Cheap Seats

No bottles, cans or fans

The basketball game between a Greek and a Turkish team that was called off last week when rival players brawled will be replayed without spectators.

FIBA, the world governing body of basketball, said no fans will be allowed at the Jan. 7 game. Only 25 members of each team, plus 45 reporters, will be let into the arena.

The Korac Cup game between Aris Salonica and Besiktas Istanbul in the northern Greek city was stopped with 18 minutes to play.

FIBA suspended Istanbul’s former NBA player Gary Alexander and Salonica’s Dinos Aggelides, the two who started the fight. Alexander, who was released by Greek police after being booked for assault, will have to sit out four games, while Aggelides was suspended for three games

Royalty lands in the rough

Prince Philip, the foot-in-the-mouth hubby of Queen Elizabeth, is searching for his shoe horn again.

The 75-year-old duke of Edinburgh drew sharp criticism in London for his assertion to a radio interviewer that gun enthusiasts represent no greater potential public menace than golfers or squash players.

A gun is no more dangerous than a cricket bat in the hands of a madman, the prince said.

But in a country still smarting from the murder of 16 children and their teacher in a Dunblane, Scotland, school by a gun-loving psychopath last March, the prince’s remarks were viewed as unfavorable.

Hey Prince, now might be a good time to take your mulligan.

Tyson and his Trumbull County kennel

Things keep getting worse for Mike Tyson.

First, he loses to Evander Holyfield. Now, they’re taking away his tiger.

Judge Mitchell Shaker of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court ruled a zoning board was correct in denying Tyson the right to keep a tiger at his northeastern Ohio estate.

Tyson’s attorney filed suit, contending the township’s zoning laws were unconstitutional. He argued that Tyson had a right to keep the cat because it was for exhibition and promotional purposes, not a pet. Tyson’s home is in an area zoned for business.

Isn’t one untamed animal per household enough?

God’s team

Worshipers at the Las Colinas Church in Irving, Texas, love the Dallas Cowboys so much, a large TV screen is placed outside the sanctuary for churchgoers to watch the pregame shows.

The way things are going for the Cowboys, the players probably ought to be watching the church services.

Now we know

Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran a list of some reasons why Nebraska lost to Texas in the Big 12 Conference championship game at St. Louis.

Some samples:

Pregame pep talk by Lawrence Phillips.

Halftime adjustments courtesy of Rich Brooks.

Forced to dress in the Rams’ locker room.

Now we can really call soccer a Mickey Mouse sport

The first international soccer Hall of Fame will be built on a site just outside EuroDisney.

A 100,000-square foot building is scheduled to open in early 1998.

The last word …

“If God tapped me on the shoulder and said ‘You’ve got to stay with the Houston Oilers,’ I’d ask him if I could retire.”

Oilers cornerback Cris Dishman on his team, which has lost five of its last seven games.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo