Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 10, 1993 TAG: 9305100001
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hockey's latest local savior, Quebec native John Gagnon, wanted to incorporate part of Big Lick's heritage into his new and nameless ECHL team. He liked the Roanoke Locomotives. Then, someone pointed out that the nickname could be derisively shortened, and whatever else it meant in French, "loco" in English was slang for demented. Of course, a movie named "Crazy People" was filmed here.
The Roanoke Mighty Pucks?
It's little wonder Virginia Tech athletic director Dave Braine is intrigued by vacancies at Iowa State, Michigan and Miami. He can't get a contract after helping the Hokies clean up a program that was on NCAA probation twice in five years. Virginia athletic director Jim Copeland, in the midst of an NCAA probe that displayed leaks in administrative leadership, gets a five-year renewal for $18,000 more than Braine earns annually.
The Washington Redskins were 9-7 last year. It looks like they will be fortunate to reach that this season. At too many positions, they're either too old or too young.
Whatever happened to junk food at the ballpark? The Oakland Coliseum has a salad on its concessions menu this season. It's called "Field of Greens."
TNT analyst Hubie Brown explained why it's twice as tough to win in the NBA playoffs as during the regular season. "There are five fouls on every single play during the season," Brown said. "In the playoffs, there are 10. The refs just have to decide which ones to call, and the better defensive teams can get away with minor fouls."
Did the Baltimore Orioles play away their pennant chances in April? Manager Johnny Oates says, "Sometimes, it gets too late to be early." He may be right. Consider that in the past 10 years in the majors, 20 of the 40 teams in first place May 1 finished as division champions. Of 12 with two-game leads, 10 ended up winning. That's 83 percent. Philadelphia and Detroit had two-game leads this May Day.
Rusty Wallace drives his Grand Prix to victory in three straight Winston Cup races, then ends the Winston 500 by bouncing sideways across the Talladega finish line after a restart. Isn't this a little too much Pontiac excitement even for NASCAR?
Boston's stoic center, veteran Robert Parish, will miss more than recently retired Celtics teammate Kevin McHale's off-the-bench play. "I hate to see Kevin go," the quiet Parish said. "He took care of all of the postgame interviews."
Would it take a "Rocket" scientist to figure out how to hit Roger Clemens?
A recent report from Washington State revealed that almost 1 million boys play high school football. Of them, about 21,500 earn Division I grants-in-aid. About 10 percent of those are drafted by the NFL. The odds against a scholarship freshman lasting four years in the NFL are 194 to 1. The odds of any high school player getting four NFL seasons are 9,010 to 1.
Pat Riley, on a difference between coaching in New York and Los Angeles: "The Knicks' fans come to see us win. They don't come to see us play. If we get behind, they boo. When we got behind in LA, the Lakers' fans just sat back and ate popcorn."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL BASEBALL AUTO RACING
by CNB