Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 7 January 2005 — Page 31

CYAN MAGENTA

BLACK Q

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GAME POINTS

Go all or What’s nothing the point

By JOSHUA COHEN By ERICKA P. THOMPSON Staff Writer Staff Writer

This week’s Point is a very questionable issue and I spent some time debating with myself about how to argue it. If you’re on a team that has clinched their playoff spot, and winning or losing will have no effect on your standings, do you play your starters anyway? This is a bigger issue in football than any other sport because of the small amount of games, there’s more of a chance it will mean something to somebody. For example, the Atlanta Falcons sat Michael Vick the last two games of their season. In week 16 they lost to the New Orleans Saints, helping the Saints keep their playoff hopes alive. The next week they lost to Seattle, guaranteeing the Seahawks a first-round home game. Both of these games had importance to them. On the one hand, Michael Vick, the man Atlanta absolutely needs in order to have a chance to win was not in perfect health. I am not angry that they wanted to rest him. However, I think as a player, as an organization you owe it to yourself and the league to play every game you can. Of course there’s always the question, what if Vick played and got hurt? That would be horrible, and would dash any Super Bowl hopes for the Falcons. But when you have a team, whether you’re the coach or the star player or the owner, the purpose of your team is to entertain the fans. Period. If you haven’t won a single championship, but your fans still love the team, then it is successful. I don’t think there are any fans who don’t want a winner, but the point is they are the ones who people are playing for and they deserve the best. Without fans, there are no multi-million dollar contracts. Without fans, you could run 3,000 yards in a season and it wouldn’t matter. So why would you give half effort? If the game wasn’t important, why is it scheduled? If you don’t need to win or lose in week 17, why does week 17 exist? I’ll admit I only partially believe my own argument because if Peyton Manning had played more than one series Sunday and got hurt, that would have been a disservice to the entire league. But what’s also a disservice is he not getting a chance to extend his record. If Manning had 47 TDs on Sunday, would he have played then? Probably so. I don’t agree with this practice, but I understand the reason behind it.

Can you imagine watching the Indianapolis Colts in the playoffs if quarterback Peyton Manning was hurt? Let’s just say it would be highly unlikely that the team would make it out of the Wild Card game. Which is exactly why several coaches throughout the NFL had their most valuable players watching from the sidelines this past Sunday. And I agree with their decision. Manning is having an unbelievable season, a season that he may never have again. So is Colts running back Edgerrin James and receivers Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne and Brandon Stokley. With the Colts securely holding down the No. 3 seed in the AFC there was absolutely no reason for these guys to play 48 minutes of football. I understand that it’s important to keep the momentum going, especially when your team is on a winning streak. You don’t want to lose that fire that has kept you going for 16 games. But seriously, wouldn’t the momentum of any team shift downward in a hurry if the team had to play without their top player, or top five players if they got hurt? For teams like the Colts, Patriots, Eagles, Falcons and Steelers week 17 was meaningless. Each had already wrapped up their division weeks before and was just playing because the game was on the schedule. Why not rest the big guns and give the scrubs a chance to play? God forbid a Manning, Tom Brady, Donovan McNabb or a Mike Vick does go down in a playoff game, but if they do at least the back ups would be a little warmed up. Besides after a season losing only one game, four at the most, I think it’s a good idea to rest your starters anyway. They’re about to enter a war zone of single game elimination and need to be rested and ready to play. How sick would the city of Indianapolis be if Manning had gotten hurt on some freak play in the game against Denver? I can feel my stomach turning just thinking about it.

Good job Tony Dungy.

Tony Dungy

Business • Classifieds Sports

D SECTION FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2005

By ERICKA P. THOMPSON Staff Writer No one will remember that the Detroit Pistons won a NBA championship or the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl. No one will be able to pinpoint how many majors Tiger Woods won, how many strikeouts Pedro Martinez had in the World Series or the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. What everyone throughout the world will remember is that the night of Nov. 19 at the Palace of Auburn Hills, a Detroit suburb, the face of professional basketball was changed forever. Never before had an American sport turned so ugly. There were children that cried on the shoulder of their older sibling, fans tossed chairs, beer, cups and popcorn at basketball players making their way to the locker room and fans and players alike were charged with assault after punching each other in the stands and on the court. The Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons will forever be remembered in this way. However, the Olympics will be remembered as a tradition that went back home to Athens, Greece, and showcased the best athletes in the world. Though the winning tradition of the U.S. men’s basketball team was broken when the men won a bronze medal, the women held on to their winning ways and brought home the gold, including Indiana Fever all-star Tamika Catchings. Swimmer Michael Phelps made history winning eight medals, six of them gold and runner Jeremy Wariner became the first white-Ameri-can man to win a sprint medal since 1964 taking the crown from Maurice Greene as the fastest man in the world. Also, ► See 2004, Page D7

Indiana Pacer forward Ron Artest is suspended for an entire NBA season and loses $5 million in salary.

San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds.

Indiana Fever all-star Tamika Catchings.

HIGH SCHOOL HOOPS

North Central center Amber Harris drives to the hoop past Natasha Kroma of Marion High School. North Central won 58-41. (Photo/J. Hurst)

North Central point guard Eric Gordon shoots over defenders of Marion High School during the North Central Boys Holiday Basketball Tournament. North Central won 74-62. (Photo/J. Hurst)

INDIANAPOLIS SLIP IN SEASON FINALE Colts ready for playoff rematch vs. Broncos

By BARATO BRITT Recorder Correspondent

The Indianapolis Colts will not enter the playoffs on a nine game winning streak. Instead, the AFC South champs will startthe postseason with most of their starters healthy, and with an idea of what to expect Sunday. With many key players relegated to the sidelines, the Colts were unable to derail the 10-6 Denver Broncos’ playoff hopes, falling 33-14 to Denver in their regular season finale. The Broncos played like a team hungry for a playoff birth, posting 453 total yards on a

Colts defense that started three rookies in the secondary. In the process, Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer surpassed John Elway’s franchise record for passing yards in a single season, and tied Elway for total TD passes in a season with 27- Additionally, the Broncos won a chance to face the real Colts team in their most meaningful game of the season. Other than that, one can pretty much throw away the stats from last Sunday’s contest, being that the Colts displayed little of the things that propelled them to a second consecutive division title and a 12-4 record. ► See COLTS, Page D7

Southern University makes coach highest paid

Special to The Recorder African-American-owned New Vision Sports Properties LLC recently announced that its client, Southern University, has agreed to terms with football coach Pete Richardson, making him the highest paid coach in Division I-AA and the highest paid coach in the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Per the contract, Richardson receives ► See COACH, Page D7

Pete Richardson