Cheap Seats

Can the officials flag them for stupidity?

University of Mississippi fans will be allowed to fly the Confederate flag at the first Motor City Bowl.

Greg Roberts, Silverdome director of marketing and events, said the flag isn’t a restricted item at the stadium, although fans won’t be allowed to attach it to sticks or poles when Ole Miss faces Marshall University on Dec. 26.

The flags, a traditional rallying point for Ole Miss fans, have come under fire this year for being a symbol of racism and segregation.

Roberts, who said he has received hate mail because Confederate flags will be allowed, said he would “be glad to” ban the Confederate flags from the bowl game if Ole Miss made the request.

“We aren’t allowed to do searches, so what am I supposed to do when 20,000 people bring them in and wave them around like cry towels whenever Ole Miss does something good?” Roberts asked.

Everyone has a right to be an idiot.

Blame it on the big guy

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post thinks that center Patrick Ewing, and not coach Jeff Van Gundy, should be taking the heat for the New York Knicks’ inconsistency, saying:

“If Ewing really wants that championship ring, he’d better take a long, deep look inside his overpaid soul.

“Ewing must stand up and lead, or the only ring he’s going to see is the one left around the whirlpool where he soaks his aching knees.”

He’s got ring around the collar, too - from choking every year.

Kids say the darndest things

You have to know Eddie Anderson to appreciate his professionalism.

The veteran safety for the Raiders seldom overreacts to criticism from media or fans about his team’s poor play.

But when those unflattering remarks come from children, well, Anderson has to do a double-take.

“Kids can be very blunt,” said Anderson, who has heard some of the insults while taking his 9-year-old son Brandon to school. “They tell you up front what they think. I’ve heard, ‘Hey, man, the Raiders really suck’ to how lame we are, stuff like that.

“Kids are going to react to what they see on television, even though they may not know the whole story,” he said. “They’ve all got their favorite teams and if those teams aren’t doing well, they hear it from their friends. But that’s the way it is until they grow up and learn.”

Until they grow up and learn? Football fans never grow up. Nor do they learn.

Enjoy the ride

Denver Broncos defensive end Alfred Williams, discussing the challenge of stopping Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis before last Sunday’s game: “We can’t let ‘the Bus’ take us to school.”

Bettis gained 125 yards in 24 carries as the Steelers won 35-24.

The last word …

“I didn’t care that much about his height, because I’d seen other small linebackers make it in this league. We didn’t bring him in here to put in light bulbs.”

- Larry Lacewell, the Dallas Cowboys’ director of scouting, commenting on the 5-foot-8 height of standout rookie linebacker Dexter Coakley

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo