But Can Cardboard Cutouts Make High-Fives or Do Wave?

The Sports Arena has been the site of some of the filming of Billy Crystal’s movie, “Forget Paris.”

The unusual thing for the Sports Arena was that all the seats were full.

“Actually, they used a lot of cardboard cutouts of fans to fill out the crowd,” said NBC’s Marv Albert, who plays himself in the film. “The Clippers may want to keep them in place when the season starts.”

The Clippers were last in attendance in the NBA in 1993-94.

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Trivia time: Seven football jerseys have been retired by UCLA. Whose was the last?

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Dr. Swish: Coach Mike Dunleavy of the Milwaukee Bucks has called in a consultant because the team made only 61.6% of its free throws during the exhibition season.

Andy Enfield, the leading free-throw shooter in NCAA history at 92.5% at Division III Johns Hopkins from 1988-91, is the free-throw shooting doctor.

You would think professional players would have learned how to shoot free throws somewhere along the line.

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Job stress: Derrick Coleman of the New Jersey Nets on having to play every exhibition game on the road:

“I’m sick and tired of this. It’s ridiculous to travel that much in the preseason. We get burned out even before the season starts.”

Says a lot about your physical shape, Derrick.

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Turnover: Bill Tammeus in the Kansas City Star: “The Pope has named 30 new cardinals and if the baseball strike isn’t settled by spring, St. Louis may have to do the same.”

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Yay, appendectomy! NBC’s Mike Ditka after Deion Sanders of the San Francisco 49ers had high-stepped for a touchdown in a game against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 16:

“That’s a mockery of the game. Act like you’ve scored before. What does a surgeon do after a successful surgery? High-five the nurses?”

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High anxiety: C.W. Nevius in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The oh-that-makes-us-feel-better citation: To Bill Glasson, who flies his own plane from stop to stop on the (golf) tour.”

Said Glasson: “They kind of question that. After putting in eight hours already, are you alert enough to get in a plane and fly somewhere? And the answer is ‘I don’t know.’ ‘

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Looking back: On this day in 1986, Minnesota’s Tommy Kramer passed for 490 yards and four touchdowns, but the Vikings still lost to the Washington Redskins in overtime, 44-38.

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Trivia answer: Linebacker Jerry Robinson’s No. 84.

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Quotebook: Quarterback David Klingler on the 0-8 Cincinnati Bengals: “I’m not tired of the game. I’m just tired of the way the team plays. I’m out of quotes. I have nothing to say.”