LOCAL
College roundup
*GREENVILLE, Pa. — Thiel College junior place kicker-punter Sammy Koyl was named Presidents' Athletic Conference special teams player of the week.
Koyl punted twice for a 65.5-yard average, including a school-record 67-yarder, and added a 26-yard field goal in the Tomcats' 27-23 loss Saturday to Washington & Jefferson.
*SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Slippery Rock goalie Brandon McQuillen was named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's soccer athlete of the week.
McQuillen, a sophomore, recorded one save in 70 minutes in a 3-0 win over Kutztown and had five saves in a 1-0 victory over California (Pa.)
REGION
New policies at The Q
CLEVELAND — Quicken Loans Arena, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, said Monday it has banned smoking throughout the building.
The 20,000-seat facility had allowed smoking in portions of a restaurant and a bar.
"This was something we looked at closely and decided was the right thing for us to do," said Mark Stornes, chief executive officer of the Cleveland arena commonly known as The Q.
The arena is relegating smokers to four designated areas outside, which will have TVs so smokers can keep track of all the action going on indoors.
"We feel this policy will make the event experience more enjoyable for the vast majority of our customers," Stornes said.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have introduced a service called Flash Seats that allows some ticket holders to enter by swiping a credit card or driver's license that is electronically encoded instead of carrying a printed ticket.
Each entrance to the arena will have one Flash Seats gate with a hand-held device that prints a receipt with the customer's seat number.
The Cavaliers said they are the first NBA team to introduce the technology.
Toledo player
collapses, dies
TOLEDO — Haris Charalambous, a junior basketball center at Toledo, collapsed during conditioning practice Monday and died, the school said.
Trainers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the basketball player until paramedics arrived. Charalambous, 21, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, said university spokesman Lawrence Burns.
The cause of death was not immediately known.
"This has been a shock to our entire athletic program and university," Burns said.
Charalambous, of Manchester, England, was expected to be a backup center this season.
He played 23 games last season, averaging less than a point per game.
NATION
Patterson named
Trail Blazers GM
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers removed the interim tag from general manager Steve Patterson's title Monday.
Patterson also has been the team president since 2003.
He will perform both jobs "for the foreseeable future," according to an item on the team's Web site.
Patterson took over the general manager duties after John Nash was fired in late May.
Nash spent three seasons as general manager, a time of rapid decline for the once-proud franchise.
The Trail Blazers finished 21-61 last season and lost 19 of their final 20 games.
Wasting little time revamping the roster, Patterson swung a half-dozen deals on draft day.
By the end of the evening, the team added four first-round picks — including lottery selections LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas and Brandon Roy of Washington — and along with veterans Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau.
Center Joel Przybilla re-signed with the team in July, agreeing to a five-year, $32 million deal.
Later in the month, center Jamaal Magloire came over from Milwaukee in a trade for Steve Blake, Brian Skinner and Ha Seung-Jin.
Also Monday, the team elevated Kevin Pritchard from director of player personnel to assistant general manager. Pritchard had been considered a front-runner for the GM job.
Phil Jackson
returns to Lakers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson attended a scrimmage and a good portion of his team's practice the past two days, and made his presence felt at Monday's basketball workout.
Jackson, who had right hip replacement surgery last Tuesday, jumped right in at practice and demanded his players run a part of the offense assistant coach Kurt Rambis was holding back.
There is no timetable for Jackson's return on a full-time basis, although he said the day before his surgery he expects to be on the bench Oct. 31 when the Lakers open the season against the Phoenix Suns.
Jackson won't be with the Lakers tonight when they play Utah in Fresno to begin the exhibition season.
Vindicator staff/wire reports
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
LOCAL
College roundup
*GREENVILLE, Pa. — Thiel College junior place kicker-punter Sammy Koyl was named Presidents' Athletic Conference special teams player of the week.
Koyl punted twice for a 65.5-yard average, including a school-record 67-yarder, and added a 26-yard field goal in the Tomcats' 27-23 loss Saturday to Washington & Jefferson.
*SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Slippery Rock goalie Brandon McQuillen was named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference men's soccer athlete of the week.
McQuillen, a sophomore, recorded one save in 70 minutes in a 3-0 win over Kutztown and had five saves in a 1-0 victory over California (Pa.)
REGION
New policies at The Q
CLEVELAND — Quicken Loans Arena, home of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, said Monday it has banned smoking throughout the building.
The 20,000-seat facility had allowed smoking in portions of a restaurant and a bar.
"This was something we looked at closely and decided was the right thing for us to do," said Mark Stornes, chief executive officer of the Cleveland arena commonly known as The Q.
The arena is relegating smokers to four designated areas outside, which will have TVs so smokers can keep track of all the action going on indoors.
"We feel this policy will make the event experience more enjoyable for the vast majority of our customers," Stornes said.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have introduced a service called Flash Seats that allows some ticket holders to enter by swiping a credit card or driver's license that is electronically encoded instead of carrying a printed ticket.
Each entrance to the arena will have one Flash Seats gate with a hand-held device that prints a receipt with the customer's seat number.
The Cavaliers said they are the first NBA team to introduce the technology.
Toledo player
collapses, dies
TOLEDO — Haris Charalambous, a junior basketball center at Toledo, collapsed during conditioning practice Monday and died, the school said.
Trainers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the basketball player until paramedics arrived. Charalambous, 21, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, said university spokesman Lawrence Burns.
The cause of death was not immediately known.
"This has been a shock to our entire athletic program and university," Burns said.
Charalambous, of Manchester, England, was expected to be a backup center this season.
He played 23 games last season, averaging less than a point per game.
NATION
Patterson named
Trail Blazers GM
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers removed the interim tag from general manager Steve Patterson's title Monday.
Patterson also has been the team president since 2003.
He will perform both jobs "for the foreseeable future," according to an item on the team's Web site.
Patterson took over the general manager duties after John Nash was fired in late May.
Nash spent three seasons as general manager, a time of rapid decline for the once-proud franchise.
The Trail Blazers finished 21-61 last season and lost 19 of their final 20 games.
Wasting little time revamping the roster, Patterson swung a half-dozen deals on draft day.
By the end of the evening, the team added four first-round picks — including lottery selections LaMarcus Aldridge of Texas and Brandon Roy of Washington — and along with veterans Raef LaFrentz and Dan Dickau.
Center Joel Przybilla re-signed with the team in July, agreeing to a five-year, $32 million deal.
Later in the month, center Jamaal Magloire came over from Milwaukee in a trade for Steve Blake, Brian Skinner and Ha Seung-Jin.
Also Monday, the team elevated Kevin Pritchard from director of player personnel to assistant general manager. Pritchard had been considered a front-runner for the GM job.
Phil Jackson
returns to Lakers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson attended a scrimmage and a good portion of his team's practice the past two days, and made his presence felt at Monday's basketball workout.
Jackson, who had right hip replacement surgery last Tuesday, jumped right in at practice and demanded his players run a part of the offense assistant coach Kurt Rambis was holding back.
There is no timetable for Jackson's return on a full-time basis, although he said the day before his surgery he expects to be on the bench Oct. 31 when the Lakers open the season against the Phoenix Suns.
Jackson won't be with the Lakers tonight when they play Utah in Fresno to begin the exhibition season.
Vindicator staff/wire reports
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Thiel College junior place kicker-punter Sammy Koyl was named Presidents' Athletic Conference special teams player of...
