White Claims Tone of Message Misunderstood

Green Bay Packer defensive end Reggie White says he never claimed that police were “out to get” black youth, as was reported by a newspaper in Knoxville, Tenn., last week.

White also said some of his remarks were taken out of context by the Knoxville News-Sentinel and parts of its story contained inaccuracies.

White told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane that the theme of his talk last week was meant to inspire young people to take personal responsibility for their lives.

White did not back off some of his statements, but also said he had been misunderstood. He believes building prisons is a lucrative business, one that profited from large numbers of black inmates.

“I think jail is a business,” White told Kane. “And certain people don’t want young people to be successful.”

Many people outside the black community make money off the misery of drugs, crime and guns, White said.

White said the News-Sentinel’s relationship with him was hostile.

“The main problem was, you had a writer there from a newspaper that has tried to undermine everything we’ve tried to do down there,” White said.

News-Sentinel managing editor Frank Cagle denied any personal vendetta against White in its coverage.

Skiing

Hilary Lindh came out for one last successful encore before ending a distinguished 13-year career with the U.S. ski team.

After winning the women’s downhill Thursday at the U.S. Alpine Championships at Carrabassett Valley, Maine, she finished Friday with a victory in the super-giant slalom at Sugarloaf-USA.

Tommy Moe made it two double winners on the first two days of the championships, winning the men’s super-G after winning the downhill Thursday.

“This was the ultimate way to do it,” Lindh, 27, said. “I didn’t want to feel I was beyond my usefulness. I wouldn’t have continued this year if I didn’t feel I had a chance to win something.”

Lindh will now resume her studies at the University of Utah.

Pro Football

Determined to get out of Oakland after losing his job to Jeff George, Raider quarterback Jeff Hostetler talked to the Washington Redskins about the backup job behind Gus Frerotte.

NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue will meet Monday with representatives of black assistant coaches who feel that the hiring of minorities has slowed down.

The Miami Dolphins signed tight end Walter Reeves and agreed to terms with wide receiver Lawrence Dawsey. Both are expected to fill backup roles.

Former Dallas Cowboy running back Calvin Hill is rejoining the team as a front-office consultant to help advise players, the Washington Post reported.

Tennis

Martina Hingis rallied from the brink of defeat in her opening match at the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla., to beat Patricia Hy-Boulais, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Hingis is unbeaten in 21 matches this year.

Top-seeded Michael Stich breezed into the semifinals of Russia’s St. Petersburg Open with a straight-set victory over Kenneth Carlsen, 6-2, 6-4.

Auto Racing

NASCAR truck series driver John Nemechek, who had been in a coma since suffering brain damage in a crash on Sunday, died Friday morning in Miami. He had been on life support since his truck hit a wall on the 1.57-mile track at the Homestead Motorsports Complex during the Florida Dodge Dealers 400.

Jurisprudence

Columbus Crew defender Paul Caligiuri won his breach-of-contract claim against Major League Soccer, an award that could pay him more than $100,000 and may require the league to transfer him to the Galaxy. Caligiuri signed a guaranteed three-year contract in December 1995 to play for the Galaxy, but the league later voided that deal.

New York and New Jersey authorities dealt a major blow to the cash flow of the Lucchese crime family by arresting 59 people and closing down 17 “wire rooms” in a four-state sports gambling operation, according to New York Atty. Gen. Dennis Vacco. Vacco estimated the yearly handle of the ring at as much as $1 billion.

The Charlotte Hornets’ Tony Smith has been charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with fondling a woman at a bar.

Drug charges against South Carolina tailback Troy Hambrick were dismissed when prosecutors and a magistrate in Columbia, S.C., agreed the football player did not know marijuana was in a car he was driving when stopped by police.

A judge in Greensburg, Pa., ordered Pittsburgh Steeler safety Darren Perry to spend one year in a rehabilitation program for first-time offenders on charges that he drove while drunk and left the scene of an accident.

Former Nebraska linebacker Larry Arnold faces a federal charge that he conspired to distribute cocaine with former fellow Cornhusker linebacker Ramone Worthy.

A federal court jury in Greeneville, Tenn., ruled that manufacturers of a plane that crashed, killing NASCAR driver Alan Kulwicki and three others, were not negligent.

Track and Field

Track and field’s governing body said it will accept two-year drug bans in countries that refuse to apply four-year penalties.

Miscellany

The World Beach Volleyball Championships will be held Sept. 10-13 at the L.A. Tennis Center at UCLA.