FEBRERO 22, 2009 LA PRENSA DE SAN ANTONIO 3-B

The Right Hook

The black cloud over the valley

By Jose T. Garza III

NBA All-Star Weekend has come and gone in Phoenix, but while temperatures may be warm in the valley of the sun, there is a dark cloud hovering over the Phoenix Suns.

That would be the general manager Steve Kerr. The worst general manager in the NBA.

While it is true that the Suns have a winning record, they are a game out of the eighth spot in the West Conference.

While you could argue that there are teams like the Clippers, Wizards, Warriors, etc. that are at the bottom of the barrel in the NBA, the damage that Kerr has caused this team is beyond deplorable.

The Suns were averaging 58 wins a season under Mike D’Antoni, and were the closest team in the modern era to the “Showtime” Lakers of the 80’s. But losing to San Antonio in the playoffs three out of the last four years made Steve Kerr wanting to change the approach of the team from a less running to a more defensive-oriented team.

They were one Robert Horry knockdown of Steve Nash away from potentially beating the Spurs in that playoff series, and they could have even won the NBA championship. However, after that defeat and into the latter part of the season last year, Kerr pan-icked and knew changes needed to be made.

He blew up the team and ac-quired Shaquille O’Neal and traded Shawn Marion who was their most versatile defender on the wing. When Shaq joined the team, the era of the “run and gun” Phoenix Suns was over.

Now they had to change the way they played because a 35 year old Shaq couldn’t keep the pace with which the Suns were ac-customed. All that occurred while head coach Mike D’Antoni tried incorporating the “Big Aristotle” in the offense.

After a first round loss to the Spurs in five games last season, Steve Kerr and Mike D’Antoni couldn’t come to a resolution on how to go with this team for-ward. Soon, D’Antoni went to the

Knicks and has them in playoff contention for the eighth spot in the east.

Steve Kerr decided to hire Terry Porter to bring in the tough defense that he brought from the Detroit Pistons. That move did not work out as Porter was fired last week.

While under Porter, the Suns stopped caring about playing basketball and were just going through the motions. Steve Nash wasn’t producing like the 2-time MVP that he once was, and the offense was now going through Shaq on the low post.

During the season, they also traded Raja Bell and Boris Diaw for Jason Richardson in hopes of getting more scoring production. Also, the Suns were losing to equally losing teams like Minne-sota and Indiana. For the first time in years, the Suns were confused about their identity.

They didn’t know if they were going to be a defensive team or the fast break juggernaut that they were before.

Now amidst rumors that the Suns want to trade Amare Stou-demire, who is their future fran-chise leader, the Suns are in total disarray, and it is all because of Steve Kerr for the bad job that he is done this season.

It is his fault for blowing this once exciting team up in smoke and taking the fun out of the fans in Phoenix.

Now it is up to owner Robert Sarver if he wants to see sunny days in Phoenix again, or if he wants the forecast to stay dark and cloudy through Steve Kerr’s de-plorable job as general manager.

Steve Kerr, general manager of the Phoenix Suns, has made a terrible mess of a team that was once the envy of the NBA. (Courtesy photo)

NOTICE OF PLUMBER, PIPEFITTER, HVAC APPRENTICESHIP ORRPORTUNITY

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MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Must be 18 years of age when applying. Must have a high school diploma (or be a graduating senior in May 2009) or have a GED. A certified birth certificate and official sealed high school transcript or GED grades are required to complete the application. DD-214 needed for Veterans.

Equal opportunity will be offered without regard to sex, race, color or national origin.

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not invest our clients’ money and receive no compensation for it, unlike other agencies.”

On Thursday, The New York Post reported that IMG, a sports management agency, quietly agreed to steer clients looking for investment advice to Stanford Fi-nancial Group, potentially expos-ing them to millions of dollars in losses resulting from the financial firm’s alleged fraud.

According to the report, which cited three sources with knowl-edge of the situation, IMG and Stanford have a quid-pro-quo agreement under which Stanford Financial pays IMG a low- to mid-seven-figure consulting fee in exchange for IMG advising its clients to have their money man-aged by Stanford.

IMG has denied the quid-pro-quo charges.

The SEC alleges that Stan-ford ran an $8 billion fraud that involved luring customers into buying certificates of deposit that carried “improbable and un-substantiated high interest rates.” Stanford’s operation claimed the

CDs were backed by the U.S. Fed-eral Deposit Insurance Corp.

“I have not gotten into the CDs,” Damon said. “But I will tell you one thing: When I did see the CDs that were that high, I thought, ‘Why don’t I just do that?’ It’s a good thing I didn’t.”

Still, both Damon and Nady said they were uneasy about the state of their finances.

“I hope we’re all safe,” Nady said. “You’re concerned because of things that have happened these last few months. To get that kind of news is never good news. You’ve got to hope you’re OK.”

Asked if the situation makes him nervous, Damon responded candidly.

“It does,” he replied. “I’m not sure if the banks we owe mortgages would understand our money’s frozen, start putting penalties on stuff. The whole financial world is all messed up right now. Hopefully they will go on a case-by-case basis. I’m not sure the mortgage is going to be paid this month. But hopefully it’s only a couple of days.”

Stanford scandal...(Continued from page 1-B)

El tejano, Lenard García por titulo pluma en Corpus ChristiPor Rosamaría Gálvez

Un joven peleador que esta abriéndose paso en el terreno de las Artes Marciales Mixtas, es sin duda alguna el México-americano Lenard García, quien se enfrentará el próximo domingo 1º. de marzo para pelear por el campeonato en la categoría de peso pluma ante su adversario Mike Brown.

Será en el cuadrilátero del American Bank Center de la ciu-dad de Corpus Christi, TX., donde el tejano García peleará por el titulo WEC con un peso pluma de 145 lbs., ante Mike Brown, quien es nativo de la Florida y actual-mente es el campeón del ATT.

“Me siento muy emocionado con esta pelea ya que es algo que venia esperando desde hace algún tiempo. Claro que estoy listo, he entrenado muy duro para demostrarle a mi gente, a los tejanos, pero especialmente a los mexicanos que Lenard García es un mexicano terco y que ganaré esta pelea”, dice el peleador.

García nació Lubbock, Texas hace 29 años y empezó a practi-car las Artes Marciales desde la edad de 10, pero su inquietud y la pasión por esta disciplina lo llevó a ejercitar no solamente un estilo, sino varios, entre ellos el Judo, Tae Kwon Do, Ju Jit Su, Boxeo, entre otras.

Pero fue a los dieciocho años cuando al graduar de la prepara-toria, decide involucrarse en las Artes Marciales Mixtas y emp-ieza a aprender otra diferentes técnicas o estilos de pelea, por que a este tiempo es cuando se da cuenta de la pasión y el in-terés que siente por las luchas.

Actualmente domina 23 dis-ciplinas de pelea o defensa personal. Ha participado en 23 peleas de las cuales ha perdido solamente tres. “Mi trayectoria no ha sido fácil, he tenido que vencer muchos obstáculos pero mira, ahora que he llegado a este punto, se me da esta opor-tunidad, y lo que es mejor, en mi casa, con mi gente. Creo que Dios me ha bendecido y se lo agradezco mucho”, dice el peleador.

“El knock out es el que me

ha favorecido en mis victorias. Siempre peleo con toda mi pasión y pongo todas las ganas para vencer. Como todo mexicano, soy muy terco. Es así como demuestro mis raíces de las cuales me siento muy orgulloso”, explica.

Asímismo, dio a conocer que uno de sus rivales más difíciles ha sido el mexicano Roger Huerta, lo cual le dificultaba llegarle al punto de vencerlo. Los dos pre-sentaban excelente condición du-rante la pelea, la cual se prolongó más de la cuenta y ni uno ni otro daban su brazo a torcer hasta que el tiempo llegó a su fin.

Durante la entrevista, la cual se sobrellevó de una manera muy amena en un conocido restau-rante de la ciudad de San Antonio, Lenard demostró una sencillez y un carisma que lo distingue. Y nos hizo saber un poco de su vida privada.

“Mis abuelos a quienes siem-pre creí que eran mis padres me adoptaron desde que nací. Y no fue sino hasta los dieciocho años que me confesaron la verdad de mi origen. A quien creí era mi hermana, es mi verdadera ma-dre”, plática Lenard con algo de nostalgia.

“Mi madre me parió cuando ella tenia 16, y para ocultar el que dirá la gente, la sociedad, las amistades, ya que vivíamos en un pueblo chico, fue que mis abuelos decidieron adoptarme. Y Claro que no guardo ningún rencor. Mis padres (abuelos) me dieron mucho amor y muchos consejos, pero sobre todo una buena edu-cación moral”.

Además, dice que le encanta la comida mexicana, especialmente los tacos de picadillo. El lugar favorito de su casa es la cocina, porque dice que es donde pueden platicar y disfrutar del rico aroma de la cocina mexicana. “¡Por eso le hice a mi abuela una cocina muy grande!”

Su consejo para los niños es que si les gusta una disciplina, que no vacilen, que sigan adelante. Pero que también vayan a la escuela, ya que es muy importante estar preparados académicamente.

Lenard García espera el apoyo de toda la comunidad hispana el domingo 1º. de marzo en la ciudad

Lenard García in the ring. (Courtesy photo)

de Corpus Christi, Texas, donde se enfrentará por el titulo de peso pluma ante su rival Mike Brow. Ahí pondrá toda su pasión y su terquedad como todo un buen

mexicano para ganar esta pelea. “Espero su asistencia y apoyo ya que mi carrera sin ustedes no seria lo que soy”.

El Peleador tejano en la categoría de peso pluma de la UFC y WEC, Lenard García, está listo para demostrar su capacidad en el ring y vencer a su oponente Mike Brown. (Foto, cortesía)

(FOXSports.com) - Yankees star Alex Rodriguez has had a long rela-tionship with a steroid-linked trainer who’s been banned from major-league clubhouses, The Daily News in New York reported Friday.

Angel Presinal, banned after an October 2001 incident involving an unmarked gym bag full of steroids, has been an associate of Rodriguez dating back to his time with the Texas Rangers, several sources told the paper.

One said Presinal accompanied Rodriguez for the entire 2007 sea-son, staying in a hotel room during road trips with the cousin Rodriguez pegged three days ago as his steroid source from 2001-03. The cousin was identified Thursday as Yuri Sucart.

The source said Rodriguez avoided being seen in public with Presinal, whose name surfaced in the Mitchell Report in December 2007, but had contact with him in New York and Miami as recently as this past fall.

“He’s an unsavory character,” said a source.

The Mitchell Report described the investigation that followed the 2001 incident at a Toronto airport where Presinal told law enforcement the bag containing drugs belonged to then-Indians star Juan Gonzalez.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the paper he was aware of Presinal’s name but said that the exiled trainer had no official ties to the team.

“He’s never had any association with the Yankees,” Cashman said. “Whether he knows our players or has worked with any of our players, I wouldn’t be able to confirm that.”

Agent Scott Boras would not com-ment on Rodriguez’s relationship with Presinal, who runs a gym at the Palacio del los Deportes in Santo Domingo. Presinal also did not return multiple calls.

“Several people have warned Alex about this guy,” said a source.

MLB began monitoring Presinal’s relationships with players after the bag containing five ampules of anabolic steroids, the anabolic drug clenbuterol and hypodermic needles, was seized by the Canadian Border Service Agency in 2001, the paper reported.

Presinal was traveling with the Cleveland Indians, where he was Gon-zalez’s personal trainer at the time.

Agents notified Toronto police, who allowed the bag to be shipped to the hotel where the club was staying

to see who claimed it.A border agency seizure report said

the man who picked up the bag was Presinal. Agents questioned Presinal and Gonzalez, then an outfielder for the Indians, for four hours before deciding they didn’t have enough evidence to link the bag to either. The bag was confiscated.

MLB did an investigation after the incident and banned Presinal from any area in a ballpark not open to the public.

Report: A-Rod linked to trainer banned by MLB