DATE: Friday, June 13, 1997                 TAG: 9706130717

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   56 lines

GET IN LINE JOE, EVERYONE WANTS TO LEAVE THE WARRIORS

A group effort: What's the big deal about Norfolk's own Joe Smith possibly wanting to be traded from the Golden State Warriors? Take a number, Joe. It wouldn't surprise anybody if the whole team was hoping to be shipped out.

Hollow hype: Gotta love it when National League chauvinists proudly promote their loop as the one that features sacrifice bunts, pitchers who bat, and double-switches ... aspects of the game that have been driving kids in droves toward soccer and skateboarding.

Not buying it: Promotion of the upcoming Red Sox-Mets interleague games as a rematch of the 1986 World Series just doesn't work. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that 11 years ago most of the current players were in junior high.

Flying high: Golfer Greg Norman reportedly just paid $32 million for a Boeing 737 modified to his specifications. Specifications? At those prices, maybe he had a par-3 hole built in.

Nit picking: If because of Tiger Woods more kids want to play golf (and their parents can afford it), fine. But aren't our badly underconditioned children better off running, jumping and swimming? Isn't that preferable to having them learn how to hitch up their trousers and tighten a golf glove?

Off center: Utah Jazz MVP Karl Malone likes to relax by hunting cougar, elk and bear. Do the big game have anything to fear from Mountain Man Malone? If his free-throw shooting is any indication of his aim, probably not.

Idle thought: As the NBA Finals move back to Chicago, it is the Jazz, not Michael Jordan, who should be feeling queasy. Utah has given away two games to a Bulls team that, for all Jordan's heroics, has looked very beatable. We could have had a new champion by now.

The bottom line: Want to know why nobody takes seriously Shawn Kemp's threat to retire from the NBA? He's got six kids to support.

NBA under cover: Brian Williams of the Chicago Bulls, on ways to motivate teammate Dennis Rodman: ``Maybe a shopping spree at Victoria's Secret.''

Tall story: L.A. Clipper coach Bill Fitch has a simple approach to the NBA draft: ``Anyone who has to duck entering that door, we're interested in.'

Fashion accessory: Utah Jazz forward Antoine Carr plays in orange shades because his right eye does not adjust properly to light. ``Not,'' he says, ``because I think I'm cool or look good in them, which I do.''

Enough is enough: Just what America needs after eight months of overexposure to NBA basketball - more basketball in the form of the women's NBA. As a hoop fan, I'd like the rest of the summer off. What about you?

Wannabe: Marcia Clark, co-prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial turned media magnet and book peddler, says her ambition is ``to be - please don't laugh - a soccer mom.''

Same as it ever was: Conventional wisdom held that Frank Thomas would see more good pitches with Albert Belle batting behind him in the White Sox lineup. Seems not. Thomas once again leads the American League in walks.

Not best friends: Phillies pitcher Curt Schilling, on the Cincinnati Reds' Deion Sanders: ``What's he ever done in this game? He's basically a glorified flag football player who can run.''

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