In His Neighborhood, Fish Came in the Back of a Truck

In his recently released book, “Up Close and In Your Face with the Greats, Near-Greats, and Ingrates of Sports,” ESPN’s Roy Firestone recalled a conversation with Jim Valvano, the former North Carolina State coach who died last month.

Asked Firestone: “Would you have been the same person if you had grown up in Missouri?”

Said Valvano: “We’re all products of our environment. I grew up in Queens, New York, with family all around--my uncles, my cousins. Everybody ate at two o’clock on Sunday--we all went in and had a little pasta. Everybody had a mustache where I grew up.

“Then we move out to Long Island, I meet a little kid named Rusty. I thought that was a condition. I said, ‘What’s your name?’ He said, ‘Rusty.’ I said, ‘Your name’s gotta be Anthony.’ So I’m an awful lot of where I grew up.

“When I got to Raleigh, they were shocked that I’d never been fishing. I said, ‘How do you fly-cast into a fire hydrant?’ ”

Add Firestone: Utah Coach Rick Majerus appeared on Firestone’s show and discussed the difficulty of finding good players.

“I was recruiting Walter Watts, he was 6-6 and 323. First time I saw Walter, he had on a yellow polo shirt with blue-piped striping. I thought Saturn was approaching.”

Majerus also recalled the time a Mormon player he was recruiting chose Brigham Young over Utah because, said the player, “I spoke to God.”

Majerus’ response?

“I said, ‘I gotta tell you something, son. I’m so frustrated, I’m turning God in to the NCAA. This is an illegal recruiting violation. He’s an alumnus, he had no business talking to you.’ ”

Trivia time: John Wooden is the only member of the Basketball Hall of Fame who was inducted as both a player and a coach. Who has the best chance of earning the same distinction?

Git along, little dogies: Leading candidate for most bizarre early retirement is quarterback Timm Rosenbach of the Phoenix Cardinals, who apparently has called it quits at 26.

His new avocation?

Calf roping.

“I’ve seen guys retire, un-retire, but certainly not a player of Timm’s stature,” Cardinal General Manager Larry Wilson told Kent Somers in the Sporting News. “This is kind of strange.”

Said Rosenbach’s agent, Gary Wichard: “Timm is cut of a different cloth.”

Yes, and it probably isn’t cloth at all. More likely leather.

Tick-tock: As part of a “Roll Back the Clock Night” marketing promotion at Royals Stadium on Friday night, Kansas City players will wear 1969-style uniforms. The visiting Seattle Mariners will wear uniforms from the 1977 season.

Maybe this isn’t such a good idea. The Royals lost 93 games in 1969, their first year in Kansas City. The Mariners, who made their debut in 1977, lost 98 games that year.

By the way, Mariner Manager Lou Piniella was the opening-day center fielder for the Royals in 1969.

Man of conviction: How much pressure is there to win in the NBA? Orlando Magic Coach Matt Guokas said he could learn to live with the Human Pout--Dennis Rodman, who led the NBA in rebounding this season.

“You might be surprised with the things you could put up with--things that go against your grain--with someone like that who could help you win games,” Guokas told Tim Povtak of the Orlando Sentinel.

Trivia answer: Lenny Wilkens. Wilkens was inducted as a player in 1989. At his present pace, he should surpass Red Auerbach’s 1,037 victories, the most for any coach in NBA history, within three more seasons.

Quotebook: Owner Lamar Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs in a 1982 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, on lawyers: “The best description of utter waste would be a busload of lawyers to go over a cliff with three empty seats.”