.jpg)
*The New Jersey Supreme Court said Tuesday it would consider whether the manslaughter retrial of former NBA star Jayson Williams can include evidence of his activities immediately following the shotgun death of his hired chauffeur. In a related ruling, the court rejected Williams' bid to appeal a ruling allowing his retrial on a charge of reckless manslaughter. Prosecutors pushed for the retrial after the first jury failed to reach a verdict on the reckless manslaughter charge. Williams' attorneys argued that a retrial would amount to double jeopardy because the earlier jury — which found him guilty of covering up the shooting — acquitted him of aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault and weapons charges stemming from the same shotgun blast. The 38-year-old former New Jersey Nets center could face up to five years in prison when sentenced on the coverup charges. His driver, Costas "Gus" Christofi, was shot at Williams' Hunterdon County, NJ estate as Williams was showing friends his house. Williams' said the shooting was an accident, and that he panicked afterward.
*Tennis star James Blake bounced back from his French Open defeat by taking out American Justin Gimelstob 7-5, 6-1 Tuesday at England’s grass-court Queen's Club tournament, a tuneup for Wimbledon. The 7th-ranked Blake missed his first set point while leading 5-4. But he closed it out on his third chance with a lob to the baseline that whizzed right past Gimelstob. Blake broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set and lost only one more point in the match.
*Tiger Woods begins play today at the U.S. Open, which marks his first golf tournament since the death of his father Earl Woods on May 3. "I really had no desire to get back to the game of golf because of all the memories," Woods said Tuesday at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY, where he will attempt to win his third U.S. Open. "It was hard times going out there late in the evening like I always do. Anytime you take time off and start back, you always work on your fundamentals: grip, posture, stance, alignment. Well, that's what I learned from Dad. It brought back so many great memories, and every time I thought back, I always had a smile on my face."
*In other Tiger news, a new Nike ad featuring footage of the golfer and Earl Woods together was not intended as the shoe company’s posthumous tribute to his father. The spot was conceived before Earl’s death as a way of saying Happy Father’s Day to dads in general. “It's a tribute to all fathers," Woods explained Tuesday. "We're trying to celebrate Father's Day. Basically this was what was going on prior, well before my father passed." The commercial, which ends with the message, "To Dad and fathers everywhere," will air through Monday on NBC, ESPN, The Golf Channel and MTV. It can also be seen at nikegolf.com.
*Six black professors have left Duke University in the wake of the lacrosse team scandal, reports the Harold-Sun newspaper. One professor, Houston Baker, decided to accept an offer by Vanderbilt before the incident broke, but has been vocal in his disapproval of the way the allegations were handled. His letter charging Duke's administration with "tepid legalism" amid a campus "culture of silence" protecting white male athletes was widely disseminated. Baker’s wife, Charlotte Pierce-Baker, is also leaving Duke for Vanderbilt. Professors John L. Jackson Jr., and his wife, Deborah Thomas, both in Duke's department of cultural anthropology, are also leaving to teach at the University of Pennsylvania in the fall.
*In February, Upper Deck unveiled its All-Star "Athlete" LeBron sports action figure, featuring the red special-edition Nike Zoom LeBron III shoes James wore at the NBA All-Star game. All 750 of the special sneak-peek offering to its first edition figurines sold out in less than two hours. Now, in conjunction with the NBA Finals, Upper Deck is releasing to the public The Chosen One Edition, the first edition of all four of the popular characters from Nike’s “Meet the LeBrons” commercials: Athlete, All-Business, Wise and Kid. Only 1,000 figurines of each character, at $45 a pop, will be made available online at www.AllStarVinyl.com and to hobby shops nationwide.