It’s a Good Name for a Team if You Follow Roller Derby

A hot dispute is developing over what to name the NFL expansion franchise Baltimore hopes to get to replace the long departed Colts, even though the city is far from sure of getting a team.

If the prospective owners of the prospective team can’t buy the Colts’ name back from Indianapolis, one said he would name the team the Cobras.

Leonard Weinglass, who heads one of three ownership groups, said he considered the Ravens as a kind of Edgar Allan Poe alternative to the Baltimore Orioles. He likes the Animals and the Gorillas, but the NFL doesn’t, so he filed the name Bombers with the league.

Reconsider the Ravens, Leonard.

Trivia time: Which Dodger pitcher holds the club record for consecutive strikeouts in a game?

A kid at heart: Mel Antonen of USA Today writes that Bert Blyleven “loves to sneak up to a rookie and set fire to his shoelaces.”

Blyleven is 40.

Yawn: Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer commenting on why baseball is no longer the national pastime:

“Exactly when it ceased to be is not so precisely clear. But whereas once baseball was a reflection of the pace of the times, now it is out of sync, out of step, out of date.

“Baseball just doesn’t appeal to high school kids anymore. Why? ‘B-o-r-r-r-r-ing’ is the reply.”

No argument: New Jersey Devil forward Claude Lemieux, upon learning that his coach, Herb Brooks, referred to him as a cancer on the squad:

“That’s right, I am a Cancer. I was born July 16.”

Free ride: In its determination to serve as host city for the 2000 Olympic Games, Beijing is offering to pay transportation and room and board for the tens of thousands of athletes and officials attending the Games.

Pocket change: Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls was perturbed by being fined $10,000 for skipping a media session during All-Star weekend.

“That’s a new car right there,” Pippen said.

Shaun Powell of the Miami Herald countered by writing: “Well, let’s make a safe bet and say that none of the cars in Pippen’s garage cost as little as 10 grand.”

Hometown hero: Troy Aikman Day was celebrated last Saturday in Henryetta, Okla., hometown of the former UCLA quarterback, who led the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl victory over Buffalo. About 3,000 people came to the Henryetta High School football field to dedicate the Troy Aikman Sports Center, which he helped build by donating $20,000.

Trivia time: Johnny Podres, with eight on July 2, 1962, against Philadelphia.

Quotebook: ESPN’s Dick Schaap on the resignation of Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs: “If Bill Clinton had stepped down, Washington couldn’t have been more stunned.”