To Them, It Was an Astronomical Upset

What do you do when you’re hurtling through space and want National Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball tournament results?

Radio Mission Control.

The astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery did exactly that last week and received a scorelist from Mission Control in Houston.

Michael Coats, Discovery commander, did a double take when he noticed that Siena had upset Stanford, 80-78.

“Is that a misprint?” Coats asked Mission Control’s David Low.

Low, a Stanford graduate, paused and then slowly replied: “As painful as it for me to report, that is not a misprint.”

Silent partner: Bobby Bonds and George Foster, former teammates on the San Francisco Giants, are good friends, but their friendship started on an odd note.

When Bonds and Foster roomed together, Foster was silent the first two weeks.

Finally, Bonds exploded.

“You’ve got to start talking or there’s going to be trouble,” Bonds told Foster.

“For a second, I thought George would choose trouble,” he said. “Then he smiled, and after that we got along great.”

Swim like the dolphins: The Northern Michigan women’s swimming team visited the Dolphin Research Center in Marathon, Fla., recently.

Did they plan to take lessons from the dolphins? No, but close.

“We are students of propulsion in the water,” Coach Ann James said. “Who better to learn from than dolphins, the natural experts.”

Campaigning for a cabinet post: After enduring an awful season, USC basketball Coach George Raveling was asked if he’d retain his job.

“I think I’ll be here unless President Bush wants me to help him with international inflation,” Raveling said.

“I’d be interested in being the drug czar. I’d probably leave coaching for something as meaningful as that.”

By the numbers: When the Pittsburgh Pirates were issuing uniforms in training camp, a rookie drew No. 7.

While the equipment man was affixing the number to his hat, the rookie said, “I wear 7 1/4.”

Mr. Nice Guy: Sean Elliott, Arizona All-American forward, was trailed by autograph-seekers in Boise, Ida., where the Wildcats played in the West Regionals.

Some fans even camped out at his hotel. Elliott didn’t mind the attention.

“I’m a nice guy, I don’t bite,” he said. “I’d probably have done the same thing when I was a kid and the NCAA came to town.”

Lute Olson, Arizona coach, wishes Elliott would just say no to the fans. “We held the bus up for 20 minutes while he tried to escape,” Olson said.

Quotebook: Doug Moe, Denver Nuggets coach, after his team played poorly in a victory over the San Antonio Spurs last week: “They out-awfulled us.”