Swann-Largent Debate: Point and Counterpoint

Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette acknowledges that Lynn Swann was an outstanding receiver for the Steelers. Nonetheless, he writes that Swann doesn’t deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“Much of the uproar (in Pittsburgh) was based on the fact Steve Largent, also a wide receiver, was voted into the Hall of Fame over Swann.

“It’s not always fair to use statistics to compare players, but in comparing Swann and Largent, the numbers so favor Largent, who played for the Seattle Seahawks, it is difficult to argue.”

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Counterpoint: From John Steigerwald, a sportscaster who writes a column for the Post-Gazette:

“Anybody who thinks that Steve Largent, who has all the stats, would have been a starter on a team with Swann and John Stallworth is suffering from serious emotional problems.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for highest free-throw percentage in a regular season?

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Fan-tasy: Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls has this reaction to the fines and suspension levied against Vernon Maxwell of the Houston Rockets for punching a fan in Portland:

“I bet you deep down within every NBA player, he is living this incident vicariously through Maxwell,” Kerr said. “You see, there are a lot of hecklers who come to games and conduct themselves in a way where they deserve to be punched. But you’ve got to be smart enough to control yourself.”

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NBA original: Fran Blinberry of the Houston Chronicle on rookie Grant Hill of the Detroit Pistons:

“He has signed deals with General Motors, Fila, Schick, and Wilson and much more is on the way. He is attractive to marketers because he’s polite, gracious and charming--the antithesis of the way so many NBA players are viewed these days.”

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Highway problem: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle on replacement players in major league baseball:

“All I know about these new players is what I read, and I gather that many of them will be truck drivers. I don’t know why but that’s the profession most often mentioned as a talent pool for replacement players.

“Which is fine, but who will drive America’s trucks? Why replacement truck drivers, of course.”

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Casting comment: Kansas State basketball Coach Tom Asbury on his daughter’s reaction to his calling Texas Christian Coach Billy Tubbs a jerk and an idiot:

“She said, ‘Dad, I got you a lead in a movie--Dumb and Dumber Part II. You’re going to get to play both parts.’ ”

Growing minority: Sandra McKee in the Baltimore Sun: “Remember the phrase, ‘You’ve come a long way, baby’? These days it can be applied to American-born players in the NHL.

“When the league first began keeping statistics on such things in 1967-68, only 2% of the players in the game were born in the USA. This season, the percentage has grown to 17.9, which translates to 117 of 652 players.”

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Trivia answer: Calvin Murphy of Houston, .958 in 1980-81.

Quotebook: President Clinton before his first round in the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic: “We’re not going too far right or too far left; we’re going to play political golf today.”