Ewing May Need Some Pro Advice

As a schoolboy in Boston and all through his career at Georgetown, Patrick Ewing threw his weight around in a manner that led to more than one ugly incident.

Now that he’s joining the New York Knicks, a team that plays in the very physical Atlantic Division, what can we look forward to?

George Vecsey of the New York Times, envisioning a game in the Spectrum where Ewing has just elbowed one of the Philadelphia 76ers, can see Moses Malone sidling up to the rookie and whispering: “Now, that wasn’t St. John’s you just shivered. That was one of us. So, look, young fella, why don’t you figure out how folks do things around here.

“Or I’ll break your legs.”

Trivia Time: As an NBA player, what will Patrick Ewing have in common with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird? (Answer below.)

Stuart Munsch, an All-American pistol shooter and a Rhodes scholar at Navy, is a dedicated military student with a deep love of history.

“For instance, Munsch discovered that two ancestors fought for the North in the Civil War and decided to check their military record,” wrote Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post.

Munsch shouldn’t have bothered.

Said Denlinger: “Expecting great deeds and valor, Munsch learned that each received a medical discharge--for a double hernia.”

Quiz Time: Davey Lopes, 39, of the Chicago Cubs has stolen 33 consecutive bases, five shy of the major league record. Who holds the record? (Answer below.)

Reggie Jackson, on Gary Pettis: “I play with the best center fielder in baseball. He plays right-center, left-center, short-center and a foot or two over the fence.”

San Francisco receiver Renaldo Nehemiah, still the world record-holder in the high hurdles, admits he misses the recognition he got in track.

“It’s lonely in the locker room now,” he told Art Rosenbaum of the San Francisco Chronicle. “In track and field, I was surrounded by press and public and I handled it well, I thought. I enjoyed it. Now, after three years of professional football, I’m in a different world. I’m at my locker after a game, and nobody stops by. I admit I’m lonely.”

The decision to run Spend a Buck in the Jersey Derby figures to hurt the TV ratings for both the Preakness and the Belmont. This comes at a time when ratings are slipping, anyway.

Writes Stan Isaacs of Newsday: “The Kentucky Derby, which always draws the highest rating of any horse race, sank this year to its lowest rating in history, a 10.9. The Preakness dipped to 9.9 last year after a five-year average above 12. The Belmont dipped to a low of 5.0 last year, down from 12.6, the last time it had a Triple Crown contender--Pleasant Colony.”

Trivia Answer: The same uniform number. No. 33.

Quiz Answer: Davey Lopes. He stole 38 consecutive bases with the Dodgers in 1975.

Note: His current streak started when he was with the Oakland A’s. The last man to catch him was Detroit catcher Lance Parrish on July 10, 1983.

Quotebook

Pat Williams, general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers, on the difference in the major sports: “Basketball is the sport that can truly be influenced by one man. Baseball and football can’t, and hockey no one understands anyway.”