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The Maine event
It was weird enough when massive Cal tackle Terik Glenn punched Oregon State mascot Benny Beaver. Now a University of Maine basketball player must appear in court for allegedly assaulting his own school’s mascot, Bananas the Bear.
Henry McDaniel reportedly punched a man in the bear costume several times, resulting in a friction-burn on the chin and an inch-long bruise to the head.
Investigators said the incident began when the mascot appeared at a campus cafeteria to shake hands with students. McDaniel pulled him onto his lap and took several jabs, then tried to remove the bear’s head.
“I would never intentionally try to hurt anyone,” protested McDaniel. “At no point did I strike the bear hard. All of this stuff was just in jest.”
McDaniel said that when he last saw the mascot, they were in an a dorm elevator.
“He shook my hand, gave me a thumbs-up sign, and walked away,” he said.
And went to call Benny Beaver’s lawyer.
Don’t get yourself a Tizzy
The subject was tough guys in the NBA, which somehow reminded Sacramento Bee columnist R.E. Graswich of “The Tizzy Rules.”
They came out during the Sacramento Kings training camp of 1993, recorded by some UC Davis students assisting the staff and named in honor of forward Wayman Tisdale. It was, Graswich said, “the Magna Carta of softness - documentary evidence that players were laying down.”
Tisdale even autographed the document.
Among the rules: “If you hurt your big toe, tell ‘em you can’t go,” and “If you feel a tingle, sit on the side and mingle.” Last of the 10 points: “They can work you as long as they want but not as hard as they want.”
“You know that was a big joke,” said Tisdale, who now plays for the Phoenix Suns. “It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.”
Like the Kings themselves.
Chalk it up to being punch drunk
Mike Tyson’s big Fox fight with Buster Mathis Jr. is on hold now that Tyson has a broken thumb, but we had to treat you to the pithy analysis of Allan Malamud of the Los Angeles Times - who noted that Mathis’ father had once climbed in the ring with Joe Frazier. Smokin’ Joe won by a knockout in the 11th round.
“It will be a moral victory for Buster Jr. if he lasts that long,” wrote Malamud.
Would it ever. The fight was scheduled for 10.
Museum pieces
The bat David Justice used to hit the home run that won the 1995 World Series has been sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with the high-top spikes of Series MVP Tom Glavine. They’ll be included in a refurbished World Series exhibit.
Meanwhile, Albert Belle’s attitude is the latest attraction in the hall’s new interactive area, where you can pretend to be Hannah Storm.
The last word …
“Former Yankee Joe Pepitone was arrested for driving drunk in the Midtown Tunnel. If he’s convicted, he’ll be re-signed by the Yankees.”
- David Letterman
, DataTimes