Dion named assistant at SPU
Lindsey Dion, the emotional leader of Oregon’s Pacific-10 Conference championship team in 2000 and co-captain of another NCAA Tournament team in 2001, has been named assistant coach of women’s basketball at Seattle Pacific University.
Dion, 22, served as a volunteer graduate assistant at Oregon this past season when first-year head coach Bev Smith guided the Ducks to a WNIT title.
Dion, who will be the top aide to head coach Gordy Presnell, replaces Lynne DeYoung, who resigned May 7 after five seasons to become head coach at Chico State.
During her playing career, Dion was a three-year starter at forward and was a member of squads which reached the NCAA Tournament four consecutive years from 1998-2001 and won Pac-10 championships in 1999 and 2000. She made honorable mention all-conference as a junior and senior and honorable mention academic all-conference her final three seasons.
Dion, native of Fresno, Calif., graduated from Clovis West High, earning Northwest Yosemite League MVP as a senior. She graduated from Oregon with a bachelor’s degree in educational studies.
— from staff and wire reports
Lewis’ legacy is tied
to Mike Tyson
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — In each boxing era, the great heavyweight champions had to beat at least one fighter to establish their legacy.
Floyd Patterson defeated Ingemar Johansson in the 1960s. Muhammad Ali, whose reign came during arguably the toughest era, established himself as “The Greatest” by beating Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
In the last decade, Evander Holyfield solidified his spot in the Boxing Hall of Fame by twice defeating Mike Tyson, who dominated the division in the late 1980s.
Though Tyson isn’t the same fighter, he remains a benchmark. Most experts, including legendary trainer Angelo Dundee, believe Lennox Lewis must defeat Tyson to make a career-defining statement and prove he’s worthy of being considered among the great heavyweights.
When he steps into the ring Saturday night at the Pyramid in Memphis, Lewis must beat Tyson convincingly, Dundee said, bellowing every word as he did during his years working Ali’s corner.
Should Lewis win, he’ll no longer be looked upon as a powerful, but tentative heavyweight with a questionable chin, Dundee said.
“He is going to get a lot of accolades,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘Oh man, he’s for real.’”
Even though Lewis has beaten Holyfield and every other worthy challenger set in front of him, his two losses in 42 fights continue to haunt him. They came against lightly regarded Oliver McCall (1994) and Hasim Rahman (2001).
Though Lewis holds the World Boxing Council and the International Boxing Federation belts, the champion isn’t getting much respect as Saturday’s fight nears.
Promoters say Tyson is the one selling the fight because of his ability to end a bout with one blow.
“I’m just going to take my respect,” Lewis said in a recent teleconference call. “I’m going to go in there and show the world that I am the best heavyweight on the planet.
Lewis’ trainer Emanuel Steward hopes his fighter doesn’t want to do more than establish his legacy by beating Tyson, then retire.
“I don’t think there’s much more for Lennox to accomplish,” Steward said. “I’ve told him, ‘You’ve beaten everyone you need to.’ And, he’s done almost all of his fighting in hostile territory. I think it’s very important that Lennox wins this fight and win it impressively. I want him to be spectacular.”
— St. Clair Murraine
Knight Ridder Newspapers