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Tri-County Sentry
Friday
MAY 9, 2014
Sports News Pacers' Paul George Heckled at 'Magic Johnson is Bigger Than That' His Own Stadium
Charles Barkley: By Michael Klopman Charles Barkley expressed disappointment with Magic Johnson over his gleeful reaction to the news that Mike D’Antoni would resign as the coach of the Lakers.. “Magic Johnson is bigger than that. Mike D”Antoni is a good coach. They didn’t give him a lot to work with,” Barkley said on TNT, via Mark Medina of the LA Daily News. “The Lakers weren’t to win with Phil Jackson either. They don’t have good players. We know Phil Jackson is arguably the greatest coach ever. The Lakers don’t have players. They’re not a good team. I don’t even know if Phil Jackson wanted that job. The Lakers stink and they’re going to stink.”
Irving ‘Magic’ Johnson and Charles Barkley Shortly after news broke of D’Antoni’s exit, Magic rejoiced on Twitter posting: “Happy days are here again! Mike D’Antoni resigns as the Lakers coach. I couldn’t be happier!” Johnson didn’t shy away from criticizing Lak-
ers executive vice president Jim Buss for choosing D’Antoni over Phil Jackson back in 2012, after the short tenure of Mike Brown. The Lakers legend also took issue with D’Antoni’s system during his time in Los Angeles.
For anyone who thought it couldn't get any worse for the Indiana Pacers, it did when they were booed in their own stadium during Game 5 against the Atlanta Hawks. One fan made sure his voice was heard after All-Star Paul George committed a traveling violation in the final minute of the second quarter. "Why don’t you start playing some basketball and stop traveling? I guess you’re ready to go home in the first round!" the fan yelled as the rest of the crowd at Bankers Life Fieldhouse quieted down. "You’re ready to go home in the first round against Atlanta. You’re supposed to be an All-Star. Start playing ball and stop traveling." George ended up with game-highs of 26 points
Paul George and 12 rebounds to go along with six assists and six steals. But the Pacers still fell to the Hawks, 107-97. The top seed in the
Eastern conference, Indiana has now lost 12 of its last 20 games and is on he brink of being eliminated by the No. 8 seed.
Asafa Powell Banned for Doping Richard Sherman and NFL Players Discuss 'The Modern Black Male Athlete' at Harvard
Former world 100m record holder Asafa Powell has received an 18-month ban for failing a drugs test. The Jamaican sprinter, 31, took the banned stimulant oxilofrine at last year’s national championships but the suspension has been backdated and will end on December 20, 2014. Powell called the ruling “unfair and unjust”, and said a legal supplement he took, Epiphany D1, was contaminated. He plans to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Fellow sprinter Sherone Simpson was also banned by the Jamaican anti-doping disciplinary panel. Simpson, an Olym-
Asafa Powell pic 4x100m relay gold and silver medallist, is a training partner of Powell and took the same substance at the same event. The three-member disciplinary panel that ruled on
Powell said he had been “negligent”. In January, he testified that Canadian physical trainer Chris Xuereb provided him with nine Xuereb has denied providing performance-enhancing drugs.
Mavericks' Blair Suspended for One Game
DeJuan Blair New York - Dallas Mavericks big man DeJuan Blair was suspended for one game by the NBA for kicking San Antonio Spurs center Tiago Splitter in the head. Rod Thorn, NBA President of Basketball Operations announced the suspension a day after Blair was ejected in the fourth quarter of the Mavericks' 93-89 playoff loss to the Spurs. The victory saw the Spurs pull even in the bestof-seven first round series, which is tied at two games apiece. Blair is averaging 5.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in the postseason.
By Jimmy Golen Cambridge, Mass. — Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman says he refuses to back down from his raging rant after the NFC championship game because he wants to "educate the uneducated." During a session called "The Modern Black Male Athlete" at Harvard, Sherman told a standing-room crowd that he tried to start a conversation about how blacks are viewed by the media and fans. He was called a thug — and worse — on social media because he was so emotional in his trash talk about San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree after the Seahawks beat the 49ers to reach the Super Bowl. Houston Texans run-
Richard Sherman ning back Arian Foster laughed, "If you call Richard Sherman a thug, you have never seen a thug." Arizona receiver Larry Fitzgerald and former Broncos cornerback Do-
monique Foxworth also attended the pair of talks. Foxworth, the former NFL players association president, is attending Harvard Business School.
Cleveland Browns Confirm They're Trying Out Vince Young at Quarterback
By Eric Edholm The Cleveland Browns are exhausting all their quarterback options and it has been fascinating to watch that process unfold. Having released Jason Campbell and Brandon Weeden, and with Brian Hoyer coming off a torn ACL, the Browns need quarterbacks. Plural. They apparently are looking under every rock, including trying to see if Vince Young has anything left in the tank. Young and NFL journeyman Tyler Thigpen are among the players the Browns are bringing in for tryouts at their upcoming minicamps. Browns general manager Ray Farmer confirmed the news, relayed here by the Akron Beacon Journal. The Browns very well might draft a quarterback, and they have the ammo — three of the top 35 picks in the draft, including two first-rounders (Nos. 4 and 26 overall) — with which to do so. But they also appear intrigued with Young, who — this even surprised us — turns 31 in a few weeks. Young has been brought
Vince Young in as a camp competitor, most recently with the Buffalo Bills and Green Bay Packers when those teams were short on quarterbacks. But he has not thrown a pass in a regularseason game since Week 13 of the 2011 season with the Philadelphia Eagles — Young threw four picks that day in a 31-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Could Young keep his career alive? If there's a place to do it, it might as well be QB-starved Cleveland. But Farmer wasn't done talking about the quarterback possibilities at his his pre-draft presser. Asked
about Johnny Manziel, one of the quarterbacks the Browns have done a lot of homework on (especially with a workout and a meeting recently), Farmer seemed comfortable with who Manziel is as a person and as a player. Will the Browns sign Young? Will they draft Manziel? We should have the answers soon. But for us, the idea of both on the same roster makes our brains bend a little. But then again, it would be quite the talking-point QB direction for a team that has been mostly rudderless at the position for 20 years.