Nastase Returns Home, Finds an Ugly Scene

Romanian tennis star Ilie Nastase says his legs shook as he watched people being killed by soldiers in Bucharest, Romania, last week.

Nastase gave this account to the Sunday Telegraph after his arrival in London Friday:

“On Thursday I had to go to see what was happening. I did not fight but I just wanted to be part of what all these people were doing. I was shocked. I saw people falling down as soldiers and police opened fire. Then in the evening they were firing on them from helicopters.”

Nastase, 43, who had “never seen a dead person in my life before,” said a tank started firing behind him. “I wasn’t a normal person, my legs were shaking, everything was shaking.”

At Bucharest Airport Friday, his flight was delayed because it was feared revolutionary forces might shoot it down, Nastase said.

Nastase noted that while he is an officer in the Romanian army, the rank is merely honorary, “given to me because of my tennis playing. I don’t have any links with them.”

Nastase, famous for his flamboyant on-court antics, won the 1972 U.S. Open and the 1973 French Open.

Trivia time: On Dec. 26, 1955, who passed for two touchdowns and ran for two in the Cleveland Browns’ 38-14 victory over the Rams for the NFL championship?

There ought to be a law: The Seattle SuperSonics’ Xavier McDaniel and Charles Oakley of the New York Knicks were fined $7,500 and suspended for one game for fighting last week. But the league also fined 13 players $500 each for leaving the bench during the brawl, which angered the Sonics’ Olden Polynice.

“It’s not like the refs were going to break it up,” Polynice said. “Those were big guys out there. If we didn’t break it up, those guys would still be fighting.”

Helping hand: After learning of an AIDS epidemic in his home of Voskresensk in the Soviet Union, Vancouver Canuck center Igor Larionov bought 10,000 syringes for its hospital, where up to a dozen patients were said to have been injected with the same needle.

Canuck trainer Larry Ashley said: “It’s an insight into how much Igor cares for his people. A gesture like this shows he has real good qualities.”

Trivia answer: Otto Graham.

Quotebook: Entertainer Bob Hope on today’s college football players: “I get a kick out of how big these guys have become. They should have license plates on them.”