Who’S The Softie, Iron Mike?
Giants New York Giants coach Jim Fassel was told that Mike Ditka called the “soft,” so Fassel needled Ditka:
“Mike brought his team here twice (as Saints coach), and twice they went home losing. OK? Now he’s in the booth, OK? He probably prefers to be on the sideline.
“I don’t think he needs to call my team soft, OK? Otherwise, he’d probably still be on the sideline. Tell him to get another tee time.”
A slam dunk
Sportswriter Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune writes that the dunk has ruined basketball - at least for him.
“Because I can’t see what great skill it takes for a large athletic person to stand under a basket, leap and slam the ball through the rim. It drives me nuts when people applaud dunks. They are not worthy of a golf clap.
“Are you thrilled when Tiger (Woods) makes a 2-inch putt? Nothing pleases me more than when some big lummox misses a dunk and the ball caroms off to half-court. Now that’s entertainment.”
No hanging chads
Milwaukee Bucks guard Ray Allen, after leading his team to an improbable comeback victory over the Miami Heat:
“I think Miami gave up. They thought the game was over. Florida has been bad for the whole country, but it has been good to us.”
Plain and simple: Colts stink
Bob Kravitz in the Indianapolis Star, on the disappointing Indianapolis Colts:
“There was enough talent here to at least make the playoffs, and please spare me all this ridiculous talk about expectations were too high. They weren’t too high. Nobody was expecting another 13-3 season. But a 10-6 year? A playoff spot? Absolutely.
“The Colts will be quick to point out that it appears there will be four new division winners out of six, and two other Super Bowl hopefuls, Washington and St. Louis, are taking on water. Sorry, but the parity excuse is for losers. Call it for what it is: a monumental failure, an epic exercise in underachievement.”
And you think you had a bad day
Golfer Joe Daley missed qualifying for the PGA Tour by one stroke at the qualifying tournament that wrapped up Monday at La Quinta, Calif.
That stroke can be traced back to Saturday when, after hitting into the water on No. 17, he had a 2-foot putt for double bogey. The ball went in, bounced off the bottom of the cup and came right back out.
The last word …
“If you miss one, just blame it on the holder and go on to the next one.” - Old advice to a young kicker from Cleveland Browns kicking great Lou “the Toe” Groza, who died Nov. 29 at the age of 76.