O’Grady Has Thought It All Out

Mac O’Grady told Golf magazine he would play in fewer tournaments this year after discovering that competing every week caused too much stress and anxiety.

“I developed osteoporosis of the personality, so to speak,” he said. “My thought processes became brittle.”

Makes sense.

Add Golf: From an article in the magazine on gambling: “A few years back, Tip O’Neill, Speaker of the House, lost $120 to Sam Snead on the golf course. At the card table afterward, O’Neill won $150. Before leaving, Snead shook O’Neill’s hand and said, ‘O’Brien, you’re a helluva fella. What do you do for a living?’ ”

Yogi Berra, new coach of the Houston Astros, told Houston writers that he isn’t responsible for all the comments attributed to him.

Or, as only Yogi could put it: “I really didn’t say everything I said.”

Trivia Time: When the Lakers traded Elmore Smith, Junior Bridgeman, Dave Meyers and Brian Winters to the Milwaukee Bucks for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, what other player did they get in the deal? (Answer below.)

Just Asking: Duke University likes to boast of its academic excellence, but can it explain how Charles G. Driesell, Class of ‘54, ever got through English?

Here’s the latest from Lefty, as quoted in Sports Illustrated after his Maryland basketball team, led by Len Bias, upset North Carolina: “If Lenny Bias ain’t the player of the world after tonight, somebody don’t know something about basketball.”

How good a pro prospect is Bo Jackson? Reports the Associated Press: “During the recent NFL scouting combines’ ratings evaluations in New Orleans, Jackson was given the highest ratings of any college senior in history. His time of 4.12 seconds in the 40-yard dash was also the fastest in recent years.”

The Chicago Tribune, quoting Advertising Age, said Jim McMahon’s “shades and swagger act” did him more harm than good in the endorsement market.

Said Matt Merola, who represents Reggie Jackson, Tom Seaver and Gary Carter: “The image he’s created won’t lead him to become identified with any long-term deals with a blue-chip company.”

Most of the stories on Scott Skiles have dealt with his alcohol and drug problems, so his prowess in basketball has been largely overlooked.

Despite his problems, the Michigan State guard is leading the Big Ten in scoring, and Northwestern Coach Rich Falk is convinced he’s the real thing.

Said Falk after Skiles scored 35 points against the Wildcats: “I think Scott Skiles is one of the finest players in Big Ten history. I call him the Larry Bird of college ball in terms of the way he plays the game.”

He doesn’t know when it’s coming, but New York Yankees reliever Dave Righetti predicts there will be a blowup between new Manager Lou Piniella and George Steinbrenner.

Righetti told Dan Hruby of the San Jose Mercury News: “It’s supposed to be Lou’s team, but it doesn’t seem like it. We got Gary Roenicke from Baltimore without Lou even knowing about it. We got Al Holland, and Lou didn’t know it. Lou wants Don Baylor to play every day, but George doesn’t, so we’ve got problems there.”

Trivia Answer: Walt Wesley, 6-11 center. Wesley, a University of Kansas product, played one game with the Lakers and then called it a career.

Quotebook

Willie Mays, after his first day in camp as a coach with the San Francisco Giants: “I only know three or four of the players, but I think they know me.”