THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 10, 1995 TAG: 9502100613
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
A laff riot: The Comedy Channel should gets its hands on that video of Bill Clinton and Congress urging the baseball players and owners to cut out the partisan bickering and get something done. Sure, just like the Democrats and Republicans.
Name game: The owners will control the debate during baseball's labor wars until replacement players are identified for what they are - strikebreakers.
No. 2A: Although I reserve the right to change my mind, I think Kansas, on a good night, is the country's best college basketball team.
Just asking: If O.J. Simpson has a coach to help him with his facial expressions in court, can we assume that he's hired someone to show him how to limp for the benefit of the jury?
Stat stuff: Neither Shaquille O'Neal nor Alonzo Mourning has spent much time this season in the top five in NBA rebounding, but Cleveland's Tyrone Hill is second.
Mad money: The Charlotte Hornets, who signed Larry Johnson to an $84 million contract, may soon give Mourning a contract extension worth $100 million. And people wonder why young players lose touch with reality.
Gotta have more: In need of even greater revenue - wonder why? - the Hornets are complaining that the Charlotte Coliseum, one of the best arenas in the NBA, isn't good enough. It doesn't have suites, you see.
Quick hit: TV basketball analysts must get paid by the word, or in Dick Vitale's case, the decibel.
Air ball: Any doubt that the New Jersey Nets franchise is hopelessly inept was eliminated when management petitioned the NBA to change the team's nickname next season to ``Fire Dragons.''
A new approach: The Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars have an advantage over previous NFL expansion teams. They can lose with free agents.
Two years the hard way: You couldn't ask for more dramatic evidence of the dangers of compulsive gambling than the sentencing recently of Art Schlichter to 24 months in prison for stealing $500,000 to support his habit.
Hanging tough: Mike Fratello continues to do an amazing coaching job as he tries to keep the Cleveland Cavaliers near the top of their division despite the loss to injury of a third starter (Mark Price).
The old school: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, on today's younger NBA players: ``It's all about style now. When I was learning, it was what you did.''
Add Kareem: ``Charles Barkley says there are a number of players in the league, who if not for basketball would be in jail,'' Jabbar said. ``I'd have to agree.''
Rerun: When there is an NBA game or two on television almost every night, not to mention the highlights, All-Star Weekend starts to feel redundant.
Payback time: Maybe the NBA coaches should have checked with the fans or NBC before they selected All-Star reserves Dana Barros, Cedric Ceballos and Detlef Schrempf over world-class malcontents like Derrick Coleman, Dennis Rodman and Cliff Robinson. On second thought, anybody who can put the prima donnas in their place deserves a high five. by CNB