Cheap Seats

For him, life’s a snap

Mark Rodenhauser, Pittsburgh Steelers long snapper, is so accurate he can snap a football through a basketball hoop.

Rodenhauser said he learned to do it while growing up in Chicago, and he was accurate enough, he said, to make 2 of 10 from full court and 6 of 10 from half court.

Next, he’ll hustle off to Cooperstown

The election of George Brett to baseball’s Hall of Fame brought to mind a story Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe tells about the former El Segundo (Calif.) High all-around athlete.

“In his final month (as a Kansas City Royal), I asked Brett if he wanted to end his career like Ted Williams did, with a home run,” Gammons wrote. “`No, that’s Ted, and I’m not Ted,’ Brett replied. `In my final at-bat, I’d like to hit a ground ball to the second baseman and bust my behind trying to run it out.”’

Call him Mr. Public Relations

Indiana Pacers forward Antonio Davis admitted after the NBA settlement that the players need to improve their image.

“We’re going to go out and do things we don’t really like to do - sign autographs, reach out to the fans,” he said.

Comment from Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Don’t pull any muscles reaching out, Antonio.”

Sorry, Siaka, there’ll be no seconds

Coaches and recruiters go to a lot of work luring prospective stars to their campus, but who ever thought a star recruit would make his choice on hugging?

Siaka Massaquoi of Evanston, an all-Illinois running back, said he picked Iowa over Illinois, Michigan, Notre Dame and Northwestern because coach Hayden Fry “was the only coach who hugged me.”

After the season, Fry retired.

I think, therefore, I ain’t

Jim Courier, apparently on the downside of a championship tennis career, is thinking about life after tennis, but he says having played is no help at all.

“Tennis, unfortunately, doesn’t encourage any kind of intellectual development; it actually discourages that,” he said. “The dumber you are on the court, the better you’re going to play.”

Barely an endorsement

Several Chicago Bears said they were sorry to see coach Dave Wannstedt fired.

Wrote Bernie Lincicome in the Chicago Tribune: “How valuable is a vote of confidence from a 4-12 team? That’s like a gelding endorsing the surgeon.”

The last word …

“The IRL (Indy Racing League) is as exciting as brie on saltines.”

- Joe Hamelin of the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise