Home of Greene’s parents painted with racist graffiti

Shawnee — The parents of standout sprinter Maurice Greene came home last weekend to find racist graffiti spray-painted on a fence outside their suburban Kansas City home.

“We couldn’t figure out why anyone would want to do that,” Jackie Greene said Thursday. “We don’t have any enemies — that we knew of.”

She said it was the first time in the 5 1/2 years she and her husband Ernest, who are black, have lived in the predominantly white neighborhood that they’ve experienced any kind of racially prejudicial activity.

The Greenes didn’t even want their son, who is taking part in various events leading up to the Olympics in Athens, to know about the incident.

They waited until Tuesday, a day after he ran at the Payton Jordan U.S. Open in California. He had run a 9.84 in the 100 the previous week, and Monday’s effort was even faster, a wind-aided 9.78 seconds.

“He was upset,” Jackie Greene said of her son’s reaction to the news. “He asked what were we going to do, were we going to move. We said, ‘We’re not going anywhere, we’re fine.'”

She said the letters “KKK” were sprayed in white on the fence, with “white power” in black paint. The vandalism took place sometime between 11 p.m. Friday, when a neighbor who drove by saw nothing on the fence, and shortly after midnight when the Greenes arrived home and saw it.

Baseball

Sexson’s season over

Phoenix — Arizona slugger Richie Sexson will undergo season-ending surgery early next week to repair torn cartilage in his left shoulder.

Sexson made the decision after getting a second opinion Wednesday from Dr. James Andrews, a noted sports surgeon in Birmingham, Ala. Both Andrews and Diamondbacks team doctor Michael Lee recommended the operation.

Sexson, acquired from Milwaukee in a nine-player deal in the offseason, played in just 23 games for Arizona. He hit .233, but had nine home runs and 23 RBIs in 90 at-bats.

WNBA

Wheaties honors champs

Minneapolis — Now it’s the breakfast of WNBA champions.

Six WNBA standouts will grace the cover of a Wheaties box that will hit stores later this month.

Ruth Riley, Swin Cash, Sheryl Swoopes, Tina Thompson, Nikki Teasley and Lisa Leslie will appear on the box for the cereal dubbed “The Breakfast of Champions.” All six have won at least one WNBA championship.