Barkley’s Jabs Won’t Be No. 1 in Arkansas

Apparently not content simply to stir things up in pool halls and bars, Charles Barkley has taken a jab at the program that currently ranks No. 1 in college basketball, the University of Arkansas.

According to the Arizona Republic, the Phoenix star told teammate Oliver Miller, a former Arkansas player, that the Razorbacks’ No. 1 ranking is, in so many words, a joke.

“Arkansas, Jethro and all the hillbillies are No. 1,” Barkley is reported to have said. “But that won’t last long.

“Arkansas is just a bunch of country bumpkins. They haven’t (played) out of the state yet. They have been playing Central Delaware State, Central Arkansas State and Central Cream Puff State.”

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Add Barkley: For the record, Arkansas has played one game out of state--a 96-78 victory at Memphis State. The Razorbacks have also beaten Murray State, Missouri, Northwestern (La.) State and Delaware State.

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Trivia time: Nevada Las Vegas is 0-2 under second-year Coach Rollie Massimino. Who was coaching at UNLV the last time the Rebels began a season 0-2?

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Sign him up: PGA Tour star Fred Couples might have a future in hockey. According to Steve Huber of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, Couples recently attended a Dallas Star game and tried the slap-shot cage on the Reunion Arena concourse, recording the night’s top speed, 104 m.p.h.

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Just don’t say Fresno: Missouri’s decision to hire former USC football coach Larry Smith looks pretty good when you consider these numbers: Smith took USC to the Rose Bowl three times in six seasons. John Robinson has taken the Trojans to the Rose Bowl three times in eight seasons. And Terry Donahue has taken UCLA to Rose Bowl four times in 18.

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Hear that, Mitch? Stan Hochman of the Philadelphia Daily News believes World Series goat Mitch Williams could have weathered another season in Philadelphia had he not been traded to Houston.

Writes Hochman: “Boos and cheers sound the same to him because he’s got so much cotton between his ears.”

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Try again: The University of Texas Pan American has redone the school’s basketball media guide because of public outcry over the cover--a photo of senior guard Greg Guy, dressed in a black hat and tan suit, standing next to a white sedan and pointing a handgun.

The cover, which includes the heading, “Guy With a Gun,” was playing off Guy’s having led NCAA Division I in scoring last season.

Bad idea, said Sun Belt Conference officials and others.

So UT Pan American is working on a new cover. It will show Guy in everyday clothes on top of a campus building. A basketball will replace the gun.

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Trivia answer: John Bayer, whose 1972-73 UNLV team was 0-3 before earning its first victory. Bayer was replaced after that season by Jerry Tarkanian.

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Quotebook: Bob Uecker, baseball broadcaster, on his doctor’s advice for getting rid of a cold: “He tells me to drink lemon juice after a hot bath, but I can never finish the bath.”