Training Begins at Home

Jack Van Berg, trainer of Alysheba, told Paul Moran of Newsday that the best advice he ever got was from his father, Marion, also a trainer.

“My daddy always told me to keep myself in good company and my horses in bad company,” he said.

Both Van Bergs are in the Trainers’ Hall of Fame, but Jack said he isn’t big on awards.

“I tried to buy something once with a winner’s circle picture, but the clerk wouldn’t take it,” he said. “When I pulled out some cash, he jumped right to attention.”

Benny Dees, the story-telling basketball coach who has moved to the University of Wyoming, told Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post about his days at the University of New Orleans.

“We had one white kid on our team,” he said. “They called him Spot. And we had a freshman point guard behind him who eventually beat him out. We called him Spot Remover.”

Trivia Time: What do playoff participants Byron Scott of the Lakers, Terry Cummings of Milwaukee, Tom Chambers of Seattle and Adrian Dantley of Detroit have in common? (Answer below.)

Add Dantley: He’s 31 years old but says, “I’m not taking the pounding I used to, and my body hasn’t felt better for a long time. In Utah, I was used like Earl Campbell. Now, I’m being used like Tony Dorsett.”

Chris Berman, the announcer who comes up with those outrageous nicknames on ESPN, told Stan Isaacs of Newsday that his favorites are Bert (Be Home) Blyleven, Oddibe (Young Again) McDowell, Jose (Can You See) Cruz and John (Tonight Let It Be) Lowenstein.

Others include Floyd (Up The Down) Bannister, Kevin (Totally) Gross, Ron (Born in the U.S.) Cey and Sid (Coffee and) Bream.

He said the only player who objected to his nickname was Kevin (Large Mouth) Bass. He’s now Kevin (Small Mouth) Bass.

Berman has been calling the new Met starter David (Ice Cream) Cone but said, “That may be too obvious. I may have to go to Silicone.”

Dick Vitale, on Fairfax High sharpshooter Sean Higgins: “An offensive machine. You’ll need a computer to calculate what he’s going to do in four years. Handles the rock better than I’ve ever dreamt. Will blend in perfectly at Michigan.”

Wallace Matthews of Newsday, on Michael Spinks’ preparations for Gerry Cooney June 15 at Atlantic City, N.J.:

“Spinks did not look good at all last Friday. He was sparring with unbeaten heavyweight Mike Williams and cruiserweight Elijah Tillery, and he was getting bombed. He was just too stationary, and they were both hitting him with everything, especially jabs. Spinks seemed to be trying to land right leads, but it wasn’t working too well.

“He looked better on Saturday, but it seemed like his sparring partners had been told to ease up. But he still looked slow, much slower than the sparring partners. The only guy Spinks looked good against was 6-8, 240-pound Tevin George, who is terrible, the worst fighter in camp. If any reporters had seen him train those days, they would have made Cooney a 3-1 or 4-1 favorite.”

Trivia Answer: All were first-round draft choices of the Clippers--Dantley when the franchise was in Buffalo, the others when it was in San Diego.

Quotebook

Cincinnati Manager Pete Rose, on Eric Davis: “Every time Eric sees a slow curve, it becomes a souvenir.”