Sonny Side of Sports

Libya Hopes For First Olympic Medal

Libya is once again expected to send a small team to this year’s Olympics in London. Eight Libyans participated at Athens 2004 and seven at Beijing 2008. Check out this video in which I profile three Libyan Olympic hopefuls.

The Libyans sent only one athlete to the country’s first Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. And only one Libyan competed at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.

Libyan Olympic officials say they hope to send at least nine athletes to London. They add if they can’t get on the Olympic medals table for the first time at London 2012, they hope to do so at Rio de Janeiro 2016.

Mohamed Khouaja, the national record holder at 200 meters and 400 meters, says the Libyan Olympic team in London will be remembering those who died last year in the country’s revolution. “God willing, we will do our best for Libya,” says the 24-year-old Khouaja, “just as the martyrs did and sacrificed their lives for Libya and this blessed revolution. So, we also hope to give something to them and to our people.”

Senegalese Center Gorgui Dieng

Louisville center Gorgui Dieng takes a shot

Senegalese center Gorgui Dieng (pronounced GOR-gee Jeng) came to the United States three years ago as a tall, skinny teenager who spoke little English. He played one year of high school basketball at Huntington Prep in West Virginia, where he averaged 15 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks a game. Several American colleges and universities recruited the 2.11 meter (6 feet 11 inches) tall Dieng, with Coach Rick Pitino and The Cardinals of Louisville getting the Senegalese player to commit to their school.

Dieng told Coach Pitino he hoped to play professionally in the National Basketball Association. Pitino told Dieng he needed to improve his defense and his conditioning for his NBA dreams to come true. Since arriving in the USA, Dieng has worked on

Gorgui Deng is one of college basketball’s best shot blockers (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

getting stronger, and put on nearly 23 kilograms (50 pounds). He now weighs 106 kilograms (235 pounds), and in his words, Coach Pitino “changed my whole mentality to play defense.”

Dieng’s defense has helped lead Louisville to The Final Four in the U.S. men’s college basketball championship tournament. He’s blocked 124 shots this season – and he matched a Louisville tournament record March 22 with seven blocks in a game in a 57-44 “Sweet 16” victory over top-seeded Michigan State. Overall this season, Dieng is averaging about nine points, nine rebounds and three blocks a game.

On Saturday, the 22-year-old Dieng made a crucial block with less than a minute left in the game, helping preserve Louisville’s lead in a 72-68 victory over Florida. Gorgui Dieng’s American odyssey will now take him to New Orleans, Louisiana, where The Final Four semifinal games will be played March 31. Scouts have described Dieng as a good NBA prospect because of his defense, but whose offensive skills are still underdeveloped.

Even so, he’s shown tremendous improvement in a short period of time, and verbally, Gorgui Dieng now speaks five languages, the latest of which is English.

Cherry Blossoms & The Runner’s Rite of Spring

Cherry blossoms near the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival officially opens this week here in Washington, “celebrating 100 years of the gift of trees” from Tokyo. The Japanese sent more than 3,000 cherry trees to Washington in March 1912, helping create the U.S. capital city’s greatest springtime celebration.

This year’s gala centennial of the first planting has been expanded to five weeks and it includes activities such as Samurai cinema, Japanese tea parties, a kite festival as well as several sporting events, including rugby and soccer tournaments and the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on April 1.

Ralph & Sonny at finish line of 1995 Cherry Blossom

I’m looking forward to testing my speed and endurance in “The Runner’s Rite of Spring” after a winter of early morning runs in sometimes sub-freezing temperatures. I’ve run the Cherry Blossom several times, including 1995, when my younger brother, Ralph, nipped me at the finish line.

The Cherry Blossom often attracts top runners who use the race as a tune-up for the Boston Marathon, which will be held for the 116th time on April 16.

Former Boston Marathon champions Bill Rodgers and

Joan Benoit Samuelson

Joan Benoit Samuelson will conduct pre-race clinics before the Cherry Blossom in Washington. Rodgers won four Boston Marathon titles during his great career, helping him earn the nickname, “Boston Billy.” And Samuelson won two Boston Marathon women’s titles, but perhaps is best known for winning the gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the year the women’s marathon was introduced.

 

 

Magic Movie: “The Announcement”

On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced at an emotional news conference he was HIV-positive, shocking coaches, teammates and sports fans all over the world. In a new ESPN Films documentary, “The Announcement,” his Los Angeles Lakers teammate James Worthy, who would later join Magic in the Basketball Hall of Fame, said, “I just went numb.”

The numbness Worthy and others felt would fade as Magic became a big advocate for those living with HIV/AIDS. The film looks at Magic’s life since he made the announcement and how things have changed in the HIV/AIDS epidemic over the past 20 years.

At a red carpet premiere of the movie in Los Angeles, Johnson was asked what people can take way from the film. “I want them to take

Magic Johnson

 away that I never gave up and I went public because I wanted to educate people, to save people’s lives,” said Magic. “Sometimes, when you make a mistake it hurts people and those people who love you – it hurts them. I want people to take away that when you are in a position to help people, that is what you should do and that is what I tried to do.”

Since his playing days ended, he has helped people through his Magic Johnson Foundation, which raises money for community-based organizations focused on HIV/AIDS education and prevention. The 52-year-old Johnson has also become a successful businessman in a variety of ventures. In one of his most recent ones, announced in February, Magic said he was launching a 24-hour cable television network targeted at African-Americans.

Big Game For Congolese Teenager Bismack Biyombo

Fans of the Charlotte Bobcats haven’t had much to cheer about during this National Basketball Association season, with the club on course for the league’s worst record. The Bobcats, owned by basketball great Michael Jordan, won for only the fifth time Tuesday night, topping the visiting Orlando Magic, 100-84.

The Bobcats took the court in Charlotte having lost 21 of their previous 22 games. But they showed fighting spirit after their head

Bismack Biyombo

coach Paul Silas was ejected in the second quarter with his team trailing by 18. The Bobcats rallied to beat the Magic, who feature Dwight Howard, the player many regard as the NBA’s best center.

Jordan and Silas had to be encouraged by the way Charlotte’s young forward-center, Bismack Biyombo, played against the more experienced Howard during the contest.  In the best game of his rookie season in the NBA, the Congolese teenager Biyombo tallied 10 points, seven blocked shots and a career-high 15 rebounds.

Howard had 15 points, 17 rebounds and two blocked shots, as he and Biyombo engaged in an entertaining battle of big men. Speaking in the locker room after the game, the 19-year-old from Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo said he enjoyed testing his skills again against Howard. Biyombo also played well against the Orlando star earlier this season.

Bismack Biyombo says he continues to learn every day in his first season in the NBA. He’s currently averaging four points and five rebounds a game, but look for those totals to rise as Coach Silas gives the Congolese rookie more minutes on the court during this losing season.