NBA, Down in Ratings, Loses Another Viewer in Chicago

Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls, apparently dislikes the New York Knicks so much, he won’t even watch them on TV.

“I’ve seen enough of the Knicks,” Jackson told Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe. “I don’t want to get into them. I can’t stand watching them play. It’s ugly ball.”

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Add Jackson: As for his public jousting with Knick Coach Pat Riley in the recent series between the teams, Jackson said:

“He tries to put a spin on everything. He’s the media coach. I give him a lot of credit for what he deals with in New York, but his style is not my style.”

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Choices: Rudy Martzke in USA Today: “Homer award: New York defender Mike Lupica on ESPN--’If a lot of people don’t like the Knicks’ (rough) style of play, they can watch something else.’

“Judging by the 31% dip in prime-time ratings, they did.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for most rebounds in an NBA finals game?

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Warning signal: Bob Wojnowski in the Detroit News: “I’m not saying college football in Florida is sleazy. I’m just saying they should start games there with a siren, not a whistle.”

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Clip and save: Michael Jordan, on the Houston-New York NBA championship series: “I believe the Rockets will win because nobody is going to stop Hakeem Olajuwon.”

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Beardless thing: Before pitcher Mitch Williams was released by the Houston Astros, he was asked by Manager Terry Collins to shave his beard.

He did so reluctantly, saying, “I look like a 14-year-old. Who’s going to be afraid of me now?”

Apparently, nobody.

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Chalk talk: ESPN’s Chris Berman, during a recent Atlanta Brave-San Francisco Giant game at Candlestick Park, when Giant outfielder Willie McGee bunted a ball that rolled up the third-base line fair for a hit:

“That ball has lime disease, it picked up so much chalk.”

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Lovable pet: When the NBA’s expansion franchise in Toronto unveiled its Raptor logo--snarling, red dinosaur wearing sneakers and dribbling a basketball--club President John Bitove Jr. was moved to say: “At our board meeting, when we picked this logo, everyone got choked up.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1968, Howie Bedell’s sacrifice fly in the fifth inning ended Don Drysdale’s streak of a then-record 58 2/3 scoreless innings as the Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3.

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Fall guy: Todd Phipers of the Denver Post, commenting on reports that quarterback Jim McMahon, now with the Arizona Cardinals, is studying martial arts four times a day:

“The primary benefit: He’s learned how to fall.”

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Trivia answer: Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics, with 40 against the St. Louis Hawks in 1960 and against the Lakers, in overtime, in 1962.

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Quotebook: President Chuck Armstrong of the Seattle Mariners, denying rumors that Ken Griffey Jr. might be traded: “Trading Griffey would be like dismantling the Space Needle.”