THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 11, 1996 TAG: 9610110692
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: 58 lines
Idle thought: Some social commentators are insinuating that Richie Garcia's blown call in Yankee Stadium was a payback for Roberto Alomar's spitting escapade, but I believe incompetence of this magnitude must come naturally to some people.
TV timeout: Putting Jeffrey Maier on the David Letterman show is redundant. The 12-year-old already performed his stupid human trick.
Center of attention: It's time America got to know more about Bernie Williams, the Yankees' clutch centerfielder.
Fall ball: This year's playoffs are a reminder that baseball is capable of offering genuinely riveting theater when the games mean something. It's that interminable 162-game season that puts people to sleep.
Money matters: The New York Yankees payroll of $66 million would cover the salaries of four Montreal Expos teams.
Name game: What is it with Davis Love III? I mean, is it really necessary to keep calling him Davis Love ``the third''? Is there any real danger that we will confuse him with Davis Love I or Davis Love II or any of the other Davis Loves on the PGA Tour?
In good company: A preseason college basketball magazine called Athlon selects Odell Hodge of Old Dominion as the third best center in the nation behind Wake Forests' Tim Duncan and Colgate's Adonal Foyle. If Hodge can live up to this sort of hype, ODU should be in great shape.
An audience awaits: With a little promotion, somebody (maybe Don King) could turn the George Steinbrenner-Reggie Jackson unpleasantness into a pay-per-view event.
Nice move: A clause in the contract of Baltimore outfielder B.J. Surhoff pays $100,000 for 500 times at bat during the regular season. Surhoff, who has been playing hurt, fell 14 at-bats short, but the Orioles gave him his money anyway.
Alphabet soup: If you see the names Mariusz Czerkawski, Libor Zabransky, Dainius Zubrus and Ruslan Salei you are either reading your doctor's eye chart or pouring over NHL game summaries.
Spare us: Apparently, Norfolk is one of 36 cities invited by the new International Basketball League to compete for a team in time for the November, 1997 tip off. The league is a proving ground for players with pro aspirations who have completed high school but have no college experience. In other words, it will offer glorified schoolyard games. Please, no.
The people's choice: Tiger Woods mania is not limited to the U.S. Sponsors of the Australian Open reportedly want to pay Woods $190,000 to play in their event next month, about $40,000 more than they're giving Greg Norman.
Still going strong: Years after he stopped mattering on the golf course, Arnold Palmer's endorsement revenue in 1996 is exceeded only by Michael Jordan's and Shaquille O'Neal's, respectively.
Nose job: The Michael Jordan cologne debuts in November. Just a guess, but I bet it smells like money.
Cheerleader: From training camp, Juwan Howard, the Washington Bullets' $105-million man, says, ``One of my big assets to the team is I bring intensity and enthusiasm.'' For the kind of money he's making, is it asking too much that he bring a playoff berth? by CNB