He Knew Something Was Off

In a recent scrimmage, Ray Williams of the Boston Celtics was injured when he collided with Quinn Buckner. It was later determined that Williams suffered a slight knee injury.

At the time, Coach K.C. Jones told Anthony Cotton of the Washington Post: “I really didn’t like the way he looked when he walked off the floor.”

Jones was reminded that Williams had to be carried off the floor.

“That’s right,” Jones said. “He didn’t walk off, did he? I knew there was something about it I didn’t like.”

Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post submits a couple of candidates for the World Worst Golfer tournament June 19 at Sawgrass.

“There may well be no middle-aged man in America more inept than Angelo Spagnolo of Fayette City, Pa., who once lost 13 balls while shooting a smooth 161 and carries a handicap of 56,” Denlinger said. “Or perhaps Chief Warrant Officer Richard Gonzalez Jr., currently stationed in West Germany, is even sorrier. Nine witnesses verified his once striking the ball 11 straight times--and advancing it a total of four yards.”

Add Denlinger: He recalled a celebrity tournament in which a former Redskin star, after arriving late, was quickly given clubs, a glove and six balls. He proceeded to lose the balls on the front nine. Restocked, he was about to tee off on a par-3 over water when one of his partners charitably suggested he use an old ball.

Said the otherwise exceptional athlete: “I’ve never had an old golf ball.”

Trivia Time: What heavyweight fighters were nicknamed the Manassa Mauler, Livermore Larruper and Bayonne Bleeder? (Answer below.)

Wrote Roy C. Johnson of the New York Times, in describing the laid-back coaching style of the Denver Nuggets’ Doug Moe: “He doesn’t watch films. His entire playbook could fit inside a matchbook. And he hates wearing ties.”

Says Moe: “I’m basically very lazy. I like to sleep late, play golf, things like that. Practices sometimes take away from that.”

Olympic 800-meter run champion Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, training for the UCLA-Pepsi Invitational May 18, was reminded by a reporter that his last loss came in the 1984 Pepsi meet.

“I did not lose that race,” Cruz said.

The reporter conceded that it was a photo finish, but Steve Scott was declared the winner. Cruz was unmoved.

“If that race was in Brazil,” he said, “I win.”

Would-you-believe-it dept.: St. Louis outfielder Vince Coleman, with 20 stolen bases, already has more steals than some past champions. Stan Hack of the Chicago Cubs won the 1938 title with 16 steals. In the American League, Dom DiMaggio won the 1950 title with 15 steals.

Said Dennis Diaz, after deciding to run Spend A Buck in the Jersey Derby: “In the long run, this isn’t going to affect his value at all. And it’s getting kind of ridiculous, arguing whether one race or another makes a horse worth $50 million or $40 million. I can’t spend that much anyway.”

Mrs. Diaz wasn’t quoted.

Trivia Answer: Jack Dempsey (Manassa, Colo.), Max Baer (Livermore, Calif.), and Chuck Wepner (Bayonne, N.J.).

Quotebook

Utah Jazz Coach Frank Layden, a native of Brooklyn: “The decline of Western civilization started when the Dodgers and the Giants moved.”