Perhaps This Is Why He Is in the Minors

John Bansch of the Indianapolis Star on prankster Daniel Gauthier of the Indianapolis Ice of the International Hockey League:

“Gauthier has been known to insert an egg into the skate of an unsuspecting teammate, rub atomic balm on the liner of a rookie’s helmet, dump cold water on people taking hot showers, slop salad dressing or chocolate sauce on the shoes of people in a buffet line, load up towels with shaving cream, put baby powder in hair dryers and drench the hair of unsuspecting targets with shaving cream during airplane rides.”

Gauthier is 24 years old going on 4.

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Trivia time: What do Tiger Woods, Nick Price, John Cook and Craig Stadler have in common, other than that they are all golfers entered in the Masters?

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Stamina teams: UCLA won the NCAA basketball championship game Monday night with virtually a six-man team, because Tyus Edney played only 2 1/2 minutes.

Recalling another iron-man performance in the NCAA title game, Stanford in 1942 used only six players--four of them playing 40 minutes--in beating Dartmouth, 53-48.

In 1979, DePaul used only five players in losing an NCAA semifinal game to Indiana State, 76-74.

In 1975, UCLA used only six players in defeating Kentucky, 92-85, for the national title.

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Little big man: Calgary Flame center Theo Fleury, all 5 feet 6 of him, grows tired of people focusing on his, uh, shortcomings.

“What about (Corey) Millen,” Fleury said recently, referring to the alleged 5-7 Dallas center. “I could eat an apple off his head.”

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Clip and save: Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe: “Here’s the safest statement anyone can make about the 1995 Final Four coaching roster:

“We don’t know if Nolan Richardson will be back; we don’t know if Eddie Sutton will be back; we don’t know if Jim Harrick will be back; but we know Dean Smith will be back.”

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Academy Award? Dick Vitale, ESPN college basketball analyst, has a part in a new movie.

“It’s with the guy from MTV, Pauly Shore, and Shelly Winters, and it’s called ‘Jury Duty,’ ” Vitale said. “Can you imagine me with Shelly Winters? I play a court reporter. It’s the first time in my life I haven’t played myself.”

Great casting.

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Ready to spring: Stanford golf Coach Wally Goodwin on Tiger Woods: “Nothing surprises him. Nothing scares him. He just goes along, then, all of a sudden like a racehorse, he sees his opening and there he goes.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1927, swimmer Johnny Weissmuller lowered his own record in the 100-yard freestyle to 51 seconds. It stood for 17 years.

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Trivia answer: All were winners as teen-agers of the Junior World tournament in San Diego.

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Quotebook: Dave Hollins, Philadelphia Philly infielder on the baseball strike ending: “We’re going to have to spend a little more time with the fans. Guys can’t be blowing them off like they do a lot.”