Cheap Seats

Ah, yes, the bottom line

New Orleans Saints receiver Sean Dawkins caught eight passes against the 49ers a couple weeks ago, but fumbled twice and dropped three passes. That got him a ringing blast from coach Mike Ditka.

“I’m self-motivated,” said Dawkins, who pointed out he can be a free agent after this season.

Over to you, Monica

Everyone wondering what Monica Lewinsky sounded like on the tapes secretly recorded by Linda Tripp got some unexpected voices as well - Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Bob Brenly.

When TV networks played excerpts of the Lewinsky-Tripp tapes, the Fox announcers could be heard in the background, calling Game 5 of the 1997 A.L. division series between Cleveland and New York, which Tripp apparently had on during a phone call.

“If this isn’t the ultimate sign that baseball is back, I don’t know what is,” McCarver said. “I’m inquiring about residuals.”

Buck, who is interrupted at one point by Lewinsky referring to President Clinton as “the big creep,” joked that this validates his career in the eyes of his wife.

“The World Series was great, the All-Star game wonderful and NFL on Fox terrific,” he said. “But when she heard my voice this morning on the treadmill, it was cause for celebration.”

Buck, reflecting on his new broadcast partners, said “It brings a whole new level to the three-man booth. I think less is more and trying to get in an analyst and basically a spy is tough work for a play-by-play guy. If you heard it, I tried to let it breathe a little so Linda could talk.”

This chance has cheered him up

With an injury-riddled defense increasingly hammered during the NCAA I-AA football playoffs, top-ranked Georgia Southern has been forced to seek help from a former cheerleader.

Tony Butler, a 5-11, 202-pound junior, whose sister is the placekicker at Georgia’s Riverdale High School, will start at linebacker Saturday when the Eagles play Western Illinois in a semifinal at Atlanta.

Butler was a cheerleader at Georgia State before transferring and walking on at Georgia Southern in the spring of 1997.

“When nobody offered Tony a scholarship after high school, he was a little discouraged, so he went to Georgia State,” Riverdale High coach George Spencer said. “He found out that there was a little scholarship money in cheerleading, so he said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’ It was a little strange, him being a cheerleader and his sister down here as a placekicker.”

Tonya Butler, who will be in a uniform in the Georgia Dome on Saturday for Riverdale High, has made 62 of 63 PATs and seven of 11 field-goal attempts, with a long of 39 yards. According to Spencer, Tonya could be fortunate enough to get a scholarship, something her brother still hasn’t earned.

Can it get any worse?

Says coach Ray Rhodes of his situation with the pathetic Philadelphia Eagles: “I guess this is hell. If hell is worse than this, then hell is really something.”

And you thought Augusta was exclusive

Golf World reports that Florida billionaire Wayne Huizenga has built an 18-hole golf course on his South Florida estate and limits access to his family and about 100 “honorary” members.”

Said Huizenga, “We don’t ever have to worry about playing with someone we don’t like.”

The last word …

“There were issues to be addressed. I was looking to knock his head off.”

- St. Louis Blues tough guy Tony Twist, on why he and the Chicago Black Hawks’ Dennis Bonvie asked officials not to separate them during a recent fight.