Call Him Almost Anything, Just Don’t Call Him Dr. Death

Team doctor Robert Albo of Golden State is known as one of the NBA’s more vocal referee-baiters, and he was pouring it on at a recent game between the Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics at Oakland.

“Terrible call, terrible call!” Albo shouted at referee Joey Crawford.

Crawford looked over, saw who it was, and shouted, “You bury your mistakes.”

Add officials: From NBA Commissioner David Stern: “I read the box scores from the bottom up--attendance, technicals. Oh, God, six technicals. Was that Earl Strom again?”

Just asking: When you watched the NFL Today show with Brent Musburger, Jimmy (the Greek) Snyder, Phyllis George and Irv Cross, would you have guessed that Cross would outlast them all?

Are you ready?: USA Today oddsmaker Danny Sheridan already has picked the final four for 1990-91. He tabs Indiana, Alabama, Connecticut and Arkansas, with Indiana winning it all.

Still hungry: Larry Johnson and Stacey Augmon of Nevada Las Vegas say they’ll both be back next season to try for a second NCAA title.

“We both promised that,” Augmon said. “I told Larry, ‘Don’t you run off and leave me.’ ”

Trivia time: Over the last nine seasons, who is the only major league player to hit 20 or more home runs every year?

They’re unique: After Northern Iowa made it to the NCAA playoffs, Herb Strentz, professor of journalism at Drake University, wrote in The Des Moines Register:

“Even in Iowa, the fun of having Northern Iowa in the NCAA prompts the thought that, if memory serves, Northern Iowa is the state’s only Division I school that didn’t have a basketball player arrested this year and the state’s only Division 1 school that hasn’t had an athlete arrested in the last couple of years for beating up a woman.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: Said Cleveland Browns’ owner Art Modell, recalling that the first TV contract the NFL signed in 1963 was worth $332,000 a year to each team: “Our kicking tees cost us that much now.”

Daddy knew: Boston Red Sox batting coach Richie Hebner, son of an undertaker, reflects on his playing career: “I was on eight teams that made the playoffs and we lost seven of them. I led the league in turning in World Series tickets. As soon as my father heard we made the playoffs, he knew I’d be home in a week digging graves.”

A masterpiece: From Richard Justice of the Washington Post: “After making a Willie Mays catch against Julio Franco of the Texas Rangers last week, Pittsburgh Pirates’ outfielder Andy Van Slyke said, ‘That’s a once-in-a-five-year catch. All the elements were there. The only thing it lacked was importance.’ ”

Dana’s Point: From reserve guard Dana Barros of the Seattle SuperSonics: “We have made so many changes this year that we have adjusted to making adjustments.”

Trivia answer: Dwight Evans of the Boston Red Sox.

Quotebook: Oakland Athletics’ outfielder Rickey Henderson, on how he kept in shape during the lockout: “I watched aerobics on TV.”