La Motta Has No Taste for Alphabet Soup

Jake La Motta, who won the middleweight championship in 1949, told Samuel Adams of the Denver Post that there are “over 300 champions” now.

He was referring to the litter of titles--WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO and IBO.

“There’s a champion of Avenue A, a champion of Avenue B, a champion of Avenue C,” La Motta said. “Today, you get 10 or 20 fights, you fight for the championship. Most of the guys who were around my time had to have a hundred fights before a championship fight.”

Add La Motta: “The last time I fought Ray Robinson, I got $25-30,000. Today I’d get $25-30 million. Don’t you think?”

Trivia time: Joe Montana will wear jersey No. 19 for the Kansas City Chiefs. What other famous NFL quarterback had the same number?

Come again?From John Steigerwald of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “The fact that more Americans would rather watch bowling than hockey says a lot more about Americans than it does about hockey.”

Looking back: Oscar Charleston, who played in the old Negro League, might have been the greatest player of all time--white or black--according to free-lance writer Paul Adomites.

Charleston had a lifetime average of .376 and reportedly hit .326 lifetime against white major leaguers.

“Some say he was so strong,” Adomites writes, “that he could take a new ball and squeeze it in his hands till it was soft. Allegedly, he would take the warm-up throws around the infield and return a mushball to his happy pitcher.”

Good old days: Outfielder Kevin Reimer was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the expansion draft and then traded hours later to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Reimer recently talked about the Rockies, saying: “Yeah, my old team. I’ve got a lot of fond memories.”

Perspective: From Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News: “Seems to me it was the ultimate insult for the (Mavericks) to read and hear all the front-page hoopla about their magnificent achievement of barely escaping the brand of worst NBA team ever.

“That’s like telling a POW: ‘Why you’ve lost less weight than anybody in prison camp!’ ”

Take that!Jim Bowden, the Cincinnati Reds’ 31-year-old general manger, was so upset by an error that led to a recent loss to the Florida Marlins that he stuck his foot through the family television when he got home.

FYI: Denver Nugget guard Chris Jackson has planned a trip to Mecca next month. When he returns, he will be known as Mahmoud Abdul Rauf.

Bobo’s moment: On this date in 1953, Bobo Holloman pitched a no-hitter in his first major league game as the St. Louis Browns defeated the Philadelphia Athletics, 6-0.

Holloman won only two more games in 1953 against seven losses. It was his only major league season.

Trivia answer: John Unitas of the Baltimore Colts.

Quotebook: David Cone, former New York Met pitcher now with the Kansas City Royals, commenting on Manager Hal McRae’s recent tantrum: “I’d like to thank everyone involved for making me feel completely at home.”