UNC's Barnes responds to Jordan's taunt

North Carolina freshman star Harrison Barnes said Thursday he knows Tar Heels legend Michael Jordan was only kidding when he told him to wear "Jordans" instead of Lakers star Kobe Bryant's Nike shoe.


  The video made the rounds earlier this week, showing Jordan talking to the Tar Heel players in Charlotte, N.C., where the team was playing in the NCAA Tournament.

"If I see you in them Kobe Bryants, man, I'm gonna cut you right off," Jordan somewhat joked to Barnes on the video shot by Rivals.com. "I don't care if your feet kill you, you're gonna wear them Jordans."
The Charlotte Bobcats owner then told Barnes he could wear whatever shoes he wanted as long as the team won, but pointed out "you got killed" against Duke in the ACC Tournament final.

"I didn't think it was a big deal," Barnes said Thursday afternoon at the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., site of UNC's game with Marquette in the Sweet 16 on Friday. "My teammates all asked if I was going to get cute and wear the (other) Nikes. I know he was only joking, and I'm really comfortable around him."

Barnes came to Carolina with as much fanfare as any previous player in the program's fabled history, including Jordan, whose clutch shot as a freshman gave the Tar Heels the 1982 national championship. The irony is that Barnes has been compared to Jordan since before he signed with North Carolina in 2009, which is something he has embraced with open arms. His affinity for all things Jordan has been documented, and is real.

The Iowa native might be only 19 years old, but he grew up watching videos of Jordan that his mother spent years taping. He studied Jordan, from his mannerisms to his professionalism, and has aspired to discover the same level of intensity and focus that carried Jordan to six NBA world championships, five MVP awards, and a wildly successful business career off the court.

"I grew up watching his games on tape," Barnes said. "I really didn't watch cartoons or a lot of kids shows, I watched basketball, mostly tapes of his games. I think I eventually started connecting with them."

  For a while in high school, Barnes, who is nearly 6-foot-9, listed himself as 6-foot-6 because that was Jordan's height during his days with the Chicago Bulls.

After all was said and done, Jordan promised the team he would get them his rare brand of shoe, Air Jordan 11 Retro "Cool Greys" if they advance to the Final Four. As the school's contracted shoe provider, everything would fall within NCAA rules.

Barnes said Jordan changed his mind after the camera stopped running.

"He said Final Four, but then he said if we beat Washington, and we beat Washington, and I haven't seen them," Barnes said. "So, if I ever see him again, I'll ask him about them (the shoes)."

Wis. billionaire charged with child sex assault

RACINE, Wis. — A billionaire executive whose family has run SC Johnson for five generations was charged Thursday with having sexual contact with a now 15-year-old girl over the course of several years.

Samuel Curtis Johnson III, who goes by Curt, faces a count of repeated sexual assault of a child. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Johnson, 55, is the former chairman of Sturtevant-based Diversey Inc., a cleaning-products company that was spun off from SC Johnson in the late 1990s. Privately held SC Johnson makes household products including Pledge, Glade, Windex and Ziploc.

Johnson resigned from Diversey's board in February and was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, the company said at the time.

Diversey spokesman John Matthews told The Associated Press on Thursday that Johnson had retired effective the end of March and that his leave of absence immediately removed him from any role with the company. Johnson was replaced by his sister, Helen Johnson-Leipold.

The criminal complaint says Johnson had inappropriate sexual contact with the girl 15 to 20 times. The girl told investigators Johnson wanted to have sex with her, but she refused.

The girl told authorities that inappropriate touching started when she was between 6th and 7th grade, and the last incident occurred in November 2010, according to the complaint cited by the Journal Times of Racine.


Prosecutors said the girl confided about the abuse to her mother, who confronted Johnson. He allegedly admitted to fondling the girl and repeatedly apologized for his behavior.

Johnson's cash bail was set at $500,000. Messages left with both of Johnson's lawyers were not immediately returned.

Forbes magazine estimated the wealth of the married father of four this month at $2 billion, making him No. 595th richest on its list of the world's billionaires.

His brother, Fisk Johnson, heads SC Johnson, also known for household staples Windex, Pledge, Ziploc.
Fisk Johnson, in an email cited by the Journal Times to employees Thursday, said, "The nature of allegations of this type is always appalling. And our family is distraught. This is an ongoing investigation. I fully respect the process and can only hope for the best for everyone involved."

Family spokesman Harlan Loeb said echoed the comments, saying also, "Obviously this is a personal matter for Curt."

106 year-old Lakers fan loves Kobe, not Odom

That young lady pictured above is Charlotte Cross. And she may very well be the oldest Lakers fan alive. Now, even though living to see the age of 106 is something for all of us to marvel at, there is another quality that Charlotte has that is more newsworthy, to me at least. That quality is that she doesn’t like Lamar Odom.

And this isn’t just some blind dislike for Odom. She has reasons. And as much as she dislikes Odom, she loves Derek Fisher and Kobe Bryant. But enough about how much she loves Bryant and Fisher; let’s get into why she doesn’t love Odom.

Charlotte is not the sort of fan who shouts at the TV, but if she does have a gripe, it's usually with Lamar Odom. She complains that the Lakers forward and husband of reality TV star Khloe Kardashian, "isn't energetic enough."

You know, I can totally see that, Charlotte. Excellent reason.

Her eyesight is going though, Tony tells me, so Charlotte sometimes blames Odom for things that aren't even his fault. "She'll get mad that Lamar is missing a basket when in reality he actually made it."

Well, she’s at least consistent. Can’t say that about everyone, right?

From what I can tell, this is a quality woman right here. Fellas, go home and tell your lady about Charlotte Cross. Someone they should all model themselves after.