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A heaven-sent idea
Ted Williams says it’s time to let Shoeless Joe Jackson, who died in 1951, into the baseball Hall of Fame. Jackson was banned from baseball for his alleged role in tanking the 1919 World Series.
“He served his sentence,” Williams, baseball’s last .400 hitter, said from his Florida home. “How severely does a person have to be punished?”
The case for Jackson is simple, he said.
“It was a lifetime ban,” he said. “His life is over.”
Too many stars in NBA’s universe
Kobe Bryant will make his All-Star debut this weekend and will replace Charles Barkley as the media darling. Barkley is a Bryant fan but takes his affection for the 19-year-old only so far.
“Kobe has unbelievable talent, but nobody’s going to sit here and call him a great player,” Barkley said. “First of all, the people who compare him to Michael Jordan should be ashamed. To mention him and Michael Jordan in the same breath is just stupid.”
Barkley was just warming up.
“I blame the league and the press. You all make these guys think they’re better than they are. They’re marketed all over the place. There are a lot of really bad players who think they can play because of the NBA. Any guy can go out there and get 20 points a night …
“When I came into the league, you had to be an All-Star five or six times before they called you a superstar. Now, if you have one good month, somebody calls you a star. It’s embarrassing for me to watch a game now. Every announcer is a homer, telling you about a guy’s potential. Everyone’s a great player now.”
Nuggets are deadly
After a 39-point loss to Chicago, their fourth by more than 30 this season, the Denver Nuggets were 4-41 before Wednesday night’s game against Sacramento, the Nuggets’ last game before the All-Star break. They need six wins to avoid the NBA record for fewest in a season. It promises to be a photo finish.
“They’re very close to being the worst NBA team I’ve seen,” Chicago’s Dennis Rodman said. “I can’t say anything good about the Nuggets. They’ll probably be competitive on the day I die.”
Not enough nuggets to pay Pippen
For all their failures on the court, the Nuggets have been successful in sticking to their plan of freeing room under the salary cap. They may have a problem, however, luring top free agents to a losing team.
“I’d need all $20 million they’ve got under the cap and then some,” said Bulls forward Scottie Pippen, who is a free agent next season. “I’d need Broncos season tickets.”
Pippen knows a deal-breaker.
His idea of an exclusive
Phil Mushnick of the New York Post reflecting on the Super Bowl: “NBC’s nearly three-hour pregame (show) offered no new ideas, no-beneath-the-surface insights, no clever angles and no out-of-the-ordinary features.
“Perhaps the best part of the show came early, when Ahmad Rashad, in easily his most candid on-air moment in his 15 years with NBC, announced that kickoff was scheduled for 6:24 (EST).”
The last word …
“They’re also searching for Amelia Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa.”
- NBC’s Bob Costas’ jaded view of the search for a baseball commissioner.
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