Cheap Seats
Nice guys can’t hit a curve
“He’s really polite,” San Diego Padres minor league center fielder Ethan Faggett said of Garth Brooks, who ran over to introduce himself when he came into Thursday’s exhibition game against the Seattle Mariners. “He said, `Hey, tell me what I need to do and tell me how I need to line up.’ He’s really polite and he’s really interested in learning the ins and outs of the game.”
Kiss-and-tell buries NBA
A lockout-scarred season could have been partially responsible. The lowly Charlotte Hornets as the opponent didn’t help, either. But the biggest culprit was television.
Blame it on Monica.
The Magic took a historic dip in attendance Wednesday night when the turnstile count fell below 12,000 for the first time in the franchise’s 10-year history.
Although there were 15,421 tickets distributed - the third-fewest in nine home games this season - only 11,918 tickets were used.
ABC’s interview with Monica Lewinsky earlier this month didn’t start until 9 p.m., but the Magic and Orlando Arena officials think it siphoned off basketball fans from their 7:30 tipoff. Initial television ratings showed 74 million Americans tuned into the interview.
Maybe the Magic should sign Lewinsky to a 10-day contract and see what happens.
Get your mouth out of the sewer
So, Buddy Baker, how does it feel to get torched in Sports Illustrated?
“I guess if you’re not well-known, there’s no point in someone ripping you,” Baker said from his North Carolina home. “I can’t apologize for being Southern.”
In case you missed the SI column by Steve Rushin, Baker, 58, was prominently mentioned in the piece. Rushin made fun of the way Baker speaks, NASCAR’s commercialization and racing fans.
Rushin wrote, “Race fans, I had inferred from my one visit to the Indianapolis 500, fell into one of two categories: tattooed, shirtless, sewer-mouthed drunks; and their husbands.”
We’re guessing that Sports Illustrated was hoping NASCAR fans can’t read either. Wrong!
Fashion statement
Jay Leno told his viewers that, as fired Los Angeles Lakers coach Del Harris departed from the Forum with his pink slip, he encountered the arriving Dennis Rodman wearing one.
The last word …
“You’ve got to be hotter than two pack rats playing in a wool sock.” - Jay Buhner of the Seattle Mariners to a man wearing a long-sleeved black sweater on a hot spring training day in Arizona.