It’s Like Playing With Fire

Billy Martin acknowledges that his relationship with owner George Steinbrenner of the New York Yankees is like a time bomb waiting to explode.

But Martin, in his fifth go-round as Yankee manager, isn’t really worried about it.

“Everybody’s wondering when Billy is going to explode, when he’s going to do something,” Martin said. “I hope you have a long wait. But something will happen, you can guarantee that. It’s inevitable. We’re going to disagree.

“But we’re friends. We’ll stay friends. And we’re not going to let the press come in between us this time. It won’t last long if we disagree. We have agreed we are friends and won’t let the media get in between us. I’ve got to try not to get mad and yell back.

“He has my heart, and I have his bank.”

Add Martin: He says he won’t be hanging out in bars after Yankee games this time, a habit which has gotten him into trouble since his playing days.

Martin, 59, is marrying Jill Guiver, in her early 30s, Jan. 25.

“I’ll be married and I’ll be staying at home more,” Martin said. “I’ll still get mad, but having somewhere to go after the game should help me health-wise.

“She’s a baseball fan and a photographer. I met her seven years ago when she took my picture at the ballpark in Anaheim. She’s a great girl.”

Sam Vincent, who is getting a chance to show his stuff with the Seattle SuperSonics this season after two unfulfilling years with the Boston Celtics, isn’t the biggest fan of Celtic Coach K.C. Jones.

Vincent, a former No. 1 draft choice of the Celtics, is critical of the way he was treated by Jones, and he predicts a similar fate for Reggie Lewis, the Celtics’ current first-round pick.

“I don’t think (Jones) gives players a chance to develop,” Vincent said. “Reggie is a good player, but he needs time or he isn’t going to be a good player. Three years down the road, they’ll say, ‘He doesn’t fit the bill. Let’s send him out of here.’ ”

Lewis, by the way, is averaging 4.8 points on 39.6% shooting in limited playing time.

When the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. limited college basketball coaches’ scouting of high school games from Dec. 11 to Dec. 31 and Feb. 7 to April 15, it scored some points in the coaching ranks--among the assistants.

“Our assistants think they died and went to heaven,” Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “Their wives are sick of seeing them. They know our players’ names at practice. They’ve thrown away their airline schedules. It’s ridiculous.”

With the numbers Michael Jordan puts up, you’d think he’d have trouble keeping track. But the Chicago Bulls star had this to say after scoring a triple-double--15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists--against the New Jersey Nets last week:

“Getting that 10th assist to complete my triple-double was really difficult. I was stuck at nine for about four minutes before I gave it to Rory Sparrow, who hit a jumper with three minutes left, and I was able to get a very rewarding statistic that has been hard to come by for me.”

Jordan’s last triple-double was March 18, 1985.

Quotebook

ESPN football analyst Beano Cook on the 1988 college football season: “I wouldn’t count out Oklahoma. Would you rather rebuild at Oklahoma or have everyone back at Oregon State?”