Reggie White Says Police, Conspiracies Pose Problem

Green Bay Packer defensive star Reggie White, speaking to high school students in Knoxville, Tenn., said that police provoke young black men to put them behind bars.

White also said he believes in a conspiracy to prevent a cure for AIDS and to promote practices that lead to abortions and fetal-tissue research, the Knoxville News-Sentinel reported in Saturday’s editions.

“There’s a lot of focus on you all and a lot of that focus is on [putting] you in jail. That’s why police harass a bunch of you guys, because they want you to snap,” White, a former University of Tennessee standout, said Friday.

“Why do you think they’re talking about building more prisons instead of creating opportunities for you? Because they want you in jail. They want you to be ignorant. . . .”

To blacks who kill blacks in drive-by shootings, White said, “You are just as bad as a Klansman.”

White, who is an ordained minister, urged students to avoid violence and get involved in their community and government. He said not enough is being done to cure AIDS.

“You know why they’re not doing all they can to find a cure for AIDS? It’s because if they find a cure for AIDS, everybody starts getting well and nobody wants to keep spending their money,” he said.

White also said that aborted babies are worth money for fetal tissue research.

Winter Sports

Switzerland’s Michael Von Gruenigen and Italy’s Deborah Compagnoni extended their season-long dominance of the giant slalom at Vail, Colo., while Kjetil-Andre Aamodt’s bid for the men’s overall title faded.

Von Gruenigen and Compagnoni won their giant-slalom races in the World Cup finals, each coming from second place to overtake the first-run leader.

Aamodt of Norway finished in a seventh place tie in the men’s race to earn 36 points. He needs 70 more points in today’s slalom to overtake overall leader Luc Alphand.

Thorny Hemery of France won the FIS Freestyle World Cup in the dual moguls, defeating Jonny Moseley of Tiburon, Calif., at Hundfjallet, Sweden.

College Football

Four U.S. senators have asked the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to launch an inquiry into possible anti-trust violations by the College Bowl Alliance.

Sen. Bob Bennett (R-Utah), Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), and Sen. Craig Thomas (R-Wyoming), requested the probe Friday, citing “substantial evidence of serious violations.”

The request comes three months after Western Athletic Conference champion Brigham Young was snubbed by the alliance. The Cougar football team was not invited to play in a 1997 Alliance bowl game despite a 13-1 record and a ranking as the fifth-best team in the country. BYU defeated Kansas State, 19-15, in the Cotton Bowl.

Free safety Mitchell Freedman has been dismissed from the Arizona State football team, according to Coach Bruce Snyder, who did not offer an explanation.

Auto Racing

The Scandia Ferrari 333SP driven by Fermin Velez, Andy Evans, Stefan Johansson and Yannick Dalmas won the 12 Hours of Sebring sports car endurance race at Sebring, Fla.

The victory margin was 47.465 seconds--less than half a lap over a Ford-engined Riley and Scott chassis driven by Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace, James Weaver and John Paul Jr.

Sixty-three cars started the Professional SportsCar Racing sanctioned event, slowed by nine caution flags totaling three hours, including a red flag which stopped the race because of an accident involving the Porsche Turbo driven by Bill Adam. He was not injured.

Joe Bessey led second-round qualifying for the Las Vegas 300 NASCAR Busch Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Joe Ruttman was the fastest of 30 qualifiers who all set track-record speeds at the Metro-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex for the Florida Dodge Dealers 400.

Miscellany

Martin Damm of the Czech Republic defeated Slovakia’s Karol Kucera, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, to advance to the Copenhagen Open finals in Denmark. Damm will play Thomas Johansson, a 6-2, 6-4, semifinal winner over Lars Burgsmuller of Germany. . . . Parker Bohn III won his second consecutive title after beating Walter Ray Williams Jr., 206-204, in the PBA Showboat Invitational at Las Vegas. . . . Lechaunce Shepherd stopped Daniel Hernandez of Indio, Calif., 17 seconds before the end of the first round to win the gold medal for 147-pound welterweight class at the U.S Boxing Championships at Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday.

* Bill Plaschke has the day off.