NBA Debut in Mexico Is a Smash

Despite some glitches, the NBA’s first game in Mexico was judged a rousing success.

A sellout crowd of 19,500 cheered the Houston Rockets to a 104-102 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Mexico City on Tuesday night. The glitches included a faulty scoreboard, dueling public address announcers in Spanish and English and creaky chairs.

All 255 pounds of 7-foot Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon hit the floor with a crash during the final timeout as the legs of his chair buckled. Three players and his coach, Rudy Tomjanovich, had to haul him up, but he wasn’t hurt.

Trivia time: What was the lowest scoring game in NBA history?

Looking down: With an 0-7 record, perhaps the New England Patriots should set their sights even lower.

Why not go 0-16? That way they would be the best at being the worst in one season.

Tampa Bay holds that dubious distinction now with an 0-14 record in 1976.

Cheerful option: John Nash, Washington Bullet general manager, recently signed Tom Gugliotta after negotiating with agent Richard Howell for 3 1/2 months. How grueling was it?

“I had a dentist appointment for a root canal that afternoon,” Nash told USA Today, “and I was looking forward to it.”

Sticking point: The magazine Motion Sport in Finland contends that Finns excel in the javelin “because it is a lonely business . . . the very kind of activity that suits Finns. They can grit their teeth and curse themselves.”

They figured it out: Toronto’s municipal flag was flying in front of Atlanta City Hall, and right-side up, too.

The flag was hoisted on Wednesday to make good on a bet between Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson and Toronto Mayor June Rowlands after the Braves had lost the World Series to the Blue Jays.

Officials made double sure the flag was right-side up. Before the second game of the World Series in Atlanta, a Marine Corps color guard mistakenly carried the Canadian maple leaf flag upside down.

Big spender: At a recent “Meet the Dolphins” luncheon in Miami, master of ceremonies Wendell Beard described Tim Robbie, Dolphin president:

“He’s the kind of guy who stands up on the team plane and says, ‘OK, another round of peanuts for everybody.’ ”

Trivia answer: The Ft. Wayne Pistons beat the Minneapolis Lakers, 19-18, on Nov. 22, 1950.

Quotebook: Jeff Bostic, the Washington Redskins’ veteran center, on his philosophy of football: “When you take that first stretch in training camp, you tell yourself that’s the best you’re going to feel for the next seven months--at least.”