Page 29 - Florida Sentinel 9-4-15 Edition

Sports
Jameis Winston Dealing With Sprained Ankle
Serena Williams Celebrated With Massive Brooklyn Mural
Dikembe Mutombo's No. 55 To Be Retired
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback said that he's been dealing with a sprained ankle, but noted it isn't bothering him.
"Pain is temporary," Win- ston told reporters Monday. "I really don't focus on that at all. I played last year at Florida State with a sprained ankle, so that's the least of my worries. My job is to go out there and play quarterback and fight for the team."
Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter confirmed that Win- ston is feeling the effects of an ankle sprain, but Tampa Bay fans shouldn't be worried.
Winston initally rolled his ankle in Tampa Bay's second preseason game against the Bengals, but still played mean- ingful minutes against the Browns on Saturday.
Jameis Winston might be going into the season with a limp.
Winston might not be 100 percent healthy by his rookie debut against the Titans in Week 1, but all indications are his sprained ankle won't ham- per him too much.
DIKEMBE MUTOMBO
The Atlanta Hawks will retire Dikembe Mutombo's No. 55 on Nov. 24, when the team will be hosting the Boston Celtics.
Hawks CEO Steve Koonin made the announcement Tues- day, also declaring Sept. 1, 2015, as Dikembe Mutombo Day.
Mutombo, who was sur- prised by Koonin's announce- ment, teared up when he heard the news
Gatorade commissioned artists from around the world to cre- ate 21 pieces of art that celebrate each of Serena's major wins.
Serena Set To Make History At U.S. Open
Gatorade commissioned artists from around the world to create 21 pieces of art cele- brating each of Serena Williams' major wins. The mural is titled "Serena 21."
Serena Williams might be born and made in Compton, California, but a newly created mural on display in Williams- burg, Brooklyn, is spreading major love to the tennis cham- pion, in a very Brooklyn way.
In addition to the mural, Gatorade also produced a tele-
vision spot celebrating Williams' storied career. It opens with vintage footage of Williams in Compton, being asked, "If you were a tennis player, who would you want to be like?" Then, it cuts to footage of Williams' memo- rable wins and losses, including critics both doubting and prais- ing Williams along the way. It concludes with a young and confident Williams boldly de- claring, "Well, I'd like other people to be like me."
Bucs Head To Miami For Final Preseason Game Tonight
After Saturday’s perform- ance against the Cleveland Browns (a 31-7 loss), Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith was not a happy man, and felt the team had progressed a lot further than it showed.
The Bucs have hit the road for their final pre-season game against the Miami Dolphins in a Thursday night contest.
After Saturday’s contest, quarterback Jameis Win- ston was limping around with a sore ankle, and the overall play of the offensive line was questionable, especially after Winston sustained 6 sacks.
The play of running back Doug Martin has been a great highlight all preseason, and he will enter the season healthy and ready to go.
The Bucs will open their regular season at home against the Tennessee Titans and their Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Marcus Mari-
Head coach Lovie Smith ex- pects to see more improve- ment in his team’s final pre-season game against the Miami Dolphins.
otta.
The Bucs have trimmed their roster down to 75 players with the release of punter Michel Koenen; waived guard Josh Allen; waived receiver Robert Herron, and defen- sive tackle Akeem Spence was put on the reserve/physi- cally unable to perform list.
Ex-NFL Running Back Lawrence Phillips Charged With Killing Cellmate
A stellar slate of second- round matchups headlined Day 3 Wednesday of the 2015 U. S. Open, as defending champs Serena Williams and Marin Cilic lead a long list of tennis’ top talents into action at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Serena Williams blasted through her first-round match at the U.S. Open -- the final grand slam of 2015 .
Williams was roared on by a patriotic crowd in New York. The women’s top seed is now just six matches removed from achieving tennis’ toughest task – the Grand Slam. ‘
The game’s No. 1 already has scrawled her name across the top of virtually every page of the record book, but to achieve the sport’s rarest achievement would add an exclamation point to a career of already re- markable scope and distinc- tion. Not since Steffi Graf in 1988 has a player gone four- for-four at the Slams.
Williams barely broke a sweat in taking her first step to- ward history on Monday night, racing off to a 6-0, 2-0 lead over Vitalia Diatchenko be- fore the Russian was forced to retire with an ankle injury. Next up
Wednesday’s match-up, for
the three-time defending U.S. Open champ is qualifier Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, who’s into the second round here for just the second time in her career.
"It's great to be here, to be American, to be on this journey in my life," the 33-year-old su- perstar Serena gushed to re- porters.
"It's kind of awesome that this is the last grand slam of the year. If it were in a different county I would still love it, but it's not the same as being an American playing in New York, playing for that ultimate goal."
Williams warned the media not to jinx the "Serena Slam" before the French and Wimble- don championships but after completing that feat -- to hold all four majors at once -- she seems more relaxed on home soil.
Williams, a six-time U.S. Open champion, wants to call on her inner calm, rather than her fearsome fire power, to tick off six more match wins, all she now needs for a magnificent seventh title in New York.
A quietly focused Williams could be deadly for her oppo- nents. The 21-time grand slam winner is on a 22-match win- ning streak in New York.
LAWRENCE PHILLIPS
Former running back Lawrence Phillips has been charged with murder in the death of his cellmate at a Cali- fornia prison.
Phillips is suspected of killing 37-year-old Damion Soward at Kern Valley State Prison in April. Officials deter- mined Soward was strangled.
The Kern County district at- torney's office said the 40-year- old Phillips faces a first-degree murder charge. He will be ar- raigned Sept 15 at Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield, but will not face the death penalty, prosecuting attorney Andrea Bridges said.
Phillips was once one of the nation's top college football players at Nebraska. He played for the St. Louis Rams, Miami Dolphins and San Francisco 49ersduring a three-year NFL career.
Phillips is serving a sentence of more than 31 years. He was convicted of choking his girl- friend and later of driving his car into three teens after a pickup football game.
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