Here’s Two More for the Book

“A Season on the Brink,” John Feinstein’s book on Indiana Coach Bob Knight, is No. 1 on the New York Times Bestseller list, but the coach and the author aren’t talking.

Knight, still upset that Feinstein included all his profanities in the book, has variously referred to the author as a “pimp” or a “whore.”

Says a perplexed Feinstein: “I wish he’d make up his mind so I’d know how to dress.”

Today’s Quiz: Following is an excerpt from an Associated Press story. What is the sport?: “In the final match, defending champion Minnesota was down by one in the last end, and was laying two points. Sharon Good came down with a double takeout. Then Barb Polski needed to come down and draw in the middle of the house but she came through heavy, ending the match.”

The sport is curling. Good and Polski play for Minnesota, which lost to Seattle, 7-6, in the U.S. Ladies Championships at St. Paul.

Wrote Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post after Ray Knight signed with Baltimore: “In his first day with the Orioles, Ray Knight broke one of Eddie Murray’s records: Most words, career.”

Trivia Time: What are the five colleges that make up the Big 5 in Philadelphia? (Answer below.)

How many times have you heard old-time ballplayers say, “We didn’t make much money but we had a lot more fun.” Not Ted Williams.

Of today’s high-salaried stars, he says: ‘I get the distinct impression that they are a looser bunch than we ever were. Last year, I was talking batting with Wade Boggs and Don Mattingly. I looked at them and thought about how young they are. They’re making a million bucks. They’re hitting .350 and they’re loose as a goose. I was never that confident when I was their age.”

Said second-round leader Chi Chi Rodriguez after shooting a 76 and falling six strokes back in the PGA Seniors Championships:

“Yesterday, I felt like I was the best player in the world. Today, I felt like Tiny Tim.”

Anyone notice that the heavyweight finalists in the 1984 Olympic Games both got knocked out Saturday?

Gold medalist Henry Tillman fell to Evander Holyfield in the seventh round, and silver medalist Willie deWit of Canada was stopped by Bert Cooper in the second. It was DeWit’s first loss.

Cooper, a Joe Frazier protege from Philadelphia, previously had handed Tillman his only loss.

St. Louis Cardinal linebacker E.J. Junior recalls going bowling with Lawrence Taylor before the Shrine game when they were college seniors: “L.T. picked up the ball and threw it and it didn’t hit the lane until it was halfway down the alley. It knocked down all the pins and the fiberglass backing on the wall, too. You could see people walking around back there. We just kind of backed away and eased on out the door.”

Trivia Answer: La Salle, Pennsylvania, St. Joseph’s, Temple, Villanova.

Quotebook

Ray Knight, at a Baltimore press conference, after a long, rambling answer to a question: “That’s it, in a nutshell.”