Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 8-5-16 Online Edition

Sports
Tampa Mom Speechless Over Her
1970 All-Star Team To Be Featured In Documentary
Lindsey Harding, as a member of the Belarus team, competes in a game against Argentina.
Lindsey Harding, a star player with the Phoenix Mer- cury of the Women’s Basket- ball Association, will be on the roster of her European team, Belarus, when they compete at this year’s Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.
Harding’s mother, Lil- lian Andrews Pon- quinette of Tampa, said she’s speechless.
“I’m over the moon, proud, joyous, and just about anything else you can equate to being proud of your child.
“Lindsey and I have face- time every day, and she’s very happy and excited. She’s sent me photos of the Olympic Vil- lage, the Rio sign, and just about anything else con- nected with the Games. I just wish I was there with her.”
Ms. Ponquinette said not only is her daughter an
Lindsey Harding in Rio posing in front of the Olympic cir- cles.
JOHN GREENE
Davis, James Walker, and Ronnie Harvey. Other members of the team who are not available to attend, but who will be recognized are: Dolphus Perry, Andra Fesser, and Thomas Everett.
Deceased members of the team includes: Bruce Williams, Steve Hall, Davis Coley, Robert Mott, Herman Green, Coach Wallace Dexter, Manager Robert Dawson, and Pres- ident Benjamin F. Rouse.
Allen Rouse is the Presi- dent and John G. Greene is the Marketing and Promo- tions Coordinator for the Bel- mont Heights Little League Alumni Association.
Greene said, “I feel this was an opportunity for aware- ness for an organization that started from scratch, that changed the world, and that changed the hearts of the community during the segre- gation era.”
The 1970 All-Stars pio- neered the way for such play- ers as Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Derek Bell, Floyd Youmans, Carl Everette, Vance Lovelace, who all went on to play major league baseball.
For more information con- tact Greene at (404) 936- 1304.
The Atlanta Falcons have signed veteran defensive end Dwight Freeney to a one- year contract, the team an- nounced Tuesday.
Freeney, who signed with Arizona before Week 6 in 2015, had eight sacks in 11 games. He was the lone bright spot for the Cardinals' pass rush last season, an area they're still trying to ad- dress.
Freeney, who turned 36 in February, became a free agent in March and first vis-
season. Their 73 sacks the past three seasons is 20 fewer than any other team, and Freeney's signing is designed, in part, to help ad- dress those woes.
Freeney came to Atlanta in late May to visit with the coaching staff. Coach Dan Quinn made it clear that there was no need for the 36- year-old Freeney to go through a workout because Quinn was well aware of Freeney's body of work, with 119.5 career sacks.
Tyrann Mathieu Gets New 5-Year Deal From Cardinals
Daughter’s Trip To Rio
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
On Monday, August 8th, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m., members are invited to attend the filming of the documen- tary, “Breaking The Color Barrier,” featuring the 1970 Belmont Heights Little League Baseball All-Star team. The event will take place at Game Time, 1600 E. 8th Avenue, Suite A147, in Ybor City.
The documentary is part of the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball History Series. The documen- tary will feature comments from some of the players as well as film clips, newspaper articles, and other events per- taining to the team.
During the segregation era of the 1950s and 1960s, African American youngsters were not allowed to partici- pate in organized sports. Ben- jamin F. Rouse, Coach Billy Reed, George Sulli- van and James Hargrett, Sr., founded the Belmont Heights Little League to pro- vide organized sports for young African American youth.
In 1970, the team broke the color barrier when they in- tegrated Little League Base- ball in the South. They became the first Negro team to win and place in the Little League Baseball Southern Regional competition.
The Belmont Heights Little League went on to become one of the most successful fran- chises in World Little League Baseball history.
Some members of the 1970 All-Stars slated to be on hand include: Nino Austin, Her- bert Green, Al “Hurly” Richardson, Charlie
Olympian, she’s also made history.
“Lindsey is the first woman basketball player from Duke University to make the Olympic team. That’s very significant.
“I think she’s just taking it all in for now, and she’s de- scribed it as breath-taking.”
With a game-high 17 points, Harding helped lead Belarus to a 56-39 victory over Korea Sunday to ad- vance to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
“I’m so excited to be able to play in the Olympics,” com- mented Harding. “This was a lifelong goal of mine and to be able to achieve it is a won- derful feeling. We worked so hard to get here and it has paid off. Rio here we come!”
Harding, a 2007 Duke graduate, guided Belarus to a 1-1 record in the group phase,
before dropping an 84-70 de- cision to China in the quarter- finals. Belarus had to win the next two contests in back-to- back days for a trip to Rio.
Harding and the Belarus squad downed Argentina, 84- 44, on Saturday and then knocked off Korea Sunday.
Harding was naturalized as a citizen of Belarus in Sep- tember 2015.
The opening ceremony for the 2016 Games in Rio will be broadcast Friday, August 5th at 7:30 p. m.
Harding and her Belarus teammates will open Satur- day, August 6th at 7:45 p.m. against the team from Japan.
On Sunday, Belarus will compete against France; on Tuesday against the home Brazilian team; on Thursday against Turkey, and next Sat- urday, they will play Aus- tralia.
DE Dwight Freeney Signs One-Year Deal With Falcons
DWIGHT FREENEY
ited Atlanta in May.
The Falcons finished with
a league-low 19 sacks last
Defensive back Tyrann "Honey Badger" Mathieu and the Arizona Cardinals have reached an agreement on a 5-year, $62.5 million ex- tension that includes $40 mil- lion guaranteed, sources told reporters on Tuesday.
His guarantee is the largest for a safety in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & In- formation.
Mathieu has been one of the NFL's top defenders, but he also tore his right ACL with two games left last season and his left ACL during the 2013 season.
In spite of that, Arizona is stepping up to retain a player who has excelled at the NFL level. He hasn't been cleared to return to action yet, but he is expected to be within the next two weeks.
TYRANN MATHIEU
Mathieu was considered a candidate for defensive player of the year last season until the injury. He had five interceptions -- one of which led to his first career defen- sive touchdown -- 89 tackles and one sack.
His ability to play three secondary positions increased his value to the Cardinals, who didn't need to use as many substitution packages with Mathieu on the field.
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