For Him, Big Apple Olympics Are Rotten

Mitch Albom in the Detroit Free Press: “No. No. A thousand red lights no! New York City hosting the Olympic Games? Who came up with this idea? Someone stuck in a taxi, trying to get across town? Yeah, here’s what we need. More ... people!

” ... The city it beat out -- and I hope you’re sitting down -- San Francisco. Right. Because when it comes to late August, where would you rather be -- alongside a breezy Pacific Ocean or inhaling bus fumes in 90-degree heat?

“The official reason that the Big Apple was given the nod was that it promised several billion dollars worth of improvements and an Olympic village from which the average distance to a venue ‘would be no more than 6 miles.’ Or in New York City traffic, three years.”

Trivia time: In what statistical category did former UCLA halfback Jackie Robinson lead the NCAA in 1939 and 1940?

They need Shaq: Barbara Barker of Newsday, on the struggling Lakers: “You know all those wonderful, unsung Lakers such as Robert Horry and Derek Fisher whom you hear about at playoff time? Well there’s a reason they’re unsung for most of the year: Without Shaq in the middle creating open shots, they aren’t all that wonderful. The two combined to hit 32 of their first 100 shots this season.”

Gloating: Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, commenting on the unbeaten Miami Hurricanes: “Other programs stumble and fall out of step; Miami marches on. Other programs come and go; Miami just keeps coming.

“Florida State struggles to beat Wake Forest; Florida struggles to beat Vanderbilt. Miami beats anybody and everybody.”

Understated: Bud Geracie in the San Jose Mercury News: “Speaking of the Cubs, Dusty [Baker] said: ‘They haven’t had a lot of success lately.’ Yeah, like the last 94 years.

* “Among the 30 teams in baseball, only one [Atlanta] has had the same manager for more than eight seasons and only five haven’t made a change in the past five years.”

Hypocritical? Unlike other networks, NBC doesn’t show a permanent score box during football games. “NBC claims it doesn’t want to ruin the beauty of its pictures,” said Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune. “This from the network that gave us the XFL.”

Simple solution: Pat Riley, after the Miami Heat gave up 100 points in the first two games: “You want to get it back to 70? I’ll get it back to 70 quick. It’s easy to have a good defense in this league -- you just don’t shoot the ball and don’t dribble it very much.”

No more “D”: Sam Cassell of the Milwaukee Bucks, after committing three fouls in 43 seconds against the New York Knicks: “I caught myself playing defense. Now I know what not to do. The more pressure I put on, the more I fouled. I told [Coach] George [Karl] I’m done with that.”

Trivia answer: Robinson led the NCAA in punt-return average, with averages of 20.0 yards in 1939 and 21.0 in 1940.

And finally: Bernie Lincicome in the Rocky Mountain News: “NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s threat to fine coaches if their players make helmet-to-helmet hits will make as much difference as putting a bib on a Rottweiler.”

-- Mal Florence