Cheap Seats
And no fair using them as a tablecloth
Nick Saban, Michigan State’s football coach, has been among those rumored for an NFL job. But his wife Terry has other ideas.
The Sabans have just finished decorating their home in East Lansing. “And I told Nick we weren’t moving until the drapes get dirty,” Terry said.
The gospel according to George
Outspoken George Karl is cutting out the middle man.
Tired, perhaps, of having himself interpreted in the print press, the Seattle SuperSonics coach is writing a critical book called “This Game’s the Best!” which is scheduled to be released in the spring by St. Martin’s Press.
Karl plans to give insights into Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and his own team. In addition, he plans to discuss such topics as:
How the marketing of players has eroded team play
How superstars “blackmail” coaches and may bankrupt the NBA because their salaries are so huge
How young athletes are ruined by coddling coaches and greedy parents
How excuses become the way to deal with failure
How players and fans have lost perspective of the game and their lives.
Perhaps the title should be amended to, “This Game’s the Best, But the People in It (Except Me) Suck.”
Miracle on maple
At a recent NBA league meeting, an official announced that all 50 members of the Greatest Players in History would be on hand during the All-Star festivities in Cleveland.
Columnist Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News notes that it “should be quite a scene when Pete Maravich walks out on Gund Arena floor.”
These stone playbooks sure are heavy
If Bill Walsh ever has any self-esteem problems - and that’s hardly likely - he’ll find a quick cure in the pages of the San Francisco Chronicle.
After Chronicle reporters saw Walsh conferring with 49ers offensive coordinator Marc Trestman during a game with the Washington Redskins, they asked Trestman what was said. When Trestman replied that Walsh had suggested a play that might work, this was the Chronicle’s response:
“No big deal, except it’s Bill Walsh, so it’s a little like Moses saying, ‘Folks, take a look, see if you think any of these commandments might work.”’ And then he parted the bay and walked home.
And take his wife - please!
Dan Kreft isn’t on the roster of Northwestern’s basketball team this year - either because he’s used up his eligibility or worn out his welcome.
Last year Kreft, a back-up center, kept a diary on the Internet and wrote, among other things, about players visiting a strip club. He also ripped his coach’s 5-year-old son, whom he described as “quite possibly the most incredibly annoying child I’ve ever had the dubious pleasure of knowing.” He later apologized to coach Ricky Byrdsong and his family.
Dan can now be accessed at http://www.yankedride.com.
The last word …
“I took my daughter to see it. It’s OK, but it ain’t no ‘Gone With the Wind.”’
- Charles Barkley, on Michael Jordan’s movie “Space Jam”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo