European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 36 the stars and stripes sports wednesday May 18,1994 George Vecsey this is no world wrestling federation morality play As scripted by wrestling a giant sized fan Horace Grant. This is not the Good Guys and the bad Guys. T his is the kicks suddenly extremely vulnerable. A a a a. \ a a a when the brawlers went Back to work in Chicago sunday the kicks paid the Price for Derek harpers having thrown a highly visible punch at Jojo English on Friday night. The kicks opened with a 12-0 Lead and then seemed to remember their starting Point guard had been sus bonded Tor two games and after that the bulls performed such a one sided Home court 95-83 Romp that you could have thought it was a Standard plot a. In fact the kicks must _ play without Harper again. Wednesday night in the Charles Smith memorial can to get it Over the rim Nightmare fifth game. The kicks have Only one Way to go. They cannot go the pugnacious physical route because suddenly the whole world is watching. So now they have to go the intelligent think on your feet route that tends to elude them. Who Ever would have thought Jojo English could go Down in the not Ahvay joyous history of Madison Square. Garden a a a. / the kicks have stuck out their chests and advanced to the second round in All three rounds of the Pat Riley regime. But now throwing elbows and checks Are out of fashion. It was up to Greg Anthony to get the Ball to Patrick Ewing on sunday and he do it. Ewing seemed to be playing the last three quarters with a resigned Smirk that made you remember that Anthony is not among Ewing Stop 10 team mates without blaming anybody Ewing said a this commentary series should be Over by but what docs bar Mony mean anyway Scottie Pippen play with Toni Kukoc Friday night but on sunday Pippen and Kukoc out smoothed the kicks and everybody made Nice. A a. A a. / of Well Grant the Power Forward for the battling bulls who has great respect for a certain wrestler named the undertaker did extend one funereal stare at Charles Smith late in the game but that was mostly for show. It seemed that the lads had been temporarily sobered by a number of them having been fined a Days meal Money a $2,500 a a for leaving their benches to join in fridays Melee. / but there is a broader problem in the Aba a the National belligerence association that is. A number of players have been out of control in recent weeks. Some of americans most beloved millionaire heroes took their tag team match into the stands Friday night grappling and shoving amidst Little children and old ladies and one distinguished gent who identified himself As David Stern commissioner of the National Bellico sity association Stern has watched the league outlive other odious reputations for widespread drug abuse and witless offensive forays. People All Over the world Are now getting worked up about pro basketball As something of an Art form for goodness Sakcs. This Giddy Era could be destroyed by our current lot of highly paid bully boys emulating the. World wrestling federation. A. A Quot it a Grant happens to be an expert on this stuff. In the current edition of slam a Magazine dedicated to the slam dunkers of America he talks of his respect for Ero wrestlers. But does that mean the whole league As to imitate them Danny Ainge whose professional nickname could be Killa Vanilla fired a basketball into the face of Mario Elie from Point Blank Range in the closing seconds of saturday s game. Grant Long soon to be titled the Coconut Grove Strangler in his triumphant summer tour wrapped his hands around the Windpipe of an opponent who was As the saying goes dissing him. Dennis Rodman performed so much dirty under Cutter Fig of opponents that his theme song in the Whf could be a yellow and Harper not Only punched English but he also May have punched his Way right off the a Nicks. Roster next season once Doc Rivers is healthy. A you always see things better from the stands a Rivers said on sunday. A there Are no secrets. We re not getting the Ball to Patrick. In be been in the league 11 years and my theory is you get the Ball to your Best player. A then a Rivers joked with great timing a you can blame \ he Wasny to blaming anybody. But it is Clear the kicks have lived by the muscle and now May perish by the fist. Is there anything broader going on 1 cannot find any deep sociological explanation for basketball players during it out and baseball hitters charging the Mound when a Pitcher throws at them. Are athletes reflecting the Rise in violence in society have they been watching too Many saturday morning cartoons for kids Are they eating too much sugar i done to know. Basically we have Over paid and Over publicized giants on an ego trip. Half of them Are bored and want to be something else Shaquille of Neal has never won a Post season playoff game and he wants to be a rap musician. Grant admits the Beefy Dock Wallo pers of the Whf could Hurt him in their Normal choreographed routines. Grant should inform his tall buddies that basketball is too spontaneous for these kind of shenanigans. This May come As a Surprise to them but somebody could get Hurt. The kicks Are already hurting. The new Yorac times Maple Leafs top canucks in overtime Toronto a Peter Zezel habitually gives the Toronto Maple Leafs a Workmanlike Effort. Monday night he also gave them key goals ,.v a a a Zezel scored twice including the Winner 16 55 into overtime giving the Maple Leafs a 32 win Over the Vancouver Ca nil playoffs Martin Gelinas gets put in a squeeze by Toronto a Felix Potvin left and Jamie Macoun in first period of monday nights game. Sucks in the opening game of the nil Western conference final. A any goals that line gets Are Gravy on the potatoes a said Maple Leafs coach Pat Burns referring to the Zezel Bill Berg Mark Osborne Trio a it takes some of the pressure off our other the goals were the first two of the playoffs for Zezel who usually is known for his rugged defensive play on Toronto a checking line. Dave Andreychuk had the other Toronto goal. Trevor Linden and Dave Babych scored for Vancouver which Hopes to even the Best-of-7 series in game 2 wednesday night at Maple Leaf gardens. The canucks came within inches of winning the opener. Sergio Somesso lifted a shot off the crossbar in the seventh minute of overtime and Leafs goaltender Felix Potvin stopped Pavel Bure on a breakaway on the next Vancouver Rush. A we were hard on Bure All night and maybe he was thinking about getting hit rather than concentrating on scoring a goal a Leafs defens Eman Jamie Macoun said. Zezel ended it by banking a shot off the inside of a goalpost into a vacant net
