Saying One Thing, Meaning Another

For the first time since the Big Trade, in which the Houston Rockets sent Ralph Sampson and Steve Harris to the Golden State Warriors for Sleepy Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll, the teams played each other last week, which gave everybody an opportunity to say some, well, really nice things about each other.

Example 1: Houston Coach Bill Fitch said this about Sampson: “I always said Ralph was an excellent center. . . . He played with a great deal of zeal.”

Huh? Didn’t Fitch absolutely blister Sampson for not playing hard in their famous blowup a few days before the trade?

Example 2: Sampson said this about playing the Rockets: “This was just one of 82 games.”

Sure it was. About the only truthful statement anyone made on public record was by Sampson, who said: “I don’t have any bad feelings against my old teammates .”

Notice he left out how he feels about his old coach. Think Sampson is harboring any bad feelings against Fitch? Naaah.

Michigan football Coach Bo Schembechler is steamed, but he’s not afraid to let anyone know.

Schembechler, recovering from heart bypass surgery, said he is highly agitated because of the poor showing by Michigan running back Jamie Morris, who was not one of the top 10 vote-getters in last year’s Heisman Trophy balloting by sportswriters and sportscasters.

“I’m going to campaign for a different award, one voted on by the Division I football coaches,” Schembechler said. “I want to get the politics, bull and all that stuff that goes into the Heisman out of it.”

Trivia Quiz: When Marcel Dionne scored the 1,000th point of his career for the Kings in 1981, he did it in 740 games, faster than any previous player in league history. Has anybody done it faster since? (Answer below).

Some NBA writers are finding Sacramento Kings Coach Bill Russell to be an easy and inviting target.

“Bill Russell hasn’t changed a bit,” writes Peter May of the Hartford Courant. “If the fans in Sacramento were expecting a candidate for coaching burnout, one who would work round the clock, they were sadly mistaken. If the ownership expected as much, they must have used the same background research team the White House used for Judge Ginsburg.”

Trivia answer: Three have. Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.

Is there a doctor in the blocks? If someone is hurt at the Sunkist Invitational, Jan. 22 at the Sports Arena, officials won’t have to go far to find assistance.

Entered in the meet are distance runners Chuck Aragon and Roswitha Gerdes of West Germany, both doctors.

Quotebook

From Bill (Spaceman) Lee, the former major league pitcher, who is living in northern Vermont this winter: “How cold is it? It’s so cold the ice feels warm compared to the air.”