The News Tribune from Tacoma, Washington • 25

--r st'v NBAC3 Weather C8 A Inside: NFL MEETINGS League officials looking for ways to limit off-field distractions C7 SPORTS THE NEWS TRIBUNE Boom or bn VV 0 Winslow TownsonThe Askmmed Paess call or merely a destructive distraction wwwtribnctcomsports wondering If the incident will serve as a wake-up between be positive play tonight and Gary are back on the same page like a relationship and a marriage you go through your upa and downs Onoe you get back on the same page making up is Tb prove the point that those three considered the incident histoiy Grant said they shared drinks at the Seattle restaurant following loss to SanAntonio was a little frustrated to be honest Grant said knew it and the guys knew it But over Fm just very fortunate that I just missed one game This is not like a careerending injury I think we all learned from the WEDNESDAY MARCH 29 2000 Izzo just part of the team Coach of Michigan State endears himself to players with democratic style Bv Pmn Domwnca Phcladciphia Daily News When the Michigan State Spartans needed a halftime butt-kicking last Thursday after foiling behind Syracuse by 10 points in their Midwest Regional semifinal point guard Mateen Cleaves supplied it not coach Tbm Izzo Cleaves beat Izzo to the locker room and gave his teammates a profan-ity-laced tongue-lashing that would have made Dallas Green proud I walked in Mateen was finishing Izzo said did a heckuva jab of talking to than I went in and just picked up the 1 When the Spartans needed a surefire scoring play late in the game to put away Iowa State in regional final forward Morris Peterson came up with it not Izzo Pe-teraan was the one who suggested the alley-ooppass (Cleaves) and jam (Peterson) that squashed the spirits and gave Michigan State a three-point lead with 2:04 left called our screen and re screen Izzo said had talked about it that morning in practice During the timeout Morris said tfautxr Fbul FswC6 The Final Four at Indianapolis Saturday Wisconsin (22-13) vs Michigan State (30-7) 11:42 am Ch 7 North Carolina (22-13) vs Florida (287) 30 mina alter Game 1 CL7 Sunday Championship 3:18 pmQL7 Some stuff is meant to be oursi By I Chicago Tribune Herek an idea Maybe we can let the Japanese run their season opening sumo tournament at the United Center The place ia going to be empty in about a month and it is familiar with large men going splat As a gesture of global goodwill the least we can do is invite the Hiroshima Carp and the Chunichi Dragons to ru open their hnanhnll eoninWKgky Reid SO 2000 SPEMES days the Mets and Cuba would have been using the bellpaik Never been mudi interest around here in a Mets-Cube series not like in Tbkyo Tb paraphrase the commissioner Bud (Jet Lag) Selig the internationalization of baseball has begun Sane things are oura Some things are not fix Some things are not reckless whims of galloping idiots Opening Day is one of them right near the top along with the 4th of July and the Sopranos Should we run the Kentucky Derby in Dubai just because somdbody might pay for it? Maybe we can play Game 7 of the Stanley Cup in' Prague where there is a good chance half the players live anyhow The second greatest unofficial hol- Pbrargy C3 Sunday's fight in practice between Vernon Maxwell left and Gary Payton has observers 4 History shows blowup Payton Maxwell could Peth HaleyThe News Tnbune mzm- afternoon's practice the result of which was Horace Grant getting hit by a weight that Maxwell waa wielding aa Grant tried to step between the two combustible personalities By all accounts Pay-ton Maxwell and Grant have forgotten and for- given you go through a thing like Gary and Max went through it is over the next day" said Grant Tomr NY Knicks at Sonics 7 pjn KONGTV 850AM 950AM who practiced Tuesday and is expected to Funk Husks The News Tribune I Seattle SuperSoniea point guard Gary Payton and Vernon Maxwell stood together at the free-throw line and joked smiling like old buddies Center Horace Grant stood down by the Baseline doing aome sort of Angus Young-guitar dance move Everything seemed normal at the practice Tuesday afternoon 'Of course below the surface of those relationships and on the tip of the tongues were questions about the alterca- tei Payton and Maxwell got into at Sunday How the Sonics turn Dee 29 On a flvegame losing streak Westphal sits Patterson and Brant terry against Port-land After a dteageemer with Westphal Patterson and Vin Baker wak out of the shootaround the next morning They lost the game and the next apkist Sacramento then won nine of 10l Jan 23 -Payton and Horace Grant question the effort and heart of Baker after a 94-77 toes to Toronto Baker finishes with 11 points and six rebounds Ihe coming when he takes a lOfoot fadeaway jumper over 5-foot3 Muggsy Bogies They bet five of the next eijjt games Walker Ray Westphal: Bench Sonics coach Paul Westphal reportedly wanted to suspend Payton and MaxweB following thefr altercation Sunday but general manager Wally WSIker convinced him otherwise Of course while Grant compares it to marriage moat loving relationships involve the type of violence that Payton and Maxwell exhibited Plrair Seeks C3 March 26 Grant attempts to break up a figt between Payton and Maxwel during practice but Injures his shoulder when Maxwel accidentally hits him with a Spound wejgiL The injury keeps Grant out of Ihe Sonics' 9082 loss to San Antonio Seattle's fourth consecutive loss aome Seattle SuperSoniea players deal with their differences thusly? Maybe a better question is: Will people like Gaiy Payton and Vernon Maxwell ever grow up? Here's a couple of millionaires in their 30s -not kids by any means and they get in a scrap at the headquarters that results PImkk MagCS wtjWcai viqra i aimimei Tie New 30-lhe njtftof the WTO rtota Payton says coach Paul Westphal quR on ttw team by benching the starters for the fourth quarter Afterward Payton has a tirade In the hal outside the Sonics' locker room yetttg about WestphaL They lost the game but won the of next seven Now 28 Vernon Maxwell takes exception to Gary pointed Instructions during a timeout against Indiana Teammate Ruben Patterson intervenes but he and Maxwell then nearly come to blows before Chuck Person steps In They won the game time for Pay ton to become a true leader any if this column contains any typon I didn't have time to proofread it i McGrath mig See I thought John McGrath might to Vi DAVE BOLING Newt Tribune columnist in started that my agent on her Isn't that how a leader acts in these parts? Isn't that the way you settle disputes at the office? Isn't that how they do it down at the insurance firm? Over at the pulp mill? Don't disgruntled doctors pick up chairs and chuck them at their colleagues? No? Well then why in the world do you think be stealing one of my story topics ao I up a 5-pound weight and nailed him with it Yeah I didn't think my editor was working my best interests last week either so I screaming and cussing at him so loud everybody within a block could hear Publisher too Gave her an earfoL Gonna ek I-- 7Trw 9' ipJhw bMi fcWw vtnesu Ukrffcsv 'i -teWaaf aa 'iWr'v f-r 1 WVs ft.