And He Didn’t Even Get His Linens Dirty

Followers of cricket compared it to breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s record of scoring 100 points in an NBA game.

Brian Lara of India completed a cricket world-record, single-innings score of 375 on Monday, breaking by 10 a mark that had stood for 36 years.

Lara needed a little longer than Chamberlain to complete his feat. He batted for 12 hours and 46 minutes over three days.

Not even Mike Hargrove, manager of the Cleveland Indians, who as a player stepped out of the batter’s box so often that he became known as “the Human Rain Delay,” could approach that record.

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Trivia time: Which NBA coach has held his job the longest?

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That’s a bargain? Pitcher Jack Morris of the Cleveland Indians, who is playing for $350,000 plus incentives, said after winning his first start: “They’ve already gotten their money’s worth.”

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National past-its-time? According to a poll co-sponsored by ESPN and Chilton Research Service, no baseball players are among the nation’s 10 most popular professional athletes.

The top 10, in order: Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Scottie Pippen, Dan Marino, Wayne Gretzky, John Elway and Barry Sanders.

Cal Ripken Jr. was 12th.

Michael Jordan was not included because when the poll was taken, he was retired from the NBA and hadn’t started playing baseball.

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Bull stuff: Running back LeShon Johnson of Northern Illinois, son of a professional rodeo bull rider and a probable first-round NFL draft choice, told Sport magazine: “My dad’s seen a lot of people ride, and he said I had the (proper) balance and the heart. Really, it’s the heart. A lot of people don’t have the heart or the head to think that they can ride. That’s all it takes.”

A high pain threshold probably wouldn’t hurt.

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Vintage whine: Wrote Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe, after Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins had complained about life in the NHL and hinted at retirement: “We’re talking drivel, plain and simple nonsense from one more spoiled professional athlete who believes he is bigger than the game that has made him filthy rich and, in the process, turned him into a spoiled, petulant brat.

“Retire. Who cares? Drive right on out of town on Route 66. The 4WD is in the shop? Poor boy. Well, hey, take the Rolls.”

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Trivia answer: Wes Unseld, who is in his seventh season as coach of the Washington Bullets.

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Quotebook: Shaquille O’Neal of the Orlando Magic, discounting his chances of winning the most-valuable-player award this season: “I think I’m like the Ross Perot of the NBA. I’m going to get a lot of votes, but I’m not going to win.”