Florida Sentinel Bulletin

DETROIT — Wayne Simmonds should have been able to talk about what a fine first impression he’s made on his new team.

After scoring in the final minute of Philadelphia’s game in London, Ontario, on Thursday night, Simmonds found the net again in a shootout — but it was what happened while he was in the process of scoring that second goal that stole all the headlines.

A banana was thrown from the stands as Simmonds skated toward Detroit goalie Jordan Pearce, marring the end of an exhibition game that was played about 120 miles from Simmonds’ birthplace of Scarborough, Ontario. Simmonds, who is Black, issued a statement Friday, before the Flyers and Red Wings played again in Detroit.

“It was unfortunate that this incident happened, but I am above this sort of stuff,” he said. “This is something that is obviously out of my control. Moving forward, this incident is something that I will no longer comment on so I can just focus on playing for the Philadelphia Flyers.”

Simmonds made the trip with the Flyers to Detroit, but sat out Philadelphia’s 3-1 win over the Red Wings on Friday night, as both teams tried to use players who hadn’t been in the lineup the previous day. Simmonds was in press row toward the end of the game, and although he declined further comment, he did send a few autograph-seeking fans home happy.

“I’m Black, and I’m a real big hockey fan,” said 29-year-old Latoya Pugh, who was at the game with her kids. “It’s a sport you want to get more Americans into.”

BALTIMORE — Police and fire officials say former Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Orlando “Zeus” Brown has been found dead at his Baltimore home. He was 40. The cause of death isn’t known.

Fire spokesman Battalion Chief Kevin Cartwright says firefighters were called about 11 a.m. Friday because Brown was unresponsive at his home near the Inner Harbor. Cartwright says Brown was dead when firefighters arrived.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi (goog-lee-EL-mi) says firefighters called police, routine procedure in such cases. He said there were no signs of trauma or suspicious activity.

Brown began his career with the Cleveland Browns in 1993 and played twice for that team, as well as the Ravens, ending his NFL playing days in 2005. He started 119 of his 129 games.

NEW YORK — The NBA postponed training camps indefinitely and canceled 43 preseason games Friday because it has not reached a new labor deal with players. All games from Oct. 9-15 are off, the league said. Camps were expected to open Oct. 3.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

The cancellations were expected after the latest meeting between owners and players Thursday ended without a collective bargaining agreement. Both sides still hope the entire regular season, scheduled to begin Nov. 1, can be saved.

The NBA has lost games to a work stoppage only once, when the 1998-99 season was reduced to a 50-game schedule.

The league locked out the players on July 1 after the expiration of the old labor agreement. Owners and players still haven’t agreed on how to divide revenues — players were guaranteed 57 percent under the previous deal — or the structure of the salary cap.

The next talks aren’t scheduled, but both sides said Thursday they hope to meet again next week. They probably need a deal by the middle of October to avoid canceling real games.

Denver-based mixed martial arts fighter Jeffrey Ford, 41, was arrested when investigators linked his DNA to three rape cases in Aurora, Colorado, Kansas City, Missouri and San Francisco, Calif.

Known as “Big Diesel” in the ring, Ford was arrested on August 10 for the rape of an Aurora prostitute two years ago. Initially armed with a partial license plate from the victim and DNA collected from the crime, police were unable to nab a suspect.

Investigators caught a break in the case when a crime analyst discovered that Ford owned a jeep with a variation of the plate number. The analyst also found that he was convicted back in the ’80s for the rape of an 87-year-old woman when he was just 17-years-old.

Secretly tracking Ford, investigators followed the unsuspecting ultimate fighting champ to a gas station where they swabbed a wad of spit that he casually left behind.

Experts were then able to link Ford’s spit to the three rapes. He is currently serving time for the Aurora rape. However, too much time has lapsed in the Missouri case and the victim in San

HOUSTON — NBA veteran Marcus Camby is free on bond after police in suburban Houston arrested him on a charge of marijuana possession.

Camby was in a Porsche pulled over Monday for what police called an equipment violation. Pearland police Lt. Onesimo Lopez says an officer detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle and they found less than two ounces of the drug inside.

Camby and another person inside, Kendal Johnson, were arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of marijuana in a drug-free zone because the arrest occurred near a school.

Both were released on individual $2,000 bonds. Court records did not show an attorney for either individual.

Camby, who was arrested in 1997 in Connecticut for marijuana possession, played last season with the Portland Trail Blazers. The 15-year NBA veteran is 37 years old.

STORRS, Conn. — Ray Allen says he’s ready to give up the season if necessary to the NBA lockout.

Speaking Thursday before an appearance at the University of Connecticut, his alma mater, Allen said he doesn’t want to have to sit out a season this late in his career, but believes the issues are important to the future of the game.

“Nobody wants to miss a year,” he said. “But I’m prepared to do what the team needs me to do, what my players association, players union team, what they need me to do, because we want to make sure we get the right deal for us.”

Allen is entering what would be his 16th NBA season with 22,286 points, 24th in league history. Last season, he set the NBA record for 3-point field goals in a career with 2,612.

He said he’s not considering retirement and has been working out with members of the UConn basketball team.

“I always, typically, come up here in September anyway,” he said. “But obviously, due to not being able to work out in my gym, this is my gym of choice. Being around the young guys, they push me physically and mentally,” he added. “So, I look forward to being up here and trying to be up here as much as I can.”

Allen said the idea that Connecticut could leave the Big East Conference is a hard pill for him to swallow, but believes the school needs to do what it must to ensure it continues to have one of the nation’s top basketball programs. The Connecticut men have won three national championships, the women have won seven.

“We have to stay on par with the other schools around the country, because we do feel like we’re the standard by which college basketball should be measured – men and women’s basketball,” he said. “So however we need to do it to stay on top of that. Because we need to continue to get the players to keep this university going and moving in the right direction and win the championship.”

He also said he would love seeing Connecticut in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where it could play Duke twice a year.

“They are another program that shares the same tradition, the same legacy of basketball, great players having come through and having a Hall of Fame coach at the helm,” he said. “It only raises or heightens the awareness, the traditions of college basketball. And, you know you’ve got North Carolina in the conference, so that creates some devastating, scary matchups.”

Hank Aaron has established a new scholarship at Clark Atlanta University to help deserving students pay for college.

Reps for the baseball legend recently announced the inception of his”4 For 4″ endowed scholarship from The Hank Aaron Chasing the Dream Foundation.

Exclusive to Clark Atlanta, the $100,000 scholarship will support students pursuing careers in public service, teaching, social work, humanities, science and medicine.

The first recipient is Elise Barnes, a senior early childhood education major from Naperville, Ill., who received a $4,000 award last spring.

NEW YORK — Dunta Robinson will pay for his flagrant hit on the Eagles’ Jeremy Maclin. He won’t be suspended.

The NFL on Monday fined the Falcons cornerback $40,000 for the hit in which he led with his helmet and crashed into Maclin in the third quarter of Atlanta’s 35-31 win over Philadelphia on Sunday night. Robinson was penalized 15 yards for unnecessary roughness.

The league did not suspend Robinson although it has said hits like the one he put on Maclin could lead to such action. Robinson is a repeat offender, having being fined $25,000 last year for a similar hit on the Eagles’ DeSean Jackson that left both players with concussions.

In a letter sent to Robinson, NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks noted that “future offenses will result in an escalation of fines up to and including suspension.”
Commissioner Roger Goodell was advised of the decision, and said “we felt this was the appropriate discipline.”

WASHINGTON — LeBron James of the Miami Heat has received the “Champion of Youth” award from the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

The award was presented to James by actor Denzel Washington, the club’s national spokesman. The award recognizes the relationship that the two-time NBA MVP has had with clubs across the country for the past several years.

James formally received the award Tuesday night. Wednesday, he remained in Washington for more ceremonies and the launch of a new public service advertisement for the clubs called “Great Futures Start Here.”