Many Talk About Leadership, but He Did Something About It

Donald Kaul of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette writes that his favorite coach in the NCAA tournament was Ben Jobe of Southern University, who has the odd philosophy that his players should make their own decisions during games.

“If you expect people to become leaders, you must allow them to practice leading,” Jobe told the Washington Post. “But coaches’ egos won’t let them. We must be in charge, we’ve got that General MacArthur, General Patton syndrome. . . . The coaching profession is decadent. I ignore it, stay way from it.”

Jobe’s team defeated Georgia Tech, but lost to George Washington--”with class,” Kaul added.

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Trivia time: What is the record for overtimes in an NCAA championship basketball game?

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Never thirsty: Todd Svoboda, a senior non-scholarship player for Kentucky, got to play only in the closing minutes of a rout.

However, he isn’t complaining. “I’ve got the best seat in the house,” he said. “It’s padded, and I can get up and get water whenever I want to.”

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Air ball: Tom Powers of the St. Paul Pioneer Press ponders whether the signing of quarterback Jim McMahon will help the Minnesota Vikings.

“If Jimbo has arm speed equal to his lip speed, he might be able to toss the ball downfield with a little oomph,” Powers wrote. “Instead, referees actually consider calling the infield fly rule on some of his passes.”

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Error prone: From “Stats 1993 Baseball Scorecard”: The average major league team committed two errors in a game 20 times last year, with a winning percentage of .394. The Astros committed two errors in a game only 11 times all year. The Dodgers, though, did it 32 times, about one game in every five. The Dodgers were 9-23 in those two-error contests.

Three or more errors? Once again a Dodger specialty. The Dodgers did it 14 times, the highest total in the majors. They were 4-10 when they committed that many errors.

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FYI: Franklin Delano Roosevelt threw out eight opening-day first balls to signify the start of the major league season--more than any other president.

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All-Dart? Are you ready for the USPDL? That’s the newly formed United States Professional Dart League.

Believe it or not, they will even wear uniforms.

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No thanks: From former President George Bush, on whether he has any interest in becoming the next commissioner of baseball: “I love the game, but I don’t need that kind of turmoil.”

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Anyone remember? From Stephen Williams of Newsday, recalling that it has been 75 years since the Boston Red Sox won a World Series:

“Since then, there have been 15 U.S. presidents and seven Popes. Mickey Mouse was only a gleam in Walt Disney’s eye in 1918, freeze-dried coffee didn’t exist, World War I hadn’t been numbered and McDonald’s had not sold a single hamburger.”

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Trivia answer: North Carolina defeated Kansas and Wilt Chamberlain, 54-53, in three overtimes in 1957.

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Quotebook: Casey Stengel, upon being hired as the first manager of the New York Mets at age 72: “A lot of people my age are dead at the present time.”