Cheap Seats
Better not hit the snooze button
New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, who fathered a baby during the off-season at age 55, doesn’t mind the late-night demands of parenting.
“I’m 55,” Torre said, “so I have to get up three times during the night to go to the bathroom, anyway.”
“Art” sells
The original Olympians competed nude. For old time’s sake - and for the benefit of Life magazine - a handful of current Olympians have stripped off their spandex.
The magazine’s July issue carries a photo essay of 17 members of the U.S. team, most photographed in the nude. Titled “Naked Power, Amazing Grace: A photographic celebration of the Olympic body,” the issue includes photos concentrating on different parts of the bodies. The idea, photographer Joe McNally said, was to reveal the physical impact of each athlete’s intense training.
There’s the huge hand of weightlifter Mark Henry and the highly muscled leg of track athlete Gail Dever, for example, as well as the feet of marathoner Linda Somer.
Images certain to grab more attention include the two-page color picture of synchronized swimmers Nathalie Schneyder and Margot Thien floating upside-down and naked, and a full-body side view of Carl Lewis midstride.
Schneyder put it aptly: “I’m a little nervous, but I think it’s just great exposure for the sport.”
Wonder if they asked Penthouse for those classy photos from Tonya Harding’s honeymoon.
What? No Heat-Clippers game?
The Miami Dolphins have won more games at home since the NFL merger in 1970 than any other team, including four AFC title games.
So what did readers of the Miami Herald recently vote the biggest home game in south Florida history? Try the Florida Panthers’ Game 6 victory over Pittsburgh in last month’s Stanley Cup finals.
The highest-rated Dolphins game was the 1985 Monday night victory over Chicago that cost the Bears a perfect season. That placed fourth in the voting, also behind two of Miami’s Orange Bowl victories.
Wrote Dallas Morning News football writer Rick Gosselin, “It’s hard to believe Jimmy Johnson would end up in a town with so little regard for its NFL team.”
Not bitter, are we, Rick?
Yogi must’ve proofread it
Anybody can toss a little malapropism out there once in a while during a television broadcast, as Harry Caray proves nearly every inning. But it takes a true legend like our hero, Ralph Kiner, to unfurl one in the forward to a book.
In William Hageman’s new book on Honus Wagner, Ralph the wordsmith was two sentences into his ode to how unappreciated Wagner was when he wrote: “Wagner simply played the game without the fanfare Cobb and Wagner generated.”
It’s always tough to live up to your own fanfare.
He’s easy to steal off of
Two bats belonging to Atlanta pitcher Greg Maddux were stolen while the Braves were in Chicago recently. A short time later, his glove disappeared between Denver and New York. “I liked that glove,” Maddux said. “I’ll probably see it in about two years when someone asks me to sign it.”
The last word …
“Each day, Lawrence Phillips shows promise for the Rams of filling the void left by Darryl Henley.”
Michael Ventre, Los Angeles Daily News columnist
, DataTimes