Writers Haven’t Changed

Are the media tougher on athletes today than in the past, as many sporting types contend?

Perhaps, but consider this 1939 Life magazine profile of a member of the New York Yankees that Newsday columnist Steve Jacobson recently resurrected. The magazine identified the subject as the “best all-around player on baseball’s best all-around team,” but added:

“Although he learned Italian first, (he) now speaks English without an accent and is otherwise well adapted to most U.S. mores. Instead of olive oil or smelly bear grease he keeps his hair slick with water. He never reeks of garlic and prefers chicken chow mein to spaghetti.

And:

“(His) rise in baseball is a testimonial to the value of general shiftlessness . . . His inertia caused him to give up school after one year in high school . . . He is a paragon of laziness.”

There is also a reference to “squirrel teeth,” and a photo of the player sitting with boxer Joe Louis. Read the caption: “Like heavyweight champion Louis, (he) is lazy, shy and inarticulate.”

The subject of the article: Joe DiMaggio.

Ex-quarterback Terry Bradshaw on Vinny Testaverde, Tampa Bay’s much-heralded No. 1 draft choice:

“He has more poise, much more poise, than I did. I lost my confidence when I first got to Pittsburgh. It was because of the way I was handled, and I just couldn’t deal with bad situations.

“I think Vinny is much better prepared. (Tampa Bay Coach) Ray Perkins said it best. He said Vinny is one kid who won’t be injured mentally. He’s already been through quite a bit.”

When kicker Tony Franklin of the New England Patriots walked out of camp recently despite signing a four-year, $1.5 million contract, it brought a chuckle from ex-kicker Jim Turner.

Buddy Martin of the Denver Post wrote that Turner recalled the 1968 season, when he set a record with 34 field goals for the New York Jets, scored 145 points, kicked three field goals in Super Bowl III and six in the Pro Bowl.

Said Turner: “I got a $2,500 raise and was traded by the Jets.”

It looked like an evacuation: A caravan of 273 buses, thousands of cars, and about 21,000 people headed out of Sacramento Sunday, causing a massive traffic jam on Interstate 80.

Where was everybody going? To Oakland and the A’s-Yankees game, to show the world--especially Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, who presumably was watching on TV--that Sacramento is worthy of a major-league franchise.

The caravan was organized by Greg Lukenbill, a developer and owner of pro basketball’s Sacramento Kings who is building a 40,000-seat baseball stadium.

Said one fan, Christina Kelly, 36: “I love Sacramento and I love sports and I love baseball. And we love getting drunk on a baseball bus.”

Quotebook

Bill Shaw, defensive coordinator at Tulane, which allowed an average of 30 points a game last season: “Coaching defense at Tulane for the past two years has been sort of like being the rear guy in a horse costume: The view hasn’t been too good.”