Just Shut Up And Play
Boston Celtics coach Rick Pitino is fed up with trash-talking in the NBA - and his own team has two of the worst offenders, Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce.
“Young people today, not only with the referees but with each other, give me an Excedrin headache,” he told Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune. “All they do is talk, talk, talk. They don’t play anymore. They’d rather talk. I’m from the old school, where you do your talking with your game on the court.
“If you can lower the self-esteem of a person today, you’re doing great. That’s the mind-set of young people today.”
Old school? Pitino still looks like he’s fresh out of prep school. And about that hair. When was the last time he changed his oil? And coach? When does he start?
Sportswriters can trash talk
Peter Vecsey, writing in the New York Post on a trade he says won’t happen: “So the Knicks are going to swap Patrick Ewing for Juwan Howard? Oh, really? I wasn’t sure they needed another statue in Washington.
“It’s a close call which one has more mobility, the Lincoln Memorial or Ewing.”
And so can the fans …
Upon his acrimonious return to Orlando, Fla., Phoenix Suns guard Penny Hardaway was greeted by a sign that said, “Penny’s new shoe contract: Penny Loafers.”
My recruits can eat
Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “I just love how every college and university in the country had such a great recruiting year.
“Just once, I’d like to hear a coach stand up on signing day and say, `The guys we signed are all slow, small and majoring in remedial eligibility. They look great at the training table, though.”’
Golf not the only game in town
Sergio Garcia, the 20-year-old Spanish golfing sensation, is playing his first full season on the PGA Tour - and he has an incentive other than golf.
“I just love American girls,” he told Golf World magazine. “That is a big attraction for me over here. The girls have class and are incredibly beautiful.”
The last word …
“Most American children can’t tell you a thing about evolution. But they can tell you everything about Mankind. He’s a wrestler, you know.”
- Detroit Free Press sportswriter Mitch Albom.