This Was a One-for-a-Million Opportunity--and He Blew It

Actors call it stage fright. In golf it’s called the yips. But there is no name for what happened to Bobby Shivar on Sunday in New Orleans.

The 45-year-old pipe fitter from Beulaville, N.C., could have won $1 million for making a three-point shot at halftime of a college all-star game, but he clanged his shot off the rim and won $25,000.

Although Shivar has never played basketball at any level, he said it was probably the pressure that did him in, more than any lack of skill. After his name was drawn in a contest, Shivar installed a hoop in his driveway and since January has tried about 200 shots--each one 19 feet 9 inches from the basket.

He even took lessons from former Boston Celtic center Dave Cowens, who shot 78% from the free-throw line.

Good thing he didn’t get help from Wilt Chamberlain. He wouldn’t have drawn iron.

Freeze the floor: The producers of “The Tonight Show” have dropped plans for host Jay Leno to drive a team of sled dogs pulling a little red wagon through studio hallways.

NBC said it was canceling the stunt, planned for Wednesday to go with the appearance of Iditarod champion Jeff King and six of his dogs, because producers feared the animals might be injured running on the linoleum floor.

Trivia time: Who was the first woman to drive in an Indy-car race?

Different strokes: How does New Orleans’ famed Bourbon Street compare to Franklin Street, the University of North Carolina’s version of Westwood Boulevard in Chapel Hill?

“A lot different,” North Carolina center Kevin Salvadori said. “A lot of crazy stores down there you don’t see on Franklin Street. If you had a store on Franklin Street like that, I know a lot of people would be having heart attacks.”

Golf and fatherhood: Jim Albus has played in every regular-season senior tour event the last two seasons and would like to keep his streak going, even though his daughter will graduate from Duke in May, the same week of the Paine Webber Invitational at Charlotte, N.C.

He still might make it. He’s thinking about renting a helicopter for the 30-minute flight from Charlotte to the Duke campus in Durham, N.C.

Outta here: The University of Kansas has had only one basketball coach with a losing record, and that was James Naismith, the founder of the game.

Mike Lopresti of Gannett News Service comments: “They’d fire (him) now, peach basket and all.”

How’s that?Former race driver Derek Daly after Nigel Mansell’s crash during practice at Phoenix: “I’ve never heard a bomb go off, but that’s what it sounded like.”

Mickey Mouse town: Pat Williams, general manager of the Orlando Magic, on the central Florida city his club represents: “If it weren’t for the bowling alleys in this town, there would be no culture at all.”

Trivia answer: Arlene Hiss, who finished 14th at Phoenix on March 14, 1976.

Be like Mike: Seattle SuperSonic Coach George Karl apparently isn’t too pleased with the showboating of his star forward, Shawn Kemp.

“Shawn is now pump-faking when nobody is in his path,” Karl said.

Quotebook: Seven-foot North Carolina center Eric Montross on being a tall child: “I was a little insecure at that time because a lot of kids made fun of me. But I think I just grew to love it.”