Thursday, 4/17/97 The good, the bad and the ugly events in
sports Taking a brief look at interesting people, teams and
events
News and notes from around the world of sports: Incoming
freshman guard Earl Watson played in the Eddie Jones High School
Senior All-Star Classic at the Long Beach Pyramid Tuesday night.
Don’t let the stat sheet fool you. Despite scoring only eight
points, he played a stellar game. In addition to distributing the
ball effectively to his teammates, he exhibited stifling defense
against fellow high school phenom Kevin Augustine… Jessie Simms,
who will play football for the Bruins in the fall, will help to
perpetuate Robinson’s legacy at UCLA. "What I strive for is to
carry on his legacy and leadership values." Simms told the L.A.
Times… For those budding musicians out there, Bruin pitcher Tom
Jacquez’ band, Levering, is looking for a good organ player… In
other news: Bill Fitch has done a great job with the Los Angeles
Clippers this season. Fitch has managed to take a team that was
going nowhere to the playoffs for the first time in four years…
Larry Walker is quietly having a great start to the season. He has
already hit 9 home runs, has 18 RBI and is hitting over .500.
Projected over the entire season, he would have 122 homers, and 297
RBIs… Last week Seattle Supersonic forward Shawn Kemp called a
press conference in order to address the issue of his chronic
tardiness. Ironically, it was delayed 35 minutes because, you
guessed it, he was late… Good guy of the week: "The Big O," Oscar
Robertson. The man who once averaged a triple-double for an entire
NBA season donated one of his kidneys to his ailing daughter…
Good guy of the week II: Laphonso Ellis of the Denver Nuggets.
After rupturing his Achilles tendon in a game the other night, he
still kept his commitment and showed up to a childrens’ charity
event the very next day. Said Ellis, "As long as I could walk, I
was going to keep my commitment…" How far have the Dodgers and
Bruins come from the days of Jackie Robinson? Reserve outfielder
Wayne Kirby is the only African American player on the roster for
the Dodgers and Ryan Roques is the sole African American on the
Bruins’ roster… A couple more of those game-winning heroics by
Shaquille O’Neal and he can honestly say that he has earned at
least some of that $121 million in his contract… The good: North
Carolina super-sophomore Antawn Jamison’s decision to stay at
Chapel Hill. His return should make the Tar Heels an instant
contender for the national Championship next year… The bad:
Villanova’s star freshman Tim Thomas’ decision to jump to the NBA.
He proved in the NCAA tournament he is not yet mature enough to
handle the pressures of playing big-time basketball. But then
again, that hasn’t stopped anyone before… The ugly: The Chicago
Cubs, who set the National League record for season-opening
futility with their 12th straight loss to begin the season. How bad
are they? They have committed 21 errors in their first 12 games…
For those of you who are of the opinion that Hockey is not a sport,
the playoffs offer a great chance to watch some of the greatest
athletes in the world engage in intense competition…