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The Pessimist’s All-Star Game
What was advertised as a goodwill all-star football game between high school teams from Hawaii and Nevada came to an early end when it turned into in a bench-clearing brawl at Las Vegas High stadium.
It took the combined efforts of police, security officers, coaches and others to stop the fighting that erupted when a Hawaii player made a late hit. The game was called off with 10:43 to play in the half and Hawaii leading - on points, of course.
Ken Griffey Jr., Nintendo spokesman
His wrist broken in six places, Ken Griffey Jr. is unable to play baseball for the Seattle Mariners. Whether he’s able to operate a joystick is anybody’s guess. Regardless, the injury didn’t keep the All-Star outfielder from signing a four-year deal as corporate spokesman and video game development adviser for Nintendo, one of the Mariners’ parent companies.
During a recent home series against Oakland, Griffey was seen escorting game developers. Junior will help them develop two games, the first for the popular Super NES format, the second for the Nintendo Ultra 64 setup.
“It’s going to be realistic,” Griffey said, “but not just in the way it looks. I want it to feel just like it actually does to play in the ‘big show.”’
Just what Seattle fans need - a chance to watch the Mariners’ bullpen get shelled in 3-D.
Gotcha covered
How big was last Wednesday’s Dodgers-Braves game featuring L.A. phenom Hideo Nomo? Big enough for John Schuerholz, Atlanta’s executive veep, to leave his office early in order to join the festivities on the Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium field.
It resembled a playoff atmosphere, with 125 reporters, mini-cams, photographers, microphones and every other piece of electronic equipment gathered around the Dodgers dugout. The clincher: A reporter from the Atlanta newspaper was assigned to cover Japanese reporters, who were covering Nomo.
Some reporters even covered the game, a 4-1 victory for Atlanta.
Strawberries and sour grapes
Newspaper columnist Ian Stirrup of the London Daily Star was one Brit who didn’t tune in for Wimbledon.
“There’s more chance of Pamela Anderson giving me a love bite on my bun than a British player winning the men’s or women’s title,” he wrote. “Or even a British man winning the women’s title.”
The world’s greatest undercard
HBO’s proposed an eight-man, seven-fight heavyweight boxing tournament was barely off the ground when Showtime countered with a low blow, alleging that the entire effort was merely a warmup to find a challenger for the fighter it controls, Mike Tyson.
“We have no problem with HBO being a farm team for Showtime,” chortled Showtime executive Jay Larkin, who runs the boxing arm of HBO’s cable rival and has an exclusive contract to telecast Tyson’s first six fights.
The last word …
“A lot of people hate and/or distrust him, see him as sinister and greedy and heartless, but what does his family know? Just kidding.”
- Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, on Raiders owner Al Davis
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo