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SPORTS BITS: Iverson fined; Williams mourned; NCAA’s Brand outraged over lack of black coaches.
*New Denver Nugget Allen Iverson was fined $25,000 by the NBA on Friday for criticizing a referee during Tuesday’s loss to his former team, the Philadelphia 76ers. The athlete’s remarks toward official Steve Javie came during his ejection from the game following a second technical foul. "This was the perfect game for him to try to make me look bad," Iverson, who was traded to Denver on Dec. 19, told reporters after the game. "His (Javie's) fuse is real short. I should have known that I couldn't say anything to him. …I've felt that it's been personal between me and him ever since I got in the league."
*Family and friends gathered in Fort Worth, Texas last weekend for the funeral of slain Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams. Mourners filed by his open casket at Great Commission Baptist Church Friday and made remarks about Williams at two microphones inside the church, which seats 2,500, plus another 800 in an overflow chapel. The 24-year-old was killed and two other passengers wounded when at least 14 shots were fired into his stretch Hummer that had just left a New Year's Eve party. Williams was struck once in the neck. Meanwhile, Denver police said Friday they arrested Willie Clark, 23, on a parole violation and will question him about Williams' slaying. "We're not calling him a suspect at this time," police spokesman Sonny Jackson said.
*At the opening of the NCAA’s annual convention, President Myles Brand asked member schools to offer more opportunities to minorities when hiring coaches and administrators and wants them to do a better job educating athletes about sportsmanship. Only seven of the 119 programs have black head coaches; not enough says Brand. “We’re not anywhere close to where we need to be in football,” he said. “I’m encouraged that coaches of color are appearing as finalists for positions, but seven out of 119, that’s just too darn low.” In light of the October “footbrawl” game between Miami and Florida International, Brand said: “By and large, the focus was on what we are doing to punish the students instead of what are we doing to educate them on sportsmanship. Their actions were wrong, but we’ve got to do a better job of educating them on what is expected from them with regard to sportsmanship.”
