search under way for new Dixie coach ST. GEORGE — The searchfor a new headfootball coach at Dixie State College is under way. The committee that will help narrow the poolof candidates has met and will begin evaluating candidates Wednesday and Thursday. The search committee ill be chaired by assistant athletic director Randy Wilstead, who also serves as head women’ssoftball coach. The committee includes a variety of campus and community representatives. “Campus and community support for the foxbel program and athletics in general is only enhan« whenthe selection process is inclusive,” said Bee vice president of studentservices Dr.Phil Alletto. search committee will narrow downthe candidates to five or six during the meetings. The committee will then conduct interviews between March 20-23 and hopes to have a new coach selected by the end of the month. : Jury finds parent guilty in shooting of football coach: AtCanton, Texas, an East Texas jury on Monday found a man guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of a high school football coach. The same panelthen began considering a penalty Mondayafternoonfor Jeff Doyal Robertson, who faces a prison sentenceof twoto 20 years. The jury in this small town about 60 miles east of Dallas Men's - PAGE nee NBA } Charlotteat Utah 7 p.m. KIZZ “rweun Tass ] 9 Wallace fined $5,000 for throwing elbow: Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace was fined $5,000 by Be aepeel oe seorng Colveland Cava. vision given up 56 pounds of bass in a three- Baseball Continued from C1 IN SNUBBING ONEIL, HOF MISSED of the head. HOME PLATE “Wale oeCatepal foul, which was hances were goodfor a Blood spilled down Ilgauskas’ isu at seal oes 2 a con Illinois at Minnesota NHL Minnesota at Colorado 7pm. ESPN 7 p.m. OLN Saint Joseph's at Xavier__5:30 p.m. _ESPN2 ‘ Se rejected a charge of aggravated assault on a public servantin favorofthe lesser charge. Robertson's defense attorney argued then-Canton high schoolfootball coach Gary Joe Kinne wasn’t a public servant whenhe was shot. Hesaid a high schoolfootball coach doesn’t meet the standard of a public servant underthe state penal code, which doesn’t explicitly mention schooldistrict employees. Robertson, a heating andair conditioning repairman,shot Kinnein April. Kinne was critically injured but has since recovered andis on the coaching staff of Baylor University. Robertson's son played on Canton’s freshmenfootball team along with Kinne’s son, who was the quarterback. The coachtestified last week that Robertson passed’by his office and called out to him. Kinnesaid he found Robertsonleaning casually against a wall in the hallway, outside the dressing room. Kinnesaid that Robertson smirked but didn’t say anything beforelifting a gun and shooting him. The blast pushed him back against the back wall of the dressing room. NBA Suns GM Colangelo resigns MIAMI— Bryan Colangelo resigned Mondayas general manager of the Phoenix Suns,andhe’s expected to join the aye Raptors as president and eneral manager today Colangelo wili ee Rob Babcock, who was fired Jan. 26 by the Raptors. Colangelo was the NBA’s 2005 executive of the year after the Suns’ retooled roster won league-high 62 games. “Bryan has decided thathis preferenceis to leave the Suns, and underthose circumstances, we saw no other option other than to accept his decision,” Suns managing partner Robert Sarver said in a statement. Richard Peddie, president of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, said a news conference was scheduled today to announcethe hiring of Colangelo. The Raptors werein Miamifor a game Monday night. “We're very close to finishing the deal,” Peddie said, “Let’s get back to Toronto safely and get some signatures on paper,andI’ll be a happy guy.” » Garnett, Davis each fined $5,000: Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett was fined $5,000 by the NBA on. Mondayfor throwinga basketball into the stands in a win over Memphis. nett accidentally hit a fan whenhe tossed the awayin the third quarter Sunday. He was reacting in frustration after being called for an.offensive foul, and was ejected from the game. Medical personnel examined the fan, who was wheeled from the court on a gurney to boos andlater walked with his family and arena personnelto a back room. His condition wasn't immediately available, although he appeared to be uninjured. Garnett said Sundaythat he didn't intend to throw the ball into the stands, but was trying to get a delay-of-game cail. “By no means was trying tohit a fan,” he said. Ricky Davis was also fined $5,000 by the NBA for kicking a basketball into the stands in a loss to Denver on Friday. day event. And,it was the first time the first-place prize money totaled $500,000! But that was only the beginning of the “firsts” in this year’s event. Luke Clausen,a 27-year-old angler from Spokane, Wash., became the youngest Classic winnerin history. His wi weight of 56 pounds, 2 ounces broke the all-time Classic record,held since 1999 by Davy Hite at 55 pounds, 10 ounces. The all-time record for the largest bass caught in a Classic was shattered on Friday as Preston Clark weighed an 11 pound, 10 ounce behemoth. The former record was a mere pounds,9 ounces that was caught by RickyGreen way back in 1976. Luke Clausen was also the first Classic winnerto accept his check and 50- . } Blackistone As Iigauskas drove for a layup in the first quarter Sunday, Wallace elbowed him in the Basketball | and he need- upgraded by the league to a flagrant foul two. BASEBALL. ~ Big Hurt, White Sox GM talk by phone TUCSON,Ariz. — Former White Sox star Frank Thomas andChicagoo general manager Kenny Williams talked by phone for 20 tninutes to diseass their escalated verbal feud. as called eae‘an idiot” and “selfish” Sundayafter reading the anew: wasn’t ex-slugger’s comments in interview in which he reiterated that he with his send-off from the team after caledWillaonSundaynigh.etemesnege and on ry nig) a e, an Williams returned the call. “I'm going totell you this. As long as I’don’t hear another word about this organization or the members of this organization, I won't have another thought about this. Aud eM mave O) Williams said Monday. Thomas,‘speaking to reporters at the A's conan in Phoenixon Monday,didn’t gointo details about the conversation with Wi That doesn't mean the rift has been mended. “Patch it up?” Williams said. “Thereis no patching up.” Thomas agreed. “There doesn’t need to be anything patched up. We're men. We can handle it eee I wished wehad handled it over the phone beforeit became national,” he said. TENNIS Agassi wins opener DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Andre defeated Greg Rusedski 7-6 (4), 6-0 Mondayin the opening roundof the Dubai Open, showing no signs of a lower back strain. The 35-year-old Agassi is playing only his second tournamentof the season and thirdsince his loss to Roger Federerin the final of the U.S. Open last September. Agassipulled out of the SAP Open with a lower backinjury earlier this month, and was sidelined by a sprained left ankle last fall. “It's good to be back on the court healthy and excited,” Agassisaid. “I am still not as comfortable, andthatwill take a couple of matches. But what was important was that I was getting into good positions, which means I am moving wel Tim Henmaitmoved into the second round with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win overFeliciano Lopez. Henman, who received a wild card when Ivan Tjubicieo off Croatia withdrew becauseof a shoulderinjury,rallied from 0-3 downin the second-set tiebreaker. Agassi to skip clay-court season: At Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Andre Agassi will skip the entire ATP clay-court season,including the French Open,to improvehis chancesof playing at Wimbledon. The 35-year-old Agassi said cortisoneinjections are helping him stay onthe court after sustaining a lowerback strain and a sprained left anklein the last few months, “Tt is not realistic for me to consider myself competitive on clay,” Agassi said Mondayaftera firstroundwin at the Dubai Open. “The wear and tear it puts on my bodyhas set me backthe last couple of years. And Wimbledon is something that I don't ‘want to miss this year.” A magical Classic in Orlando rlando,Fia., is home to Disney World, B.A.S.S. corporate headquarters, and the famed Kissimmee chain oflakes, a series ofshallow, heavily vegetated impoundmentsthat hold ee eof the world’s largest bass. Last week, Disney World and ESPN/ BASS. threw ee of the Magic Kingdom and rolled out the red carpet for 51 of the best professional anglers in the world, who competed headto-headin the 36th Bassmaster Classic. This was the sixth Classic I've covered, and it struck me that this was indeed a Classicof firsts. It was the first Classic to be held in thewinter when the é pound trophy wearing flip-flops. “I don't think this has sunkinyet,r said the youngster as he faced membersof the media after winning the tournament. “This has really been a special week. Everything I did just seemed to work out. Even when I made a mistake or two, I was able to a att and auget back to catching fis! wasn'tthe first timecas senitfoundincredible success,In with the moneyhe said,“I guess I'd 2004, he won the FLW Championship. better invest in a house or something.” The FLW is a competing tournament As I've gotten to know Luke,I can ascircuit and Luke pocketed another sure you this college graduate had an $500,000.for winning that event. So,in investmentstrategy worked out before Jess than twoyears he has earned more the ink on the check dried. than $1,000,000 fishing for bass, LukeClausenis truly one of a kind. D DonAllphin can be reached at Whenasked what he was going to do remaxdoa@gmail.com. while that if you visited the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, he welcomed you in person with a warm tnt were bettersomeyears 0 ou called joke me Kansas City, dedicatedto™] the menwin were red tay their own games because the bigeetteseball age es ceeen te them simply because of the color oftheir skin, his friendly voice received you via recording. . Chances were greatest that if you learned anything about the men who moa Wo reareee was because this man, Buck eeee his reminiscences in “Shadow the fifth installment of Ken Burns’ TV documentary So what if O'Neil became such a keen baseball man thatin 1962 World Series crowns? ete was a three-time All-Star, charmpion and as chitch aiter as Siete Fame on Monday is because unparalleled andunseffish role he’s played for what That he wasn’t ceculaaede co a Hall of Fame oversight for the ages — for any sport’s Tt was admirable that the nation's atrophied former pastime set aside a quarter of a million dollars a few years ago to research Negro But the whole process, whether it wound up placing O'Neil betweenPhil Niekro and Jim O'Rourkein Cooperstown, was no morethan a metaphor for baseball’s historical struggle at dealing withinclusiveness anyway: too little, too late. To be sure, O'Neil, now 94, was oneofonly twoliving candidates on the final list. Minnie Minoso, 83, was the other. wouldn't let play for just about half a century? Because of the twisted notion — nearly as distorted as calling its decision to discriminate based on skin color aie,'S seene (what would do tnt— that somehow segregated Negro Leagues baseball was illegitimate and segregated Major LeagueBaseball was not. DonAllphin On Fishing More than 50 historians, authors and researchers spentfour years sifting through box scores in 128 newspapers of sanctioned league games from 19201954, ‘The result was the most completecollection of Negro Leagues statistics ever according to the Hall, and a database thatit 3,000 day-byday records and career leaders.he a “What we're proudest the broadening know! ,” Petroskey said. “When westarted five bese dieenton? We've got of the stats now.” “She did a lot for the Newark community. She was just a well-rounded influential person,” Irvin said. “She tried to organize the ownersto build their own parks and have a balanced schedule and toreally iimprovethe lot of the Negro League players.” Manley was white, but married a black man and passed as a black woman,said Larry Lester, a baseball author and member of the voting committee. “She campaigned to get as much moneyas possible for these ballplayers, and rightfully so,” Lester said. Manley used baseball to advance civil rights causes with events such as an Anti-Lynching Dayatthe ballpark. She died in 1981 at age 84. “She was a pioneer in so many ways,in terms of integrating the team with the community,” said Leslie Heaphy,a Kent State professor on the committee. “She's also one of the owners who pushed very hard to get recognition for Major League Baseball when FILE PHOTO/Associated Press they started to sign some oftheir players.” y Brown,Willard Brown, Andy , Cristob- Effa Manley, Gen ee o te Sox, Negro National looks over a scrapbook wit al Torriente ee Wilson were the other former in Negro League players elected. Five pre-Negro Leagu- of her former players, Don Newcombe,at rer home Los Angeles in this August7, 1973 photo. ers — Frank Grant,Pete Hill, Jose Mendez, Louis Santop and Ben Taylor — werealso chosen. Hall of Fame — the one in their hearts,” the 83-year-old Wi Brown was the only person among them to y in the majors — he hit .179 in 21 games with the ca last month — on July 30 in Cooperstown, N.Y. ’s meant to it's meant to yey Browns in 1947. Only 18 Negro Lea; players had been chosen honored to be considered. I've ery nee , Cum Posey,J.L. Wilkinson and Sol for the Hall prior to this election. and the game has given me so much. white’were theother executives elected. The election was the culmination of a Hall of Fame ‘The new inductees will be enshrined with Sutter — project to compile a completehistory of blacks in the DAP Writers Ben Walker and Ronald Blum elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of Ameri- game from 1860 to 1960. contributed to this report. reninseobsKameraad It is lost on too many keepers of baseball that the so-called gentle- men’s agreement cheated not only enerations of black men who asPeony to play major league baseball cheated the generations of white men who played what amounted to apartheidball. And who is to say that the numbers the Ruths, Cobbs and Johnsons the Year Awards won by former Negro Leagues’stars, or that 11 of the National L MVPs 1949 and 1962 were captured by forstars’ Buck O'Neil has tried to explain that to anyone who would listen ever since the died a following. the storming of the Major Leagues by its best and brightest and even its mediocre. And he’s done so with humor, grace and warmth. oe has been a finer ambassador ame,chan of niceties tan Buck 0’ racewaya bl or her. That's who the Baseball Hall of Fame just left out. » Kevin Blackistone is a columnist for the Dallas Morning News. |