THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996 TAG: 9606210704
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Bob Molinaro
LENGTH: 63 lines
The color of money: The Triad area of North Carolina (Greensboro, Winston-Salem, High Point) has the support of NationsBank in its bid to become a serious player in the next major league baseball expansion. The big leagues in Greensboro? Makes as much sense as a stock car race in Cooperstown.
Reality check: The series between the Bulls and the Sonics was the second-highest rated NBA final ever, but it still finished below the average TV rating for every World Series except one. Why, then, are people in such a hurry to question baseball's popularity?
Say what? Let me get this straight: The Olympic torch goes through sleepy South Hill, Va. on I-85, but not Hampton Roads? Guess I can't blame the flame for wanting to avoid our summer tunnel traffic. Why take the chance of reaching Atlanta on Labor Day?
For what it's worth: I'm not sure how to say this about an Olympian who is the reigning world champion in both the 200 and 400 meters and one who could be the most fussed-over American in Atlanta, but Michael Johnson runs real funny.
No youth movement afoot: When 37-year-old Mary Decker Slaney (a.k.a. Ms. Warmth) can make the Olympic team in the 5,000 meters, joining soon-to-be-36 trials winner Lynn Jennings, you have to wonder where are all the young U.S. women distance runners, at the mall?
Useless Olympic note of the week: At the first modern Games in 1896, runners circled the track in a clockwise direction.
Fish or foul: NBC sportscaster Bob Costas explains why Dennis Rodman is nicknamed ``the Worm'': ``He has so many fish hooks in his nose, he looks like a piece of bait.''
Futurewatch: You can count on it - another season in Chicago will bring out the worst in Rodman, who, emboldened by a new contract and smugly satisfied that he has helped the Bulls win a title, will revert to previous form and become a disruptive influence.
Furthermore: What I mean is, the Bulls should let Rodman go now, and sign another free agent to fill his position.
Name game: Tabbed as a mid-first-round pick in the NBA draft is Alabama's Roy Rogers. If a name means anything, he might be Trigger happy.
A joke: It takes real chutzpah to represent Shaquille O'Neal and say, as his agent Leonard Armato has, that O'Neal's staying in Orlando ``won't be as much about money as it will be about winning.'' As if winning weren't mostly Shaq's responsibility.
Growth spurt: A sign that more people are starting to take American futbol seriously - a Las Vegas sports book puts out betting lines on Major League Soccer games.
Wondering: Does it surprise you to learn that baseball injures more Americans each year per 1,000 (13.5) than football (12.5)?
Money matters: Moving a team is an expensive proposition - for the fan. The average ticket price for the Baltimore Ravens will be $40.05. Last year, the average in Cleveland was $32.61.
Local connection: Following the death of broadcasting great Mel Allen, our favorite octogenarian baseball scout Harry Postove called to say that Allen roomed at the University of Alabama with long ago Norfolk Tars and Portsmouth Cubs manager Frank ``Skeeter'' Scalvi. How about that!
Strange but true: If Major League Baseball's officially licensed Mickey Mantle Slugger Series beer steins are a hit, expect to see on the market Pete Rose Plunger Series gambling slips and a Marge Schott Politically Incorrect action figure. by CNB