NBA

Not all charitable donations welcome

Women's group rejects money from site lauding Kobe Bryant.

By GREG AUMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published July 24, 2003

---

A women's charity foundation is refunding a donation and asking that its name be removed from freekobe.com, a site supporting Kobe Bryant, the Lakers star charged with sexually assaulting a Colorado teenager.

The site, which sells merchandise bearing its name and the slogan "Because we're running out of heroes," prominently noted it donated "more than $1,000" to the Women's Sports Foundation, with part of proceeds from the site going to the organization.

That might make fans more likely to buy a $15 T-shirt or "Free Kobe" thong underwear, but the foundation wanted no part of a site attempting to profit from an alleged sexual crime.

The site's main page urges fans to trust in Bryant's innocence, saying "the true sports fan sticks by the side of one of the all-time greats until given valid reasons to the contrary."

The site's donation check was being refunded, a foundation spokeswoman said, and the charity asked the site to remove all references to its organization.

"We were not aware that they were using our name, and considering its political views, the site is something we choose not to be involved with," said Eloise Longobardi of the foundation's PR department. "They put us on their site without our approval."

Longobardi said the check was accepted without knowing it came from the site. David Feingold of Boston, the site's designer and co-founder, launched the site two weeks ago and said daily traffic is up to 2.2-million hits.

"It wasn't supposed to be anything big, just supposed to be something tongue in cheek," said Feingold, who said he sold "a couple thousand" T-shirts on the site, which has no affiliation to Bryant. Feingold said he would take down the references to the charity and donations and said the foundation would accept his donation once he did.

The Women's Sports Foundation, founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King, is dedicated to "ensuring equal access to participation and leadership opportunities for all girls and women in sports and fitness."

Bowling

Lack of funding raises questions about future of women's tour

Colleges

Baylor to investigate if missing player paid

Cycling

Injured American gets win

Golf

Wyckoff rallies atInnisbrook

Some rules turn classy majors into goofy golf

Titans return to Turnberry

Vet, rookie share lead in France

In brief

Cabinet member calls for new supplement law

Little League

Citrus Park one win shy of state title

Southport again ends Hernando's title hopes

MLB

AL: Pettitte ends O's streak at six

NL: Mordecai homer leads Marlins past Braves

Tsao will be 1stpitcher from Taiwan in MLB

Motorsports

Rudd's longevity reaches new high

NBA

Four teams pull off a six-player trade

Not all charitable donations welcome

NFL

Redskins resume fight for nickname

Outdoors

Daily fishing report

Preps

Hard times bring out the best qualities in Weller

Achievements speak for Hosack

Rays

From lead to loss in 5 pitches

Rolls takes rest, Perez takes spot

Bucs

Discipline is the key to Smith's transition

Safety still a backup, still confident

Sapp, McFarland take turns with offense

Tempers flare, punches flail during intense goal-line drill

Lightning

Lightning adds depth to its defensive corps