Birmingham Post-Herald from Birmingham, Alabama • 41

Wednesday March 8 1995 3 Just the facts F2 Update F2 Baseball F3 Basketball F4 PORTS Birmingham Post-Herald I OLYMPIC Wcgmw Olympic countdown time Local opening ceremonies for Games are 500 days away BBS DAYS By Cket Fussmu PMUfarald Reporter Let the countdown begin for the 1998 Olympic Games Today marks 500 days before the opening ceremonies in Birmingham which will (day host to Olympic men's and soccer matches The ceremonies will take place on July 20 1996 one day after the official ope-r ceremonies for the Games in Atlanta "ears il Jones of the BSOC Much depends on the condition of Legion Field where workers are replacing the the artificial turf with natural grass Officials also are working to convert portion of the Birmingham-Southern campus into an Olympic village far Olympic isoccer athletes and coaches Meanwhile membership in Olympic Soccer Booster Club has surpassed 2000 according to the BSOC The committee will stop selling memberships on March 31 Memberships range from $30-1150 end all booster club members will have the right to purchase Olympic aoccer tickets before they are made available to the general public Tickets for all events to the 1996 Games go on sale to the general public on May 1 Eight 0X01 and three women's soccer matches will be played at Legion Field Olympic officials will unveil a dock today at the Highland A on Highway 21 Each day the sign will be updated to indicate the number of days until the games begin Meanwhile the Birmingham Soccer Organizing Committee for 1996 said it hopes to stage a game this summer between the US national team and one of four opponents in the preliminary stages but working with the USOC on this said Michael Knight is right for Barons And you thought last summer vu wild with Michael Jordan! Can you imagine having Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight around town? The Banns ownership would be wise if Knight and New England Patriots Coach BillParcells end up owning the to nail the chairs to the floor in the press box Otherwise their liability insurance literally could go through the roof Just a small note of advice to Barons President Bill Hardekopf Just leave Knight out of the board room when the final papers are signed Can you imagine Knight sitting across the table with the owners of Suntory from Japan? What if there is an argument or last-minute dispute Wifi Knight scream out Tara Tors?" Will he start making A-Bomb Jokes? Will he hum Randy Newman's hit song People" during the signing ceremonies? With Robert Montgomery Knight arguably the best and most misunderstood coach in the world there are no guarantees Parcells is a crazy man toa He has been known to rant and rave on the sidelines As further poof he hired Ray Perkins last season Can Karim Shamri-BashaFoit-Herald A sign facing south on the Highland Avonuo overpass on Rod Mountain Expressway wig be unveBed today BUTfD Sharpshooter guns Panthers to Tulsa BSC summary SOME: DwTIwngnanr Southern RECORDS: BSC 30-2 Faulkner 18-14 STAR: BSCi Chris Armstrong scored 22 points inducing live throo-poWers in an eight-minute ISeecond -stretch of the second half KEY STAT: Faufcner sank only 27 percent of its shots in the second half NOTE: Fittwankad BSC has won 27 consecutive games -including last night's automatic bid to the NA1A Tournament NEXT: The NAIA Tournament'! March 14-20 in TutsaOkla i -t a I I 'LjO By Richard Scott Pnt-Bcnld Reporter You can call him cue ball You can call him slick Or you can call him Mr Clean Just remember to call Chris Armstrong when you need a big three-pointer On a team filled with go-to players who have taken turns stepping up in the clutch all season Armstrong took his turn last night He saved 22 points to lead fifth-ranked top-seedea Birmingham-Southern to a 69-59 victory over second-seeded Faulkner in the Southern States Conference Tournament championship game Armstrong a senior long-distance specialist who gave in to an unfortunate caw of premature baldness by having his entire head sank five of his seven three-pointers in an eight-minute 19-second spree in the second half during which BSC (30-2) caught and pawed Faulkner (19-13) for Us 27th consecutive victory got so many different players who do so many different things that you almost have a weapon for whatever type of situation BSC Coach Duane Re-boul said "Tonight it wu opto hit the outside shot they were packing it in on James (Cason) "The only thing bad about this is that got to take that tape to the national tournament and exchange it with the other teams We hoping we could keep Chris a 1 not going to r''" -5 f- 4 k7 i i -J r- 'i i 1 -v- jf Jtr "Ji: i -y if- minds of selection committee members Instead of losing and waiting1 for an at-large bid th4 Panthers simply took care of business last night by winning the automatic bid "This ia an incredible group had an unbelievable year and ail along said this is such a competitive Reboul said "Aa a coach you worry about having won as many games as they have whether be ready or not to play every night "Again tonight waa lust a great exhibition of basketball by our guys I thought Faulkner played a great game but our guys row to the occa- j- it kins along for the negotiations? World Warm could break out On a serious note and it is difficult to be serious at a time like this the possibility of EdgM and Parcells owning the team would be a Doom for the Barons While there is strong evidence Suntory has done a splendid Job over the part few years nobody really knew very much about it But Parcells and Knight would gamer much attention They also would Join a long list of celebrity-type owners in baseball Clancy the best-selling novelist is the Na 2 owner oftne Baltimore Orioles Jim McKay the famed ABC sportscaster also is a minority owner of that dub -NBC sportscaster Bob Costas who has been rumored to be part of the Barons deal owns a piece of the Memphis Chicks In minor league baseball there are few stars to talk about So having a couple of knuckleheads such as Parcells and Knight would make it entertaining Last year with Michael Jordan on the team the dub drew international attention Knight and Parcells would draw some cameras tax Pity the poor manager Can you imagine leaving a pitcher in too long and having to draw the wrath of Knight? Can you imagine Knight patrolling Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and finding a person taking' tickets or working in a concession stand goofing off? have the popcorn and soft drink pec outfield at 6 am While the Barons draw from a wide variety of demographics one of the key groups they try to attract is kids A visit to the Met is billed as good dean fun for the family Can you imagine something going wrong one night and Knight grabbing the public address announcers' microphone and blurting out a sea of obscenities? If Knight enjoyed the tv perhaps we could talk him Into around With the rumors to swirl about Gene lure as UAB's basketball could take his coach i the winter and run the Barons in the summer Muny Bartow the top assistant for the Blazers once wu a grad assistant under Knight Murry could show him the ropes There are all kinds of possibilities I have interviewed Knight several times He can be cb 1" That keep the Panthers from going to the NAIA Tournament from March 14-20 in Tulsa Okla Of course not even low could have prevented that after so many victories and a 12-0 regulareeaaan conference record but the Panthers did not want to leave any doubts in the S' T--( 1 r- v- 1i Armstrong the only BSC layer who pit the job done Pleaw tore to BSC page F4 GateaPHt-Hereld down the court BSC guard Chris Armstrong (22) is chassd by Mark Cain Ash Faulkner has adjusted both on and off court Detours over for Davis i eSSWiUam Gregg Pdinsky After he investigated the circumstances of dismissal thoroughly Alabama accepted the one-time Ppcif-ic-10 Conference Freshman of the Year New York to Arizona to Alabama all for the chance to play basketball It was easier in the old days when Faulkner practically lived in the as Brooklyn's Brownsville Recreation Center is known in the city The BRC ia the only public indoor gym in a city covered with outdoor hoops Over time almost every great or wanna-ie-great basket-talFplayer in New York City shows up at the By Richard Scott Piat-HnM Reporter The Southeastern Conference Tournament The Georgia Dome Television Bright lights and brighter atari with Corliss and bangin' with Rodrick This is where Chris Davis always imagined he would be After a three-year wait and two long detours Davis finally will have his shot at £15 pm CST tomorrow when Auburn the fourth seed in the SEC Western Division plays South Carolina the fifth seed in the East ini i the first round of the SEC CK Vi 3l A rid played The antithesis also can be true John Feinstein who wrote the book "A Season an the Brink" about Knight perhaps said it best once when asked about the Indiana coach a good mood there is no one in the world ma delightful to be By Ray Melkk rti nifiiii fifiwfiw TUSCALOOSA JamalFaulkner come to Tuwaooaa to find inner peace rad tranquility or to ewape from a rocky past All he wanted to do wu play baslwtball and the University of Alabama offered him the chance when few other schools would But there is no denying the difference nearly three years in this Southern college town has made in the 23-year-dd native of Brooklyn NY "He used to be a said his high school coach Bob Oliva of Christ the King in Middle Village NY "He liked to talk But I think he learned at Arizona State that it got him in trouble matured smarter I think been good for him I can tell a Faulkner has packed a kit into hit 23 years from growing np in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood the same area that produced former ime games in which he heavyweight champion Mike Tyson to playing performmcei an with rad against the beat high school basket-when he gets it going ball talent the city at Christ the King to being the center of a recruiting war that ended np with Pittsburgh getting put on probation to a year in a Connecticut prep school before signing with Arizona State ail the way across tlw nation in Tempe Ariz That was where the real trouble started That's where Faulkner became involved in off-court legal problems that led to his dis-missal from achooL "At that point a lot of schools were reluctant to take a chance on Olive said didn't see the whole picture the way it Staff file pinto Chris Davia loft points and 57 for Auburn more consistent but dynamic Ellis some games in which he performances He's an when he gets it high school when he honors as a senior for Oak Hill Academy At Oak Hill Davis All-Americas A a rebounds perj Dan Roundball i up at Auburn a season in six previous when Davis foiled to Junior college transfer to averaging 109 rebounds par ganw "Franklin has been Chris has had more said has had had some outstanding exceptional talent ana i heisso hr he is so bright Tournament at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta "I knew I would be playing against thew Davis said "I played against all the top players in the conference in nigh school I was on the All-America team with them and I played in the Dapper Dan game with them and went to camp with them guys like Gorlin (Williamian or Arkansas) and Rodrick (Rhodes of Kentucky) and all thaw who came out in 91 "Si around because so well-read In a bad mood there is no one worse Just as he sees everything in black-and-white terms he too is black and white Bob Knight never has an average day" 'And we either with him hanging out at the Hoover Met Paul column appears each Monday Wednesday ana Saturday in the Birmingham Post-Herald helawfelly That was obvious in earned All-America perennial national powerhouse in Mouth of Wilaon Va everybody played there "Mike Tyson new up two blocks burn Jamal's house end Jamal lived across the street from the Faulkner knew of the legends who often came back to play at the BRC But he wasn't always sure of the future legends he was play- Faulkner raid "It wu the only place to play indoors Guys would show np and you didni know if they were college players NBA players or what Yoojurt knew they were gooa 3 are some of my best memories of basketball We played all the time with a genuine love for the When Oliva first uw him Faulkner wu a 6-fooM skinny high school sophomore "But he could Oliva said the only player I've had that didn't play freshman or JV (luDiorvanitvl Please tore UFAULKNER page F4 one of five high school i aged 201 pouts and 9 played in tlw Draper 1 rad signed with Kraus of five high school and 93 pper signed i and attention year school and I had to eo to It also might have something to do with the fact that thow players are playing at a higher level than Davia who has had his share of ups and downs this season Even though he averages 109 points and 57 rebounds per game and wadi the team with a 582 shooting percentage Davit a 6-foot-7 junior might not be in the starting lineup if Auburn Cbach Cliff Ellii goes with more consistent Franklin Williams at power forward and taller Pat Burke at center higher of ups and 57 So now did Davia end program with one winning seasons? It all started meet the necessary academic requirements out of high school Please tore to DAVIS page F4 Parcells: 1 Just lova Story page F3 With no one else to turn to Faulkner called Oliva who called Alabama assistant coach 4.