Home Court Is Definitely to His Advantage

Rony Seikaly, the Golden State Warrior center, may have a future in real estate when his NBA playing days are over.

According to Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle, after he was traded by the Miami Heat, Seikaly sold his island mansion off the Florida coast to a South American businessman for a little more than $7 million. He bought it in 1991 for $2.5 million.

The 20,000 square-foot home overlooks Biscayne Bay and includes racquetball, tennis and basketball courts, seven bedrooms, 10 bathrooms and a pool with a waterfall.

Not bad for a bachelor pad.

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Trivia time: Spain’s Miguel Indurain hopes to join three other riders as five-time winners of the Tour de France. Who are they?

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Mick & Yogi: Mickey Mantle, near death before receiving a liver transplant, said one of the first people he heard from was former New York Yankee teammate Yogi Berra.

“Yogi said he was gonna come to my funeral because he was afraid I wasn’t going to come to his,” Mantle said.

During a news conference to discuss his recovery, Mantle spotted ultra-collector Barry Halper, who owns Ty Cobb’s dentures. Mantle asked, “Barry, did you buy my liver?”

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Sign up early: Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, noting the earlier and earlier drafting by the NBA of teen-age players, has this suggestion:

“Incoming mail recently included a birth announcement with the standard particulars--name, weight, length and biological parents . . . but birth announcements of the near future should include another vital: whether or not the infant has declared itself eligible for the NBA draft.”

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No change? How contrary is Tony Fernandez, the New York Yankee infielder? Davey Johnson, his former manager at Cincinnati, said this about him:

“If you gave Tony a $5 bill, he’d ask for five ones instead.”

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New interpretation: Reader Don Shinnick, a former linebacker for UCLA and the Baltimore Colts, takes issue with John McEnroe that golfers aren’t athletes because they don’t run.

“Didn’t he see Corey Pavin run up that hill on the 18th hole [at Shinnecock Hills Country Club] to see if he’d won the U.S. Open? The ball was still in the air when he got to the top of the rise. That was running, I’ll tell you.”

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Trivia answer: Belgian Eddy Merckx and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.

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Quotebook: Senior tour golfer Bob Murphy: “I looked up the word patience in an Irish dictionary--and it wasn’t in there.”