The Daily Times from Salisbury, Maryland • 28

Saturday, December 25, 2004 THE DAILY TIMES 28 www.DelmarvaNow.eom NBA: Beyond brawl, league has new version of 'Bad Boys' OATES: Former Orioles and Rangers manager dies at 58 NBA, From Page 25 turned their backs on the NBA. Ratings for Game 5 of the NBA Finals was the second-highest since 1998, and the entire series drew its highest ratings in three years. According to Forbes magazine's annual valuation of the league, the average franchise is now worth $302 million, a 14 percent increase from the previous year. Forbes also said teams made an average of $4.4 million on licensing in 2003, up 20 percent. "There probably are still some people holding out, saying, 'I remember sports when people played for the glory of sport But most people are sophisticated to understand why it's the business that it is," said Ken Shropshire, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who specializes in sports business.

There is still plenty about the league that's good, too. No other pro sport is as accessible, with fans seated right at court-side and no hats or helmets to obscure players' faces. LeBron James has more than lived up to his considerable hype on and off the court And on the same day the Pistons and Pacers were fighting with fans, New Jersey's Richard Jefferson offered to replace a 5-year-old girl's wheelchair after he learned it had been destroyed during a school field trip. "You just can't condemn the other guys. You can't say, 'Hey, you knucklehead, I don't want to deal with you," Davis said.

"You have to pull them aside and say, 'There were guys before you who worked real hard so you can be in the position you're in today. Don't let them down by making bad decisions, whether it's on the court or off the gun on Michael Olowokandi last month to get him to leave an Indianapolis bar. Carmelo Anthony has been in a bar fight, charged briefly with drug possession after a friend's marijuana was found in his backpack and seen on a homemade DVD with a man who warns that people who tip police about drug deals "get a hole in their head" and that's just since September. Latrell Sprewell said Tve got my family to feed" when he demanded the Minnesota Timbewolves extend the contract that pays him $14.6 million this year, then got suspended for yelling a sexual vulgarity at a female fan. A week after signing a six-year, $84 million contract extension with Portland, Zach Randolph had to find his 6wn way to a game in Toronto because his alarm clock didn't go off and he missed the team flight.

And, of course, there's the brawl. Ron Artest, last year's defensive player of the year, has been suspended for the rest cf the season after charging into the stands in Detroit and punching a fan, and eight other players got suspensions ranging from eight to 30 games. Five Indiana Pacers are facing charges, and the civil lawsuits are already starting. "Any professional sport has a problem to some degree when an Incident like this takes place," San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "The salaries that professional athletes make can be a problem if players aren't aware of what that responsibility might be, what comes along with that contract.

Some players understand it, some teams understand it, some don't "But to make a broad stroke, The NBA or this sport or those players have a I think, Is dangerous." Even if fans are grumbling, they haven't Like everything else in society, the NBA goes through cycles. This latest one seems to be driven, largely, by the influx of younger players. The average age in the league has dropped by almost a year, down from 27.82 in 1998 to 27.028 this year. More and more kids are jumping straight -from high school to the pros a record eight were taken in last summer's draft, all in the first round and those who do go to college rarely stay all four years. a Many of the youngsters coming into the lack fundamentals, making their first few years an on-the-job training program.

Some never learned the life lessons necessary for the adult world, either, put on pedestals at increasingly young ages. Couple that with the huge salaries players get these days and there can be problems. Teenagers who had to ask their par-, ents for spending money only a year or two ago are suddenly millionaires carrying $100 bills for pocket change. Tricked-out SUVs are a given, and some players sport more bling than Jennifer Lopez. "I really do think that the perception from the fans is that players are selfish, that the only thing that matters is the money because the money has gotten so big and the players don't really respect or care about the fans," said Chicago Bulls manager John Paxson, who won three NBA titles as a player.

don't think that's necessarily the real-; ity, but as they say, perception is reality." The personal antics don't help. Kobe Bryant no longer faces criminal charges, but he's still being sued by a woman who "claims he raped her. Police had to use a stun them, I could block any pitches," Oates said. In a statement, Orioles owner Peter Angelos said, "Johnny Oates was a true gentleman. He faced his disease the way he lived his life, with class and dignity." After the Orioles, he played with Atlanta, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and the New York Yan: kees.

"I still don't know how I got to the big leagues because I wasn't that good," he said, chuckling, in the 2003 interview. "I was a slap hitter. I kept my mouth shut I did. I kept my mouth shut. I couldn't throw.

I couldn't throw a lick." For his career, Oates hit .250 with 14 home runs and 126 runs batted in, numbers nearly matched in one season by Ivan Rodriguez Oates' catcher with the Rangers. Following his retirement from the Yankees in 1981, Oates managed the Yankees' Double-A Southern League team, winning the championship in his first season. Among his players that year was Showalter. As part of a Rangers Hall of Fame ceremony in August 2003, Showalter dedicated the manager's office in Arlington with a plaque honoring Oates. "That will always be Johnny's office.

We're just renting it and passing through," Showalter said Friday. "The definition of man and manager, Johnny's picture will be next to it." 4, OATES, From Page 25 when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor. The tumor was removed in surgery in November 2001, and a device that delivered time-released chemotherapy was implanted. But the tumor returned in April 2003. Throughout his illness, Oates remained an upbeat and deeply spiritual man, thankful for the warning that he would likely die from the disease, but celebrating' the chance to be with his wife, Gloria, of nearly 40 years, their three children and grandchildren.

"When you look at it, it's a blessing," he said in a March 2003 interview. "It is a sad day, but a happy day," Showalter said. "Johnny is in a better place. Gloria said one of their prayers was that he would be in Heaven before Christmas. I bet there will be a heck of a baseball game up there tomorrow no, the day after tomorrow, it will take John time to get organized." Oates and his wife began each morning studying the Bible in the sunroom of their home on Lake Chesdin, about 30 miles from Richmond, and were active in their church.

Oates also attended local baseball games periodically, but increasingly needed help to get there after the brain surgery slowly caused the left side of his body to become lame. "I don't miss baseball one single bit. I enjoy talking about it, but I know I can't do it anymore. I like to watch it on TV," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "I miss the people.

I don't miss the stress that went with it, all the decision-making. But now I enjoy being here. I enjoy being lazy." Oates, a left-handed hitting catcher, played for five teams in his major league career, starting with the Orioles in 1970. It was there that he encountered Cal Ripken and he later credited Ripken with helping turn him into a big-league player. When he was just starting out, Oates recalled days when Ripken stood on the pitcher's mound with a bucket of balls and a fungo bat, hitting one-hoppers at him.

"He said if I could block EXPOS: Packing up leaves an empty feeling in Montreal exclamation point on his back. Enormously popular with children, Youpii nonetheless will be stripped of the team's logos, which will remain property of the franchise once his rights are transferred. For the time being, Youpii! and Dodgers closer Eric Gagne, a Montreal native who grew up within blocks of the stadium, likely will remain the biggest links between baseball and the city that allowed Jackie Robinson to break the game's color barrier with the minor-league Royals in 1946. While she doesn't see baseball returning to Montreal any time soon, Giroux wouldn't rule out the possibility much farther down the road. "It's a big market," Giroux said.

"You never know." breaking into resigned laughter. "I don't have any hard feelings. It's been a great ride. The only thing I regret is that we didn't have the downtown stadium. That would have been a big asset for the city." Condominiums are' under construction on the site Just south of the Bell Centre, where the failed stadium project would have been built.

The only championship In the Expos 36-year history was the 1981 NL East title, when Montreal won a playoff against Philadelphia after finishing first in the division during the second half of the strike-shortened season. The team's mascot a fuzzy orange Muppet-inspired character named will remain in Quebec with his trademark "I don't think I've had the opportunity to really reflect and say, 'Wow, this is finished. It's time to turn the Delorme said. "It's probably going to happen in the next two weeks, during the Christmas holidays." Media relations and services director Monique Giroux finished up work in her empty office Wednesday after sending out the Expos' last official press release, which indicated how the team's artifacts were being distributed among various caretaker institutions. An original employee who Joined the expansion franchise in November 1968, Giroux was in good spirits despite the bleak environment.

"It's just like any other thing, it's the end of an era thank you, goodbye," Giroux said, EXPOS, From Page 25 The worst part of the job for Delorme was whittling down the staff. No one was surprised by the move, though the shock was significant after years of rumors. "The human factor was definitely by far the biggest issue I had to deal with," Delorme said. "I really thought that we were all prepared mentally for this, but when it happened it Was a lot more severe than we probably all anticipated. It was a family setting here and it was very emotional." The Expos' remaining skeleton staff Is down to 10 people.

This Wednesday, the club set up card tables for a farewell lunch as several more long-serving employees worked their final day Get your DIAL SPORTS information faster! Select from the options below at any point In the menu, then choose from the selection of active sports. Press 1 for scores Press 2 for game previews and summaries Press 3 for Injury reports Press 4 for odds Press 5 for the latest sport news Return to the main menu at any time just press the key twice. Dial Sports'" SPORTS UPDATES AT YOUR FINGERTIPS 1-900-737-7676 Only 76 unit tm mmult Toucti-tone pro, raquind SMi vib on tW 2oo mm, i "We are Professional Grade" (hkf CJiri EC'IM NcgotiaHon Free Price $42,081 Ct WlVlL VblllLLLJ II" UlUUv fd If you don't see your choice of color or model, a pease as( a sales consultant. We have over 1 00 2005 GMC YUKON XL" 4WD 2005 GMC SIERRA OVER VER vehicles site, or well find it for you. $8,400 SAVINGS $3,000 SAVINGS 7 i- ii Pucl.

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