THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 19, 1996 TAG: 9609190553
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 69 lines
There will be no apologies from him, because none are needed. And now that he's been cleared of taking part in a bar fight, Joe Smith can resume his role as the Golden State Warriors' most active community presence with his integrity solid, his character exemplary among the modern, millionaire athlete.
The strife of the last eight weeks will make Smith a more suspicious, less trusting man - sad, but inevitable. It might not, however, haunt his Bay Area persona the way he fears.
Last season, there was no player whom fans wanted to meet more than Smith. There is no reason that should change, says David Hatfield, the Warriors' director of community relations.
``Steve Young and Jerry Rice are in a league of their own out here,'' Hatfield says of the 49ers stars. ``But if you remove those two from the equation, Joe's the No. 1 guy.''
Even with charges pending, Smith recently was the featured Warrior at a clinic for 1,000 underprivileged kids. He made appearances throughout the summer to support midnight basketball programs.
Smith organized his own celebrity auction last year for charity. And he has been nominated by Hatfield for a USA Today award honoring the athlete most dedicated to helping his community.
``He told us he didn't do it and we believed him,'' Hatfield says. ``We've placed Joe in as many community events as we could. He's still a role model extraordinaire.''
Gladly, we'll never know how a trial or a conviction would have damaged Smith's reputation. Now, as Hatfield sees it, that reputation could emerge even stronger because Smith didn't cave under pressure.
He didn't settle out of court and slink away, intimating, if not admitting, guilt. He had done nothing wrong, Smith insisted, and he was determined to draw headlines when a judge confirmed it.
Hatfield admits to some some anxious moments, however. If Smith had settled, Hatfield says, ``I guess, as a member of the Warriors, I'd want to believe that he just didn't want to go through the legal issues, that he'd done it just for the sake of expediency.
``I'm glad he stood up, though, and said, `I didn't do it and I'm going to prove to everybody that I didn't do it.' ''
Since Smith was charged in late July, Hatfield says he gauged public reaction in the Bay Area that ``ran the whole spectrum. Plenty of people came to his defense, and plenty of people heaped him onto the same bandwagon with Michael Irvin and Lawrence Phillips, even though nothing had been proved.
``I think the local media were very much willing to give Joe the benefit of the doubt. They knew it would really be out of character for him if it was true.''
If Warriors marketing director Jim Rogers, who helps push season tickets, had a contingency plan if Smith's trouble continued, he's not saying. It's simply full speed ahead, Rogers says, with Smith at the forefront of the marketing campaign.
``The thing that would've hurt the ticket effort the most was if he wasn't here,'' says Rogers, who says Smith's was the only picture used on the club's season-ticket renewal forms. ``He's an important part of the team, and there's nothing that sells tickets like a team that wins.''
Winning individuals don't hurt, either. Smith's vindication keeps him in that club. It validates his decency as a man and his worth as an example for youth and others.
The charges should be forgotten. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
The Golden State Warriors say Joe Smith's reputation as a role model
was enhanced by his decision to fight charges that he was involved
in a bar fight. by CNB