Before He Became Irish Legend, He Was One in His Own Mind

The late Edward W. (Moose) Krause, a former athlete, coach and administrator at Notre Dame, once won a basketball game at Indianapolis against Butler in the final second, after having been knocked to the floor.

The ball bounced into his hands and, while lying flat on his back, he lofted the ball into the basket.

The next morning, according to legend, a young paperboy stood near the door of the team bus, hawking his newspapers as the Irish players boarded for the trip back to South Bend.

“Morning Star,” he shouted.

“Morning, son,” Krause replied.

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Trivia time: Who was the last player other than Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson to be voted most valuable player in the NBA?

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At the ready: Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez, on his role as a goodwill ambassador for the sport: “I think I’m going to change my name from Juan to nine-Juan-Juan. I’m like the rescue squad. Whenever someone needs help, they call for me.”

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Cuts like a knife: When a listener noted during Bob Weiss’ radio call-in show that the Atlanta Hawks were using a lineup without a true center, the Hawk coach replied: “Oh, we’ve been doing that for years. Our center is Jon Koncak.”

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Say what? From Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Sun, predicting a wide-open NCAA tournament: “Game in and game out, there’s probably not a half-point’s difference among Indiana, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, Cincinnati and maybe even UCLA.”

UCLA?

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Don’t say a word: Tennis magazine reports that the worst public relations move of 1992 was made by Jennifer Capriati, who refused to speak to U.S. television during the French Open.

“A week in Paris and she turns into Marcel Marceau,” wrote the magazine.

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Common ground: Heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe, who left Wednesday from New York on an around-the-world goodwill trip that will take him to the Vatican, among other stops, told Ron Borges of the Boston Globe that he never expected to meet the Pope.

Wrote Borges: “The Pope probably wasn’t planning on meeting Bowe, either.”

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Mind’s-eye view: Laker announcer Chick Hearn told Southern California magazine: “Whether the Lakers are playing at home or on the road, I’m always at the stadium at least three hours before game time. I’ve always felt that if it was necessary for players to warm up before a game, then the same routine ought to help an announcer.

“So after I’ve gone over my notes, my stats and my charts, I walk up into the arena where I’ll be working that night and get comfortable. Then I make up an imaginary game in my head and do the equivalent of one period of play-by-play. By that time I’ve developed a rhythm that stays with me throughout the entire game.”

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Trivia answer: Moses Malone, then of the Philadelphia 76ers, in 1983.

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Quotebook: Steve Kerr of the Orlando Magic, who is averaging less than 10 minutes a game, about the same as he averaged before being traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers: “They told me I’d have time to work on my game here. I didn’t know they meant my golf game.”