It’s Not Worth Putting Weight Back on His Shoulders Again

Antonio Krastev was the world super-heavyweight weightlifting champion in 1988 when, as a member of the Bulgarian Olympic team, he was ordered home from Seoul because several of his teammates had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug after winning gold medals.

Krastev told Michael Janofsky of the New York Times that when the team arrived in Sofia in disgrace, a woman in the airport offered each member a flower. A coach asked if she had any umbrellas. Why, she inquired?

“Because people will spit at us,” he replied. “We have to protect ourselves.”

Add Krastev: Now living in New York City, Krastev was invited by the Bulgarian Olympic committee to return home and represent his country at Barcelona. Krastev’s response: “I would rather wash dishes in America than prove myself as the best in the world for Bulgaria.”

Succinct suggestion: After Mario Andretti ran over the rear of Eddie Cheever’s car during the first lap of the Long Beach Grand Prix, knocking both cars out of the race, Andretti’s excuse was, “I didn’t have any place to go.”

Robin Miller of the Indianapolis Star suggested: “How about Skip Barber’s Driving School?”

Trivia time: Who played in the first televised baseball game?

Feminist note: The Boston Amateur Golf Society has formed a women’s section and is actively seeking members through newspaper and magazine advertisements. Prominently displayed is the organization’s acronym: BAGS.

Honest appraisal: Detroit’s Isiah Thomas, in an interview in Inside Sports, calls the Boston Celtic trio of Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale “the best front line ever to play the game.”

Close to home: Second baseman Roberto Alomar of the Toronto Blue Jays makes his home in the SkyDome Hotel. To get to the ballpark, he rides an elevator down three stories and walks through a gate in center field. He does not have one of the SkyDome suites with a view of the field, however.

“That’d be too much,” he said.

Greening of fairways: Six golf course owners in Scottsdale, Ariz., have agreed to put up $9 million, with the city of Scottsdale adding another $5 million, to build a $14-million pipeline that will draw Colorado River water from the Central Arizona Project canal. The 14-mile pipeline will carry mostly waste water, which will be recycled and treated for use on the golf courses.

The whole story: Promoter Jim Dale advertises his Imperial Raceway, near El Centro, as the “World’s Fastest 3/8 Mile Dirt Oval.” A strong statement and one likely to be argued by a number of the country’s small ovals--until you read the disclaimer in small type:

“Under Sea Level.”

Trivia answer: Princeton and Columbia, May 17, 1939. Princeton won in 10 innings, 2-1. Bill Stern was the announcer.

On the bright side: Curtis Pride is an aspiring minor league outfielder with the Binghamton Mets who has been 95% deaf since birth. He has never heard the crack of bat on ball, nor the cheering of a crowd. But, he says, he has one advantage: “I can’t hear it when the fans boo me.”

What’s in a name? Graham Alex Jimmy Stewart Gerry Brian Martin Steve Sammy Stuart Lou Gordon David Tommy Matt Cross, 15, was named by his father after players on Manchester United’s 1976 soccer champions. The youngster was recently offered a contract by Leeds, the English League champion.

“I would have preferred that the offer came from Manchester United,” his father said, not surprisingly.

Too many Bonds: Track and field historian Dick Bank called to report that Bobby Bonds was not the California state high school long jump champion, as mentioned recently in Morning Briefing--that it was his brother Robert.

The baseball Bonds’ name was actually Bobby Lee. The Bobby-Robert name apparently was a family favorite. Their father was named Robert, too.

Quotebook: South African golfer Fulton Allem, after looking for a place where he could light a cigarette: “They used to say you’d walk a mile for a Camel. Now you have to walk a mile to smoke one.”