Listen Up, Vladimir Sweetie: Have We Got a Deal for You

The erosion of the Soviet Union’s control over the Eastern Bloc increasingly is reflected in the decline of its control over Soviet athletes.

Alfred Senn, professor of East European history at the University of Wisconsin, described the effect of glasnost on international sports:

“They’re losing their leverage (over athletes) in the Soviet Union. Sovintersport was created to handle contracts for all athletes going abroad and lost control of it. Athletes wound up doing deals on their own.”

And capitalism is establishing strong roots in Soviet sports, Senn said.

“The dominant figure in soccer is the coach of the team in Kiev, who is selling his top players abroad so his club can make money, then raiding other clubs in the Soviet Union to replace them,” Senn said. “It’s a mess.”

Trivia time: What multiple stakes winner started four times in the Hollywood Gold Cup and never finished better than ninth?

Untapped resource: Minnesota Viking Coach Jerry Burns has been known to lash out at reporters whenever his offensive coordinator, Bob Schnelker, is criticized for under-using Herschel Walker.

Walker got 148 yards in his first game as a Viking but has been used as a decoy since--gaining 89, 68, 76, 48, 42 and 42 yards.

Walker was asked to explain Schnelker’s philosophy.

“That’s a good question,” Walker said. “I’m not really sure. I haven’t been here long enough.”

Always at the net: Tennis star John McEnroe on the joys of parenthood:

“You know kids--they go until they drop. After a while you can’t take it. After you’re around them all day, you think, ‘It’d be easier to go out and practice for 10 hours.’ It’s like a friend of mine who had a baby said. She said it was the best thing she’d ever done in her life. The second-best thing was making enough money so she could afford a baby-sitter.”

A mere face in the crowd: Rod Thorn, an NBA vice president, on the Philadelphia 76ers’ Rick Mahorn:

“Because of all the things that have gone on with Rick Mahorn in the past, you have to make sure he’s not causing disturbances with elbows, rabbit punches or anything else. But he’s not being singled out more than anybody else.”

They’ll come crawling: Rookie Tony Mandarich may be somewhat of a disappointment with the Green Bay Packers so far, but he still is bigger than Santa Claus in some parts of Wisconsin.

When Mandarich made an appearance at a shopping mall last week, it took three hours for all of the kids in line to get his autograph. The line of kids to see Santa Claus, about 20 yards away, consisted of three or four youngsters.

Bearing up: What does former UCLA guard Pooh Richardson of the Minnesota Timberwolves like for quick energy during timeouts? Honey, as do all good Poohs.

Trivia answer: Texas Sandman.

Quotebook: The Dallas Mavericks suffered the second-worst defeat in their history Saturday night, 117-70, to the Seattle SuperSonics in Dallas. Maverick guard Rolando Blackman said of the crowd: “They were yelling, ‘Come on, Cowboys!’ It was nasty.”