Jordan

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Michael Jordan's first outdoor baseball exhibition met with decidedly mixed reviews here yesterday at the spring home of the Chicago White Sox.The good news for the former NBA great was that he made contact on each of the 97 swings he took during three turns in the batting cage. The bad news was that Jordan not only didn't hit any balls over the fence, but he also was unable to reach the warning track.Against comparable pitching, Jordan's performance was not unlike the one he put on in a celebrity home run-hitting contest during All-Star festivities at Oriole Park last summer.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The basketball was in Michael Jordan's hands, the Chicago Bulls were up a point on the Orlando Magic, and 10 seconds remained in their playoff game. In life, as we know, not many things are safe and secure -- but this was about as solid as they come.And then, as Jordan said afterward, with a shrug of the shoulders, "things happened."Bad things. To the Bulls. To Jordan. To logic.Jordan played perhaps the most careless 10 seconds of his basketball life yesterday. He was stripped from behind by the Magic's Nick Anderson, which allowed Orlando to score the winning basket.

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Film director Spike Lee, pressed against the chain link fence yesterday at a White Sox minor-league diamond, chatted with the right fielder between pitches."

Roosevelt Leonard Jordan Sr., an official of the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical & Energy Workers International Union, died of cancer Jan. 20 at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. The Northeast Baltimore resident was 76. Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Jordan was named for President Theodore Roosevelt, family members said. He attended St. Monica's parochial school, ending his formal education after the eighth grade to help support his family by working at Maryland Container Corp., a box factory.

Michael Jordan over Babe Ruth? That's like taking Bruce Springsteen over Elvis Presley, Celine Dion over Barbra Streisand, John Grisham over Ernest Hemingway.No one would deny the talent and popularity of the contemporary superstar in each of those comparisons. But without the ground-breaking originals, there would have been no tradition for the latter-day heirs to follow.Jordan isn't the athlete of the century, despite what ESPN proclaimed Sunday. He's the "SportsCenter" athlete of the century, the most gifted, competitive and thrilling athlete of the video-highlight age.What did Ruth do that Jordan didn't?

Michael H. Jordan, a highly regarded and soft-spoken executive who combines experience in nuclear engineering with a successful tenure selling snack foods overseas, is expected to look increasingly to the international markets in his new post as chairman and chief executive of Westinghouse Electric Corp.Anton Brenner, a food industry analyst at UBS Securities in New York who followed Mr. Jordan's career at PepsiCo Inc., described him as "a very good executive" known as a thoughtful visionary.

LANDOVER -- Chicago Bulls superstar Michael Jordan announced last night that he will definitely participate in the 1992 Summer Olympics after settling a dispute over the use of his image on Olympics apparel."

NEW YORK -- Talk about putting off important decisions. Brian Jordan has waited nearly 10 years before trying to choose between playing football and baseball. Through high school at Milford Mill in western Baltimore County. Through college at Richmond.But after three seasons playing free safety for the Atlanta Falcons and now in his rookie year as an outfielder for the St.Louis Cardinals, Jordan will have to decide on which playing field his future can be found. He is looking forward to that day."

WASHINGTON -- Wizards players, coaches and agents, start running for cover. The Babe Ruth of basketball is now a ruthless executive. Michael Jordan loved being in control as a player, and judging from his willingness to flex his new management muscles, he might love it even more as an owner. His Bossness, now the Wizards' president of basketball operations, talked yesterday about getting better productivity from employees who feared that their necks might "get chopped off." He twice mentioned the high salaries of players, refused to endorse Wizards coach Gar Heard and attempted to dismiss speculation that his agent, David Falk, would be intimately involved in the Wizards' decision-making.

I was not yet 2 when Michael Jordan hit the winning basket for North Carolina to win the 1982 national championship. I was 10 when he won his first NBA title with the Chicago Bulls. I don't remember a time when Jordan was not considered the best to ever play basketball. My older brother would watch in awe as Jordan floated through the air for a dunk. He'd say, "You have to watch this because you may never see someone do this again." At the time, I just assumed he meant his ability to make plays that no one else could.