Cheap Seats
Broken serves, not noses
British bookies have again shortened the odds on Monica Seles winning the U.S. Open - from 2-1 to 3-2 - this time after her victory in the Canadian Open, her first tennis tournament in 2 years.
“The Seles comeback has been staggering, even overshadowing Mike Tyson’s return to the ring,” one London bookmaker said. “While the odds were in Tyson’s favor, Monica has achieved her comeback against all the odds. Two weeks ago, we rated her at no better than 6-1 to win the U.S. Open.”
Perhaps Tyson’s comeback victory would’ve been more impressive had Peter McNeeley been armed with the oversized graphite racket of his choice.
High jinx factors
The California Angels have more than the Mariners and Rangers to worry about in the A.L. West. There’s also the ex-Cubs factor, which says the team with the most ex-Cubs on the roster loses.
The Angels have five: Lee Smith, Mike Harkey, Mike Bielecki, Shawn Boskie and Scott Sanderson.
Said Smith: “The bad thing is having Cubs hitters. Cubs pitchers don’t count. And some of us have swung through so many teams, maybe they don’t remember we’re former Cubs.”
The NFL’s answer to the Cubs is the Cincinnati Bengals, who lost top draft pick Ki-Jana Carter to a season-ending knee injury. Former Bengals fullback Derrick Fenner, now with the Raiders, was hardly surprised.
“The bad-luck Bengals,” said Fenner, who also served time with the sometimes-cursed Seahawks. “It wasn’t a surprise to me. Anyone who goes there is cursed. It’s a good thing me and (Raiders running back) Eric Ball got out in time.”
Fenner isn’t concerned about encountering bad luck when the Raiders visit Cincy in Week Nine. “It’s not the city, it’s the uniform,” he said. “It’s cursed.”
For the record
Word out of Baltimore has President Clinton angling to be in attendance at Camden Yards when Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken breaks Lou Gehrig’s consecutive-game record, most likely Sept. 6.
Was Ripken there when Clinton set the consecutive rejected-nominations record?
NMSU - No More Student-athletes University
You need wading boots to explore the transfer-credits scandal at New Mexico State, reports Gene Wojciechowski in The Sporting News. According to recent allegations, Aggies players didn’t always do their own work on correspondence-course exams.
In a meeting with the editors of the Albuquerque Journal, J. Michael Orenduff, who has been president of the school for a month, issued a blunt assessment of a student-athlete’s role: “The reason they’re in college is to play ball.”
Asked about New Mexico State’s graduation rates for its players - not a single Aggies hoopster earned a degree last year - Orenduff said, “I guess I don’t care, basically. What I care about is, point one, that the students in the athletic program meet the minimum requirements (for admission). Point two is that they meet the requirements to stay eligible.”
Point three is that, with buffoons like Orenduff in high places, it’s no wonder student-athletes are harder and harder to find.
The last word …
“I’m sorry to say I don’t know one or the other.”
- Tennis star Steffi Graf, when asked how much she’s worth and if she knows the location of her money
, DataTimes