Bird Says Three-Point Baskets Have Become Too Close to Call

Larry Bird told Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe that the new NBA three-point line--22 feet from the basket--is a cheap shot.

“It never should have been moved, but if they were going to move it, they should have moved it back instead of forward,” the former Celtic great said.

“But the way they’re going, they should just give you three points for everything. It’s too close.

“When you see centers stepping up and hitting it, something is wrong.”

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Trivia time: Who was the first Heisman Trophy winner to play in the Rose Bowl game?

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Pampered: Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the slumping Eagles, who have lost five games in a row after a 7-2 start:

“The Eagles remind you of a baby leaking through its diaper. You’d like to hug ‘em, but you’re waiting for them to finish doing whatever it is that they’re doing.

“Until then, you hold them at arm’s length, and wait.”

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Littermania: Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer describing the emotional Browns after their 19-14 upset victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday:

“When hearts started beating again and breaths were released, the players ran onto the field, whipped off their helmets and jumped on each other like puppies in a basket.”

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Why not? Charles Oakley of the New York Knicks commenting on a shoe company’s inability to produce a shoe that will ease the pain of his dislocated toe:

“They can’t make a dislocated shoe.”

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A 300 game? Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle on the surging 49ers, who are on an eight-game winning streak:

“The terrible, deafening squish you’ve been hearing the last two months is the 49ers jelling. They have jelled to the consistency of a bowling ball.”

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Sound investment: Denver Nugget forward Brian Williams was fined $250 after he overslept and was nearly an hour late for practice.

Said Coach Dan Issel: “I told him for $250 he could buy a heck of an alarm clock.”

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Homesick: Phil Jackson, Chicago Bull coach, comparing the team’s new arena, the United Center, to its former home, Chicago Stadium:

“The building is dead. It is a dry, dead spot to start playing ball rather than a live, warm nest you get comfortable with.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1985, UCLA defeated American University, 1-0, in the eighth overtime period to win the NCAA title in the longest soccer match held in the United States.

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Trivia answer: Frank Sinkwich of Georgia, who played in the 1943 game against UCLA. Georgia won, 9-0.

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Quotebook: Norman Chad, syndicated columnist: “To save time in the two-minute drill, the Raiders now practice walking backward after penalties.”