Referees Ruin Pizza Party in Oakland

Tim Hardaway of the Golden State Warriors is now known as the pizza man who tries to deliver.

During a recent game against Miami at the Oakland Coliseum, Golden State was comfortably in front, 119-115, when Hardaway, with a half-second showing on the clock, heaved a three-quarter-court shot that swished through the hoop.

The Coliseum fans celebrated, thinking the shot qualified them for free pizza in a promotion because it put Golden State above the 120 mark. The referees, however, ruled the shot didn’t count.

“Coach (Don) Nelson didn’t like that,” Hardaway said of his shot. “He thought I was prolonging the game and embarrassing the other team, and I’m sorry about that, but sometimes you have to do something for the fans. The people wanted pizza.”

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Trivia time: Buffalo is making its third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. What was the other team to appear in the game three consecutive times?

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Sleeping wolves: Dan Barriero of the Star Tribune of Minneapolis on the NBA’s Timberwolves, who have won only seven of 27 games:

“Chemistry is so volatile in the locker room that if somebody dropped a SCUD into the middle of it, nobody would even notice. Having watched the Wolves attempt to play defense, it is fairly certain nobody would bother to rotate.”

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Garage suite: Junior Seau, a former USC linebacker now with the San Diego Chargers, recalled sleeping arrangements while growing up with three brothers and two sisters:

“I grew up in a house with two bedrooms. I had the right corner in the garage by the door. The guys slept in the garage and the girls had the bedroom and my parents slept in the other room. We thought everyone slept in the garage. We were never cold because the love was so warm. We didn’t know any different.”

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Locked in: Bill Arnsparger, the highly regarded defensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, is preoccupied by strategy.

Miami Dolphin Coach Don Shula, recalling when Arnsparger was on his staff: “Bill is the kind of guy you could say ‘Hi’ to at 9:30 a.m. and he’ll say ‘Hi’ back at 1:30.”

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Carried away: The Fresno State football team was recently honored in a cross-town parade and a later rally at Bulldog Stadium.

The delayed celebration stemmed from Fresno State’s 24-7 upset of USC in the Dec. 29 Freedom Bowl game at Anaheim Stadium.

“It proved what can be done,” Coach Jim Sweeney said. “It has awakened a sleeping giant. There’s nothing to stop Fresno now. This could be a launch point for the national championship.”

Easy, Jim, easy.

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Sensitive: A Salt Lake City radio station is planning to picket Michael Jordan when the Utah Jazz plays host to the Chicago Bulls on Feb. 1.

Jordan reportedly said that the best thing about snowy Salt Lake City is how close it is to Las Vegas.

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Trivia answer: Miami, 1972-74.

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Quotebook: From New York Met broadcaster Ralph Kiner: “In the hunt to buy the San Francisco Giants was George Shinn, owner of the Charlotte Harlots.”