D2 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 , 2019
BY SAMANTHA PELLNeal Henderson waited in silence for
three long weeks. He didn’t tell his
closest friends or family members about
the secret call from USA Hockey or how,
whenever he thought about it, it sent
chills through his entire body.
Henderson, the 82-year-old coach
and co-founder of the Fort Dupont
Cannons, the oldest minority hockey
club in North America, had been told he
would be inducted into the U.S. Hockey
Hall of Fame. It was an honor he never
thought he would receive but one with a
lasting impact he hopes will strengthen
Washington’s youth hockey community.
“I had no idea I would ever be in the
Hall of Fame, no thoughts of the Hall of
Fame,” Henderson said. “I was doing it
for the kids, not the publicity or
anything like that. I never thought of
myself as a person who wanted to be
publicized in this manner. It just
happened that way. As the old saying is:
I was in the right place at the right
time.”
The secret was released to the world
Wednesday, with the official
announcement that Henderson — with
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and
former players Krissy Wendell, Brian
Gionta and Tim Thomas — would be
inducted Dec. 12. The ceremony will be
held at the Marriott Marquis in
Washington. Henderson said he expects
family members to be there to help
“support me and hold me up because it
is an earthshaking thing to have this
honor placed on one’s shoulders.”
“I woke up over the night thinkingabout this, that now I’m a historian,”
said Henderson, who was having a
minor medical procedure when the Hall
of Fame news was made public. “And
that is an honor that a lot of people
don’t get, [so] to have this opportunity,
I’m very humbled.”
For the past 40 years, Henderson has
led the Cannons, a developmental
program with a mission to use hockey to
“establish self-esteem, a sense of
purpose and to offer an incentive to
excel academically.” The group focuses
on providing local youth with the
chance to learn hockey and participate
in an organized league.
Participation is free for the families
involved, and equipment is provided by
equipment banks, donations and yearly
fundraising activities.
“[Henderson’s] long-standing
commitment to cultivating leaders
through hockey, on and off the ice, does
not go without notice, and we are
excited Coach Neal is receiving one of
hockey’s most prestigious honors,” NHL
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in
a statement.
In 2018, Henderson was one of three
finalists for the NHL’s Willie O’Ree
Community Hero Award, which
recognizes an individual who has
worked to make a positive impact on hisor her community, culture or society to
make people better through hockey.
Henderson’s work with the D.C.
hockey community also has been
routinely recognized by the Washington
Capitals. After the team won the Stanley
Cup in 2018, Capitals captain Alex
Ovechkin and owner Ted Leonsis
brought the Cup to Fort Dupont Ice
Arena in Southeast Washington to
share with Henderson and his program.
“Neal Henderson is a pioneer in
hockey in the Washington and
Baltimore communities,” Leonsis said
in a statement. “We are fortunate to
have an advocate for hockey such as
Henderson who consistently brings joy
to the sport while sharing his wealth of
knowledge with kids. Henderson’s work
with Fort Dupont Ice Arena and D.C.’s
minority hockey programs is a vibrant
part of our community and he is a true
ambassador for the sport of hockey.”
While Henderson prefers to stay
away from the spotlight and let his kids
and his work speak for him, he knows
his induction will be talked about by the
children with whom he works. It will be
an honor and title passed through
stories and pictures, with the hope that
his legacy remains strong.
“[The kids] know the Hall of Fame
means you will be there forever,”
Henderson said. “... I am still going to
be me. I would rather talk about the
kids in the program than me because
they are the ones who need to be
recognized and they are the ones who
need to go on to make the society
better.”
[email protected]QUOTABLE“To kick someone off the
team just because of
their hair, that’s not
right.”
TYLER WILLIAMS,
who was dismissed from the
University of Arkansas Fort Smith
basketball program after a
disagreement with his coach over
Williams’s dreadlocks.HOCKEYA pioneer in D.C. gets his due
COLLEGE FOOTBALLBY CINDY BORENSamuel B. Jackson, only the
second African American chosen
to cheer for Notre Dame as one of
its leprechaun mascots, issued a
plea for unity after his mere
presence on the sideline at the
football opener was criticized.
“You know what is sad?” tweet-
ed Dave Portnoy, the founder of
the sports and culture site Bar-
stool Sports, while watching the
Fighting Irish beat Louisville on
Monday. “Internet outrage cul-
ture has made me afraid to say
that I think the ND mascot
should always be a midget look-
ing ginger. So I’m just not gonna
say it.”
Portnoy blasted his opinion
into the social media ether along
with a photo of Jackson in his
costume and three white lepre-
chaun mascots.
Jackson wasn’t having it. “Like
it or not, this guy right here is still
one of your Notre Dame lepre-
chauns!” he tweeted, along with a
wink and a shamrock. “How
about we use this negative energy
to bring us together this season?
See y’all next game. #GoIrish.”
Notre Dame has had lepre-
chaun mascots since 1965, when
they replaced Irish terrier dogs.
Three students were chosen as
mascots, with Lynnette Wukie
the third African American and
first female chosen in the school’s
history. Wukie wasn’t on the field
for the season opener. The third,
Conal Fagan, is the first from
Northern Ireland.
Jackson, who said in April that
he is “a walking pep rally,” met
with Mike Brown, a 2001 gradu-
ate who was the first African
American mascot, last year and
discussed taking on the role.
“He encouraged me to go for
it,” Jackson said (via the Indian-
apolis Star). “When I finished
talking with him, that vision I
had of seeing myself on the field
transformed from a vision to
something that could be palpa-
ble.”
Jackson, a Madison, Ala., na-
tive who has appeared in theatri-
cal productions at Notre Dame,
told Cheddar U in a video clip
posted Tuesday that he “saw just
how much being the leprechaun
was ingrained with performing”
and added, “The tradition that
Notre Dame has transcends...
race, gender [and] class.”
For Jackson, the chance to be a
mascot went beyond entertain-
ing fans and embodying school
spirit.
“Being a trailblazer to me,” he
told Cheddar, “means shining a
light so others can see the light
they have inside themselves.”
In an interview with WNDU-
TV in May, Wukie pointed out
that she and Jackson were “not
changing tradition. We’re not
breaking tradition. We’re just
showing that the tradition of
Notre Dame is for anyone and
everyone that wants to go after
it.”
[email protected]Mascot
responds
to racist
criticism
BY NEIL GREENBERGIt’s Week 1 of the NFL season,
and we again will be highlighting
weekly matchups in which the
implied odds of winning are sig-
nificantly higher than the actual
odds. Our league-projection for-
mula helps determine how often
one team should beat another
based on actual and projected win
rates. That gives us win probabili-
ties for every game, as well as an
implied margin of victory — help-
ful for picking games against the
spread.
Here are this week’s prime
picks against the consensus point
spreads from multiple sports
books in Las Vegas.
Los Angeles Chargers (-6.5)
over Indianapolis Colts
The Colts will be without four-
time Pro Bowl quarterback An-
drew Luck after he abruptly re-
tired and instead will rely on back-
up Jacoby Brissett. The change
under center is massive. Luck was
the fifth most valuable quarter-
back of 2018, per ESPN’s Total
Quarterback rating, while Brissett
was the 27th most valuable passer
out of 30 qualified quarterbacks in
2017, the only year he started more
than two games.
The Chargers, meanwhile,
boast the fourth-best pass-rush-
ing unit of 2019, per Pro Football
Focus, which seems likely to keep
Brissett uncomfortable in the
pocket.
Los Angeles Rams (-3) over
Carolina Panthers
The Rams have everything they
need to be successful in 2019.
Coach Sean McVay has given quar-
terback Jared Goff plenty of offen-
sive tools, including running back
Todd Gurley II and wideouts
Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods and
Cooper Kupp. Pro Football Focus
gives Los Angeles high marks for
both its offensive and defensive
lines, too, with the key matchup of
this Week 1 game involving Aaron
Donald against Carolina’s offen-
sive line, projected to be the
18th best in the league in 2019.
If Donald can make life uncom-
fortable for Panthers quarterback
Cam Newton, who injured his foot
during the preseason, the defend-
ing NFC champions should get off
to a fine start.
[email protected]
PRO FOOTBALL
L.A. teams
are both
good bets
for Week 1
LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST
“I was doing it for the kids, not the publicity,” said Neal Henderson, co-founder of the Fort Dupont Cannons hockey club.Henderson earns induction
into U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame
for work at Fort Dupontwashingtonpost.com/sports
BASKETBALL
Trump honors West
with Medal of Freedom
President Trump continued
his run of recognizing sports
greats with the nation’s highest
civilian honor, awarding the
Presidential Medal of Freedom to
Los Angeles Lakers legend Jerry
We s t during a White House
ceremony.
Trump said West, 81, “richly
deserved” the medal for his years
as a player, general manager and
supporter of the nation’s war
veterans. West noted his humble
beginnings in West Virginia and
where sports had taken him,
saying, “It never ceases to amaze
me the places you can go in this
world chasing a basketball.”
Trump also has awarded the
medal to Bob Cousy and Tiger
Woods this year....
Vlade Divac and Jack Sikma
were big men who could pass and
hit a jump shot, helping redefine
the post position in the NBA.
They were the centers of attention
in Springfield, Mass., receiving
their orange jackets in advance of
Friday’s induction into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball
Hall of Fame.
They are being enshrined
along with Sidney Moncrief,
Paul Westphal, Bobby Jones, Al
Attles, Carl Braun, Chuck
Cooper, Bill Fitch, Teresa
Weatherspoon and two college
teams, the 1957-59 Tennessee A&I
men and the 1953-58 Wayland
Baptist women....
Greece is headed to the second
round of the FIBA World Cup
after beating New Zealand, 103-
97, in Nanjing, China, in a
showdown between teams that
both had a shot at advancing.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
scored 24 points for Greece, the
last team to make the 16-team
field for the second round. New
Zealand has to settle for the
consolation bracket.
Brazil defeated Montenegro,
84-73, in the other Group F game.
In Shanghai, the Czech Republic
downed Turkey, 91-76, to take the
final second-round spot from
Group E.
In Group G in Shenzen, France
beat the Dominican Republic, 90-
56, in a matchup of teams already
assured of advancing, and
Germany topped Jordan, 96-62,
in a clash of teams heading to the
consolation round.
In Dongguan, Canada picked
up its first victory in its finalGroup H game, beating winless
Senegal, 82-60, and Australia
finished atop the foursome with
an 87-82 win over Lithuania....
Elizabeth Williams had
20 points and a career-high eight
blocks as the Atlanta Dream
earned a 78-74 WNBA victory over
the visiting Las Vegas Aces....
Candace Parker scored
20 points as the Los Angeles
Sparks trounced the visiting
Seattle Storm, 102-68.SOCCER
Perfection is never easy, as
Spain and Italy found out in
European Championship
qualifying. Both kept perfect
records, moving to five wins out
of five, but Italy needed two late
goals to beat Armenia, 3-1, and
Spain barely held on for a 2-1 win
over Romania with 10 players.
Elsewhere, Switzerland
couldn’t turn dominance into
goals in a 1-1 draw with Ireland,
while Israel was held to the same
score by North Macedonia....
Mohamadou Sumareh scored
in injury time to give Malaysia a
3-2 win over Indonesia in the
second round of Asian World Cup
qualifying. Oman stunned India,
2-1, while Mongolia and North
Korea both picked up wins.COLLEGES
New Mexico football coach
Bob Davie, dealing with an
unspecified medical issue, won’t
make the trip for the Lobos’ game
Sept. 14 at No. 8 Notre Dame, his
former team....
Diana Ordonez and Meghan
McCool scored as the No. 5
Virginia women’s soccer team
defeated No. 15 Georgetown, 2-0,
in Charlottesville.GOLF
Paul Casey shot a 6-under-par
66 for a one-stroke lead after the
opening round of the European
Open in Hamburg....
Dustin Johnson had
arthroscopic surgery to repair
cartilage damage in his left knee
and is expected to return this fall.MISC.
The NHL and NHL Players’
Association will meet again
Friday in New York to continue
collective bargaining
negotiations....
Philippe Gilbert made a solo
charge to win the 12th stage of the
Spanish Vuelta cycling race in
Bilbao, while Primoz Roglic
finished in the peloton to hold on
to the leader’s red jersey.
— From news servicesDIGEST
TELEVISION AND RADIO
MLB
7 p.m. Washington at Atlanta » MASN, WJFK (106.7 FM), WFED (1500 AM)
7 p.m. Texas at Baltimore » MASN2, WTEM (980 AM)
7 p.m. New York Yankees at Boston » MLB Network
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
8 p.m. William & Mary at Virginia » ACC Network, WRC (570 AM)
8 p.m. Wake Forest at Rice » CBS Sports Network
9 p.m. Marshall at Boise State » ESPN 2
10 p.m. Sacramento State at Arizona State » Pac-12 Network
WNBA
7 p.m. Dallas at Washington » NBC Sports Washington
TENNIS
12 p.m. U.S. Open, men’s doubles final » ESPN 2
4 p.m. U.S. Open, men’s singles semifinals » ESPN
GOLF
5 a.m. European Tour: European Open, second round » Golf Channel
AUTO RACING
5 a.m. Formula One: Italian Grand Prix, practice session 1 » ESPN 2
9 a.m. Formula One: Italian Grand Prix, practice session 2 » ESPNU
2 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series: Indiana 250, practice » NBC Sports Network
4 p.m. NASCAR Xfinity Series: Indiana 250, final practice » NBC Sports Network
SOCCER
2:30 p.m. UEFA Euro qualifying, Group C: Germany vs. Netherlands » ESPN 2
9 p.m. International friendly: Mexico vs. United States » Fox Sports 1
COLLEGE SOCCER
4 p.m. Men: Princeton at Duke » ACC Network
7 p.m. Men: Washington at Michigan State » Big Ten Network
9 p.m. Women: Ohio State at Texas A&M » SEC Network
WOMEN’S COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
9 p.m. Baylor at Wisconsin » Big Ten Network
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
10 p.m. Bethel (Wash.) at Kennedy (Wash.) » ESPNU