At Least You Can’t Turn the Clock Back

If North Carolina State is looking for omens as it prepares to meet Georgetown Friday in the East Regional semifinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. basketball tournament, here are some coincidences it won’t find comforting.

In 1984, the Final Four was held at Seattle.

In 1989, the Final Four will be held at Seattle.

In 1984, the Hoyas had an outstanding shot-blocking center, Patrick Ewing.

In 1989, the Hoyas have a center, Alonzo Mourning, who broke the school record for blocked shots.

In 1984, Georgetown struggled in the opening round with a one-point victory in a slowdown game, beating Southern Methodist, 37-36.

In 1989, Georgetown struggled in the opening round with a one-point victory in a slowdown game, beating Princeton, 50-49.

In 1984, the Hoyas won the national championship.

In 1989 . . . well, the pattern is there.

Trivia: Pete Weber is $958 shy of becoming professional bowling’s fourth millionaire. Who are the first three?

Putting along: Tom Watson managed no better than a tie for 11th place in the Tournament Players Championship at Sawgrass over the weekend, but that was good enough to achieve one milestone.

The five-time British Open champion earned $31,050 for his efforts and joined Jack Nicklaus as the only $5-million winners. Watson is at $5,014,526.

Nicklaus finished behind Watson in the TPC, but his $8,775 share of the purse kept him in front on the all-time money-winning list at $5,017,528.

The Hoya Helper: If Notre Dame fans are wondering why Georgetown and not the Irish are in the final 16, they need look no further than an unidentified heckler at Rhode Island’s Providence Civic Center.

“When we came out right at halftime, a guy in the stands yelled at me ‘You’re overrated,’ ” said the Hoyas’ Charles Smith, who returned to score 28 of his 34 points in the second half as second-ranked and top-seeded Georgetown beat Notre Dame, 81-74.

“Every time I scored, I thought of that guy,” Smith said.

Tell us what you really thought, Jack: Jack Armstrong, All-American boy? Not if the Cincinnati Reds pitcher keeps making comments such as this:

“It’s tough enough to make this team without having some fat little (expletive) squeeze the plate on me,” Armstrong said after an exhibition game. “I don’t even want to know who he is, but I’ll remember that fat face the next time it peers at me from behind that mask.”

No doubt veteran umpire Fred Brocklander will be doing some remembering, too, when next he calls one of Armstrong’s games.

Trivia answer: Mark Roth, Marshall Holman and Earl Anthony are the three bowlers who have won $1 million in their careers.

Quotebook: Comedian Arsenio Hall: “I call Los Angeles the city of alternatives. If you don’t like mountains, we’ve got the ocean. If you don’t like Knott’s Berry Farm, we’ve got Disneyland. If you don’t like basketball, we’ve got the Clippers.”