The Sergeant Took Disciplinary Action to Stop Shaq Attack

Philip Harrison, father of NBA superstar-in-waiting Shaquille O’Neal, is a no-nonsense Army sergeant stationed at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio. Not surprisingly, Harrison did not use kid gloves in raising his son, selected by the Orlando Magic with the first pick in the NBA draft.

David Whitley of the San Antonio Light relates this story:

On a dare, O’Neal once pulled a fire alarm at an Army gym and was nabbed by Military Police, who called his father. Harrison came to the station with a paddle in hand.

“Sgt. Harrison,” one of the MPs said, “if you hit him, we’re going to have to charge you with child abuse and write you up.”

Unfazed, Harrison proceeded to turn O’Neal over and put the paddle to use--as the bewildered MPs looked the other way.

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Add O’Neal: On another occasion, Whitley reports, O’Neal came to breakfast before school wearing neat clothes and displaying only the best manners. Naturally, his parents thought something was up.

So Harrison followed O’Neal to school and watched as he unbuttoned his shirt, rolled up his sleeves and romped around the classroom.

When O’Neal saw his dad, he froze.

“I told him he should not be doing that, to go back and sit down,” Harrison said. “I wasn’t there to spy on him. But sometimes when children get away from you, they tend to act differently.

“I wanted him to know that Daddy might not be there. Or he just might.”

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Last add O’Neal: According to Whitley, O’Neal was in a business class one day at Louisiana State when a guest speaker informed the students that they could expect to start their careers making $25,000 a year. As the 7-foot-1, 295-pound O’Neal slumped in embarrassment, the speaker said: “Well, I guess in this class I have to change that.”

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Trivia time: Two professional athletes who left pro baseball to concentrate on their current sports were once part of the Toronto Blue Jay organization. Identify them.

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Words to savor: The trophy case in the Ronda, N.C., home of former stock car driver Junior Johnson contains more than the hardware Johnson accumulated by winning 50 Grand National races between 1953 and 1966. It also contains a very important message from former President Ronald Reagan.

As Johnson, now a NASCAR team owner, told Jerry Green of the Detroit News: “I got caught at a still, making whiskey. I was in prison 11 months and three days. . . . It’s been 30 years or so. I put in for a pardon, and President Reagan pardoned me.”

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Add words: Johnson became something of a national figure in 1965 when novelist Tom Wolfe wrote a story about him for Esquire magazine entitled “The Last American Hero.” Wolfe stopped work he was doing on a piece on Elizabeth Taylor so he could visit Johnson in North Carolina--a decision that still baffles Johnson. “I couldn’t understand how he left her to do that,” he told Green.

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Future knock: Frank Luksa of the Dallas Morning News didn’t think much of the trade in which the Dallas Mavericks sent veteran guard Rolando Blackman to the New York Knicks for a No. 1 draft pick in 1995. Wrote Luksa: “The Mavericks didn’t trade (Blackman) to the New York Knicks. They donated him.”

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Now it can be told: Although he hasn’t had an endorsement deal since 1989, when a sponsor told him he was “of no monetary value” to the company, U.S. Open upstart Andy Dillard wore a visor promoting a particular brand of golf ball throughout the tournament at Pebble Beach.

Why that visor?

Dillard says a fellow pro, Willie Wood, told him he once received $1,900 from the ball manufacturer for appearing on television three times during the Las Vegas Invitational. Now, Dillard, who finished tied for 17th at the Open, is hoping for similarly easy money.

“I’ve got no idea what they pay,” he said, “but I’m looking forward to the check. The meter was running all week.”

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Now it can be told, II: The reason Mike Powell was assigned No. 30 to wear at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials in New Orleans has nothing to do with his desire to become the first 30-foot long jumper. Athletes simply were assigned numbers in the order that their entries were received and processed. Powell’s entry simply happened to be No. 30.

As for No. 1, that designation went to Hollis Conway, a high jumper.

All told, 1,389 numbers were issued for the trials.

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Trivia answer: Portland Trail Blazer guard Danny Ainge played parts of three seasons for the Blue Jays. Raider quarterback Jay Schroeder spent four years in the Blue Jays’ minor league system.

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Quotebook: Eric Lindros, who has refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques, upon sitting down at a luncheon sponsored by the Hockey News: “It is always an honor when you are unemployed to have a free meal.”