In Athens, the U.S. men's team beat Brazil 83-59 at the
World Championships, and the AP reports that "only about"
500 people showed up for the game at Olympic Stadium
(AP/Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 7/30). In Boston, Bob Ryan
writes the crowd at the arena, "especially for the South
Korea-Lithuania afternoon opener, consisted of filos
(friends) and singenis (relatives)" (BOSTON GLOBE, 7/30).
NBA PLAYERS "BLEW IT": In N.Y., Harvey Araton writes on
the World Championships under the header, "NBA Stay-at-Homes
Can't Seem To Get It." Araton said NBA players should have
come to Greece where they "could have made their own public
service announcement that it isn't always about the money.
But, of course, it is. How can these players be so
oblivious to the notion that how marketable they are is
directly related to how likable they are?" Araton
concludes: "They all blew it. They stayed home. Their
replacements may not be a hot sell at the gate, but for the
first time since before there was a Dream Team, there are
men in U.S.A. uniforms for whom we can root" (N.Y. TIMES,
7/30). In Toronto, Chris Young, under the header, "Missing
NBA Stars No Loss To World," writes, "Hurrah for these
little guys" (TORONTO STAR, 7/30).
HIS WORD IS OAK: Raptors F Charles Oakley, on the state
of the NBA: "The league is going down and the talent is not
getting better. You're getting guys with a lot of
athleticism, but it's not getting better" (N.Y. POST, 7/30).
