"We don't know Larry, but we can tell he's in trouble. We know 47-year-old men should only party with frat boys in Will Ferrell movies."
ESPN Page 2 columnist Eric Neel on Larry Eustachy
2B • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Inside Sports
WEDNESDAY,MAY7.2003
Jordan's future with Wizards in question
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin wants to do what he believes is right for his team this time, even if that means saying goodbye to Michael Iordan.
At his state-of-the-union speech to Wizards employees last week, Pollin gave a hint of his mind-set heading into a crucial meeting with Jordan today.
Pollin said while he had been always been a "league guy," he was now going to do "what's best for the franchise," according to two team sources familiar with the speech and speaking on condition of anonymity.
Pollin's clear implication was that he would not be swayed by anyone when he made his decision about whether to continue his relationship with Jordan, who had planned to return to the Wizards' front office after his two seasons back on the court.
Jordan
So, it's unclear if Pollin will welcome Jordan back as president of basketball operations next season. He held the job from January 2000 to September 2001, when he announced he would return as a player.
At today's meeting, Jordan will ask for the same authority he had before. Pollin will want to hear Jordan's plans.
"I'm just hoping that Michael and Mr Pollin will be able to sit down together and get this resolved," coach Doug Collins
said, "so we can move forward."
Despite reports of a rift within the franchise, Jordan said again this week that he wanted to return.
"When I came down from the front office to play, I said at that time I wanted to play for two years then resume my duties running the basketball operation," Jordan told The Washington Post. "I always wanted to resume my responsibilities, always."
It's a difficult decision for Pollin, a 79-year-old owner looking for one more title. In the end, he must either turn away the world's most popular basketball personality and start from scratch or give control to someone whose management record is spotty at best.
The meeting comes amid a feeling of general discontent throughout the franchise. Players have been unhappy with lordan and Collins.
Collins criticized players for being disrespectful. Jordan didn't like his teammates' effort. Pollin's sendoff for Jordan at the last home game was tepid, and his statements about the prospects of Jordan staying on have been surprisingly neutral.
The New York Times reported Sunday that unidentified team executives have concerns about Jordan's work ethic as an executive.
Working against Jordan is his record The Wizards are 110-179 over 3 1/2 seasons since he became the top decision-maker — he still essentially ran the team while he was playing. He acquired every player on the current roster except Jahidi White, yet the Wizards just finished 37-45 for a second season.
"If they've got a problem with me, I'd like to hear it from them," Jordan told the Post.
Collins points out that Jordan inherited a salary cap mess.
"I think it's moving in the right direction." said Collins, whose future will be
in doubt if Jordan doesn't return. "For the organization to be in a situation where they'd want to start over, that would be awful. We're too close now."
If Pollin isn't confident in Jordan's ability, he might not like the alternative either. If nothing else, Jordan put the Wizards on the map. If he leaves, the franchise could easily return to its 1990s status as a nondescript perennial loser with no national profile.
Pollin and Jordan will have several questions to resolve. Will Jordan run the team from Washington or Chicago, where he won six championships with the Bulls? Will Jordan ask for say-so over how the team is marketed, infringing on the territory of Pollin loyalist Susan O'Malley? Jordan, Pollin and minority partner Ted Leonis must also discuss the terms for Jordan to buy back a share of the team.
Pollin mentioned Leonsis in two other two key points to his speech last week. He said Leonsis would not be buying the WNBA's Mystics, and that there was no feud between Pollin and Leonsis, according to the sources.
Pollin, Jordan and Leonsis were unavailable for comment yesterday.
Alabama interviews two more coaches
The Associated Press
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Alabama interviewed two more former Crimson Tide players for its coaching vacancy NFL assistants Sylvester Croom and Richard Williamson.
The Birmingham News and Mobile Register reported a decision could come as early as yesterday, but university representative Larry White said no
University president Robert Witt and athletic director Mal Moore interviewed Croom of the Green Bay Packers and Williamson of the Carolina Panthers on Monday, according to newspaper reports. They also reportedly met with Miami Dolphins assistant Mike Shula on Sunday.
announcement was scheduled,and the job hadn't been offered.
The Birmingham News and WKRGTV in Mobile also reported that assistant Kasey Dunn was with Price on April 16 at the bar.
Dunn was out of town recruiting yes
"I don't know where that's coming from," White said. "Those are inaccurate. We certainly are not in any negotiations."
Witt fired Mike Price on Saturday after the 57-year-old coach, already warned about his behavior, spent hundreds of dollars at a Pensacola, Fla. topless bar. A woman reportedly ordered about $1,000 in food from room service sent to his hotel room the following morning.
The 37-year-old Shula is a former Tide quarterback coaching the same position with the Dolphins. Williamson, 62, is a former Tide receiver under Bear Bryant now coaching the Panthers' receivers. Croom, a 49-year-old former All-American center who also played for Bryant, coaches Green Bay's running backs.
terday and did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
Williamson is the only one of the three with head coaching experience. He coached at Memphis from 1975 to 1980 and replaced former Tide coach Ray Perkins as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the final three games of 1990.
Sampras leaves German Open possibly will skip French Open
TENNIS
leaves German Open
HAMBURG, Germany — Pete Sampras pulled out of next week's German Open yesterday, increasing the possibility he will skip his first French Open in 13 years.
German organizers yesterday gave no reason for his withdrawal.
The French Open, the only Grand Slam Sampras hasn't won, starts May 26 in Paris.
He missed the Australian Open in January and has entered several tournaments this year, only to withdraw.
Sampras has not played on tour since the U.S. Open in September, when he won a record 14th Grand Slam singles title.
Sampras is still making up his mind
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about his tennis plans, the ATP said when he withdrew from this week's Italian Open.
The 31-year-old American requested and was granted a wild card for the Wimbledon warmup tournament at Queens Club, which follows the French Open and is the
Sampras
year's first on grass. He was won Wimbledon a record-tying seven times.
Not nearly as strong on clay, Sampras has lost in the French Open's first or second round since 1998. His best result there was the semifinals in 1996.
The Associated Press
Baseball team defeats national champions in game to remember
Friday night was a night that the Kansas baseball team and senior Kevin Wheeler will not forget.
There were two triumphs that night. The first and most obvious is that the Jayhawks defeated National Champion Texas 10-1. Second, Wheeler turned in one of the most gutsy performances in Kansas baseball history. Wheeler had that big night in front of the largest crowd in Kansas history — 2,106 people were on hand to see the dismantling of a champion.
Coaches Ritch Price and Steve Abney asked Wheeler, who came into the season as a player who was played mostly in the outfield, to be a starter for Kansas. The senior from Omaha, Neb, embraced that opportunity and currently has a record of 6-3.
No statistics, however, can explain how impressive Wheeler was on Friday.
The lefthander scattered seven hits and one earned run in pitching his third complete game of the season. The switch-hitting Wheeler also showed he could still handle a bat. Batting from the right side in the fourth inning, Wheeler stroked a 3-run double off the outfield wall.
It was no surprise that after the game, a smile would not leave Wheeler's face. He realized in that moment he was a man among boys.
"I was just trying to stay within myself and do what I am capable of doing," Wheeler said. "This crowd was unbelievable and I had more fun out here tonight than I ever have. This victory means so much more that our crowd was here to see it."
SPORTS COMMENTARY
Daniel Berk
dberk@kansan.com
"This crowd was unbelievable and I had more fun out here tonight than I ever have."
Kevin Wheeler Kansas senior pitcher
was capable of to win. The Jayhawks responded as they had all year, turning two double plays and chasing down every fly ball hit to them.
If people in the stands left not knowing what they had just seen, they saw greatness. They saw a team come together as it had against nationallyranked Louisiana State and beat a team it was not suppose to.
After the game, Price said he wanted to try to get people in Lawrence to realize there were three seasons — football, basketball and now baseball.
Price came in this year and inherited a team that went 22-29 last season and failed to make the conference tournament.
Price knew the talent he had to work with in players such as All-American candidates senior Casey Spanish and junior Ryan Baty.
He also inherited a team with players who wanted to win and would do anything in their power to have a successful season.
What the players got was a coach who believed in them. Before the season started, Price refused to call this season a rebuilding one because he understood what he had on his hands. The team also inherited a coach who did not want to shy away from the best. He embraced them and scheduled games against Louisiana State, Arkansas and Vanderbilt.
Price has a will to win and to do anything to accommodate his players. He is not worried about the number of victories. He is worried about improving his players into better ballplayers and better men.
That was shown Friday when his players proved that they were better ballplayers, and that they could play the game like men.
Berk is a St. Louis freshman in journalism.
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