Cheap Seats
On the road to indecision
The folks in Edmonton, Alberta, first had to decide if Wayne Gretzky’s name should be on the city airport or on a street next to the hockey arena where he gained fame with the Oilers.
They decided the street would be better. Now another decision: Should Capilano Drive be renamed Wayne Gretzky Way or Wayne Gretzky Drive?
The ballots aren’t in yet.
Still the king of crabbiness
Newly minted Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe, who reached the mixed doubles semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this month before partner Steffi Graf withdrew, says it might have been his last hurrah at the citadel of tennis. And he’s not at all happy about it.
“I would like to have had one last chance, but when Steffi Graf withdrew, it had gone,” McEnroe wrote in the Daily Telegraph. “This is probably my last Wimbledon as a major factor. Maybe no one cared, but I care. My kids were here, they cared.
“I wanted to try and win the championship and what happens still feels like a punch in the stomach.”
Fine, John, so send back the check.
No mustard on that hot horse, please
As of Friday, gamblers at Lone Star Park outside of Dallas can play the horses the same way they buy Egg McMuffins - at the drive-through on the way to work.
The four service lanes are in the track parking lot, just off Belt Line Road, a main thoroughfare.
“People just don’t have time these days,” said track spokesman Darren Rogers. “This is just something that will make life a little easier.”
Lone Star is the nation’s second thoroughbred track to offer drive-up windows, following Keeneland, a track in Lexington, Ky., that started similar service last year, Lone Star general manager Corey Johnsen said.
“You just drive right up and make your wagers and pay for them and off you go,” Johnsen said. He promised face-to-face service, “no Jack in the Box speakers or anything.”
And you don’t have to pray for a ride home.
Keep this under your hat
When temperatures soared above 150 degrees on the field a week ago in Cincinnati, some of the players wrapped their necks with towels soaked in ammonia and cold water. Others turned to an old-fashioned remedy of wearing cabbage leaves soaked in ammonia under their caps.
“They say that Babe Ruth did it. If the Bambino can do it, we can do it,” Cincinnati first baseman Sean Casey said.
In case you’re scoring at home
Left-hander Allen Watson made three appearances for the Seattle Mariners before he was released after a very short stay late last month. Each time he pitched, he gave up a home run to the leadoff batter.
His replacement, Damaso Marte, served up a home run on his first major league pitch.
The last word …
“Looks like somebody cut up the drapes and made shirts out of them.”
- Cincinnati Reds manager Jack McKeon, on viewing Houston’s “old-time” uniforms on a recent turn-back-the clock night in the Astrodome.