Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Sunday, September 07 2008 - Index

Page 2-C
Terrance McNeil
Talented sophomore wide
receiver Joe Clayborne has
changed high schools.
The 6-foot-4 Clayborne has
ransferred from University
ity High School to George
ashington High.
The highly skilled second
ear player caught four balls
or 115 yards in his first game
f the season for University
ity. He managed 335 yards
nd 6 touchdowns off of just
3 receptions last year at
niversity City.
Clayborne said the primary
reason for the transfer was
academics.
“Washington has a better
academic environment,” he
said. “They have good programs
there. I’m going to try
to play football here but I’m
worried about my education
first.”
Clayborne said he is trying
to improve his chances of
playing NCAA Division I football.
George Washington has
been one of the upper echelon
teams in the Public League
(now District XII) since legendary
coach Ron Cohen took
over the program. Cohen had
racked up 207 wins at the
end of the 2007 season,
including winning the Public
League Championship that
season.
Clayborne said he will look to
play in the Eagles’ next game
as they host Central Bucks
East next Friday in their first
home game of the young season.
Clayborne said he will not
rush to get to the gridiron, but
will gain wisdom by soaking
the game in from the sidelines.
“I am going to have to
watch and learn from people
that have experienced winning,”
he said. “I have to get
to know the offense by listening
and learning. I’ll also be
watching.”
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Disputed TKO could end in boxer’s favor
Chris Murray
Tribune Staff Writer
Nearly a month after Anthony
“The Messenger” Thompson’s
bout against Ishmael Arvin for
the U.S. Boxing Organization
(USBO) junior middleweight title,
which ended in a controversial
sixth-round TKO loss, the hands
of justice may rule in his favor.
According to sources close to
the situation, the Washington
D.C. Boxing and Wrestling
Commission is expected to make
a ruling in Thompson’s favor by
the end of next week.
Thompson’s manager
Cameron Dunkin said he hasn’t
received anything officially in
writing from the commission, but
believes that justice will be
served for his fighter.
“The right thing will be done,”
Dunkin said. “It looks like we’re
headed in that direction.”
Attempts to reach the D.C.
Boxing and Wrestling
Commission were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, the International
Boxing Organization (IBO), which
sanctioned the bout, stripped
Arvin of the USBO title on Aug.
28 because of the fight’s contro-
Phillies
From Page 1C
Mike Schmidt sent the team an
nspirational message that is sure
o rankle Mets fans.
A Phillies star from 1972-89
and now a special instructor in
spring training for the team,
Schmidt wrote Charlie Manuel an
e-mail that the manager posted
on the inside door of the clubhouse
for his players to see as
they headed out for batting practice
Friday.
Part of it read: “the Mets know
you’re better than they are. They
remember last year.”
It was the latest boast in a
rivalry that’s become awfully bitter
the past two seasons.
Victorino got Philadelphia
started this time when he singled
versial end. Thompson said he
simply wants a sense of closure
so he can move forward.
“Until I see that nice belt
around my waist and all the
work my brother and manager
did has been worth it, I’m not
going to be happy,” Thompson
said. “Right now, I’m not happy. I
feel like an injustice has been
done to me and I just don’t like it
and [it] really affected me. I had it
done right. I trained hard for that
fight and to have it taken away
from me, it wasn’t cool. That belt
was for my son.”
Thompson was in the center of
controversy in his previous fight
when he lost as split decision to
Yuri Foreman in June 2007 at
New York’s Madison Square
Garden.
In a nationally televised fight
from Washington, D.C’s Ibiza
Night Club, cameras from ESPN2
clearly showed the third-round
head butt that caused an enormous,
blood-filled gash over
Thompson’s left eye.
Even though referee Malik
Waleed and members of the
Washington D.C. Boxing and
Wrestling Commission saw the
accidental head-butt on a video
in the first, stole second and continued
to third on a throwing
error by catcher Brian Schneider.
Chase Utley delivered an RBI
groundout.
With two outs in the seventh,
Dobbs drove a 2-2 pitch to right
and the ball skimmed off the top
of Church’s glove as he leaped at
the fence.
When he came down, Church
looked at his glove and slammed
it on his knee in frustration.
Pelfrey lost for the first time in
five starts, yielding two earned
runs and four hits in seven
innings.
Notes: New York closer Billy
Wagner (elbow) threw another
bullpen session and said it went
well. He and the Mets are targeting
a Tuesday return, but Wagner
thinks it might be better to hold
off until next weekend against
Junior middleweight contender Anthony “The Messenger”
Thompson poses with his cornermen following a recent fight.
replay monitor, the fight was
ruled a TKO in Arvin’s favor
because Waleed claimed he didn’t
see the butt at the time it
occurred and that it came as the
result of a punch. Oddly enough,
Waleed apparently didn’t see the
punch either.
In the ESPN account of the
Atlanta. Interestingly, manager
Jerry Manuel said if Wagner doesn’t
have a chance to face hitters in
a game situation — such as a
minor league rehab assignment
— before coming off the disabled
list, he might use the lefty in
setup situations at first to make
sure he’s sound. ... If Saturday’s
game is rained out, as expected,
the teams plan to play a daynight
doubleheader on Sunday.
... The Mets homered in their previous
14 games. ... Myers threw
118 pitches and struck out eight
of 11 batters during one stretch
that included an intentional walk.
... Plate umpire Paul Emmel ejected
Phillies pitching coach Rich
Dubee in the sixth after Dubee
visited the mound following
Daniel Murphy’s two-out double.
Murphy had taken a close pitch
with two strikes. — (AP)
Clayborne joins G.W. High
Upshaw
From Page 1C
Todd said even without
Upshaw, the NFLPA has
enough people in place to
help the new executive director
protect the interests of the
players. He said management
and labor have to realize that
there’s enough money on the
table for everybody.
“The workers are the players
and they have to be treated
fairly, too,” Todd said. “The
new director has to understand
that they are for the players
first. That’s what (Upshaw’s)
legacy is: benefits for the players,
not your ego, the players.”
The owners have opted out of
the last two years of the current
collective bargaining agreement
Eagles
From Page 1C
offensive coordinator Marty
Mornhinweg said of the secondround
pick. “I would expect him
to get better every week during
this season.”
The Rams’ goal this year may
be more modest than
Philadelphia’s hopes of going to
the Super Bowl. They haven’t had
a winning season since 2003, so
reaching .500 would be a realistic
ambition.
Quarterback Marc Bulger is
healthy and looking to return to
– TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO
fight, Waleed reportedly told ring
doctors that the cut on
Thompson’s eye was caused by a
clash of heads.
The fight would have gone to
the judges’ scorecard had Waleed
ruled that the cut was caused by
a head butt.
Thompson, who knocked
Open
From Page 1C
faults — and all manner of
other strokes. The U.S. flag
above the video board at one
end of Arthur Ashe Stadium rippled
so loudly that Safina
turned to glare at it before one
serve.
“I thought, ‘OK, if it’s so
windy, then I’m not going to go
Rankin-Anderson
Awards announced
The Rankin-Anderson Summer
League recently handed out its
awards.
MVP: John Salmons
MVP Runnerups: Anthony
Frazier
Mr. Offense: Hakim Warrick
Mr. Defense: Jeff Myers
Playmaker of the Summer:
Kyle Lowry, Rashid Bey
Coach of the Summer: Donnie
Carr
GM Award: Littel Vaughn
Most Improved Player: Ryan
Presson
Senior Player of the Summer:
Bo Kimble
Sportsmanship: Joe Parham
Leadership: Alvin Williams
NBA Players: Louis Williams,
Hakim Warrick, John
because they feel it benefits the
players more than it does the
owners. Players currently
receive 60 percent of the
league’s gross revenues, which
includes profits made from
licensing, entities such as the
NFL Network and NFL.com.
In a recent article on
Forbes.com, Andrew Brandt, a
former vice president and salary
cap manager with the Green
Bay Packers, said that the new
NFLPA executive director would
have to be willing to reduce the
amount of revenue the players
currently receive, but would
have to get something in return
to satisfy the players.
“It could be fewer years of
service for free agency, or more
guaranteed money, among other
possibilities,” Brandt told
Forbes.com.
Last March, the league issued
his Pro Bowl form under the leadership
of new offensive coordinator
Al Saunders. An assistant
under Dick Vermeil during “The
Greatest Show on Turf” years,
Saunders is trying to re-energize
an offense that ranked 24th and
averaged just 16 points last year.
Running back Steven Jackson
and wide receiver Torry Holt are
legitimate weapons, giving
Saunders key pieces to build
around.
“I can’t go out and think I have
to win every game,” Bulger said.
“It’s a matter of Steven and our
playmakers making the plays for
us. Getting the ball in their hand
Arvin down twice in the third
round, was leading on all three
judges scorecard by scores of 57-
55, 58-54 and 59-53.
Dunkin said neither the commission
nor the referee took control
of the situation because they
were given erroneous information
from an IBO official who was
at ringside.
“The (D.C.) Commission is a
fair commission,” Dunkin said.
“Everything came down on them
very fast. They don’t do lots of
shows. This even happens in
Nevada, New York, New Jersey
and Texas in places where they
do lots of shows. Things happen
and they had all of this thrown
on them and I think they’re going
to do the right and the fair thing.”
Thompson expects his eye to
be fully healed over the next
month to about five weeks and
plans to be back in the ring. He
said he realizes that there are
things he can’t control, but he’s
happy that he has his family to
support him through all the trials
and tribulations of trying to
get a world title belt.
“It’s my spiritual foundation,”
said Thompson, a Hebrew
Israelite. “I mean I have lost kids,
for so many winners,” said
Williams, who didn’t produce
her first winning forehand until
the match was 30 minutes old.
Like Williams, Jankovic
began poorly in the semifinals
before eliminating Olympic gold
medalist Elena Dementieva 6-4,
6-4. It will be Williams’ 12th
Grand Slam final, and
Jankovic’s first, and in addition
to the silver trophy at stake, the
winner will rise to No. 1 in the
Salmons, Kyle Lowry, Mardy
Collins, Sean Singletary
Lincoln University
honors 1960 team
Lincoln University made a big
splash last week when its football
defeated George Mason, 34-7 at
Avon Grove High School in West
Grove. The Lions played their first
game since 1960. Speaking of that
year, Lincoln had the team roster
in its media packet. Here are list of
names that were on the team that
year: Horace Judson, Fort
Lauderdale, Fla.; James
Montgomery, Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.; Charles Woodard,
Portsmouth, Va.; Tyrone Hayden,
Philadelphia; David White,
Oxford; Lawrence Mayo,
Coatesville; Michael
a statement stating: “The current
labor agreement (CBA) does
not adequately recognize the
costs of generating the revenues
of which the players receive the
largest share; nor does the
agreement recognize that those
costs have increased substantially
— and at an ever increasing
rate — in recent years during
a difficult economic climate
in our country.”
At the owner’s meetings back
in March, Goddell said the owners
offered to give the players
union more data on why they
felt the current CBA was unfair
to the owners.
“We offered to show them
more data and they attached a
number of conditions to that
that we found were unreasonable.
We are willing to make a
case of why the deal isn’t working
for us, but it has to be done
and putting us in good run situations
with a lot of different checks
to runs, just checking the ball
down when I have to and being
consistent, that’s the most important
thing. I can’t be up and
down.”
On the defensive side for St.
Louis, rookie defensive end Chris
Long gets his first crack at chasing
quarterbacks in the NFL.
Long, the son of Hall of Famer
Howie Long, enters with high
expectations after being chosen
with the second overall pick in the
draft.
“It appears that he’s going to be
an excellent player,” Mornhinweg
how much more can I lose by losing
a fight. Not to say that it’s not
devastating and it doesn’t hurt
me, it’s me knowing that I have
my family, my brother, my kids.
“After awhile, the money
becomes secondary when you
see your kid running around
healthy and strong.”
Thompson said he has no
interest in fighting Arvin again
and is looking for bigger and better
fights.
Dunkin said he expects
Thompson to be a world champion
in the very near future and is
looking to put him in a position
where he’s fighting better fighters
so he can move up the ladder in
the boxing rankings.
“Anthony is a world-class
fighter and he’s going to be
champion of the world. He’s had
a couple bad breaks,” Dunkin
said. “We’re not going to change
anything. He won the fight and
we’re going to go forward after it’s
taken care of. We’re going to
move forward in the rankings.
I’m going to position in a place
where I want him to be. That may
be with an IBO championship. It
might also be with a world championship.
It could be with one of
the other organizations.”
rankings next week.
The final is scheduled for
Saturday night, but forecasts
calling for rain much of the day
prompted tournament organizers
to announce contingency
plans that could include postponing
the match until Sunday.
“I’m going to try my best and
that’s all I care about,”
Jankovic said, “even if it’s
tomorrow or next day or in a
week.” — (AP)
Winningham, Bordentown, N.J.;
Thomas Moore, Fort Lauderdale,
Fla.; William King, Newark, N.J.;
Leslie Mack, Philadelphia;
Charles Gibson, Syracuse, N.Y.;
Lenard Lockley, Sringfield, Mass.;
William Lawrence, Jersey City,
N.J.; Philip Morris, West Chester;
Joffie Pittman, Philadelphia;
Donald Beaman, Whitesboro,
N.J.; Robert Boyd, Phoenixville;
Maceo Felton, Syracuse, N.Y.;
Lewis Tull, Woodbury, N.J.;
Clifford Saunders, Whitesboro,
N.J.; Dennis Hughes, Rankin, Pa.;
James Donaldson, Madison, Fla.;
James Grimes, York, Pa.;
Leonard Ethel, Rochester, N.Y.;
Allen Barnes, Reading, Pa.;
Howard Shelton, Washington,
D.C.; Richard Lovelace, Atlanta,
Ga. and Ronald Lawrence, Jersey
City, N.J.
— Compiled by The Associated
Press
properly,” Goddell said.
The problem that Upshaw
and the players union have
always had with that notion is
that the owners haven’t presented
enough evidence to show that
they are undergoing financial
hardship.
“I don’t know how they get to
where they are,” Upshaw said
back in March. “That’s their
problem.”
In a teleconference last
March, Upshaw said the players
union has financially contributed
to the building of the
Dallas Cowboys new stadium as
well as the New York Jets and
Giants new stadium. He also
pointed out that the union had
approved to commit funding to
help with renovations to
Baltimore’s M&T Bank and
Carolina’s Bank of America
Stadium.
said. “He’s got just a high motor
and hustle. He has natural skill
and ability, so we’re going to have
to take care of him.”
Long has a tough assignment
in his first game going against
three-time Pro Bowl tackle Tra
Thomas, who has been protecting
McNabb’s blindside for 10
years.
“The great thing about Chris
is he’s willing to work and do the
extra things it takes to be great
and he just has that kind of attitude
that he’s not going to allow
himself to fail,” Rams coach
Scott Linehan said. — (AP)