Parks Struck Mother Lode as a Youth

Cherokee Parks, the Dallas Mavericks’ top draft pick, was reared by a single mother, but the former Huntington Beach Marina High star says it never bothered him or his sister.

“A lot of people ask me what I did for a male role model,” Parks told the Dallas Morning News. “But my mom, she just did a remarkable job. Whatever she’s been involved in, she’s always gone for it 100%.

“My mom did stuff like working construction, laying dry wall. Not a lot of moms out there can lay dry wall.”

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Add Parks: Debe Parks says she decided to name her first born Cherokee, whether it was a boy or a girl, but Anaheim hospital clerks didn’t take her seriously.

“People were shocked,” she recalls.

“I said, ‘His name is Cherokee.’ The woman replied, ‘Excuse me? No, really, what are you going to call him?’ ”

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Trivia time: John Daly can become only the third player to win the British Open and the PGA in the same year if he wins next week at Riviera. Who are the other two?

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Battling Buddy: Arizona Cardinal Coach Buddy Ryan recently purchased a piece of the contract of middleweight boxer Frankie Rhodes.

“His right hand is much better than mine,” Ryan said, alluding to the punch he threw at fellow Houston Oiler assistant Kevin Gilbride during a game in 1993.

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There’s a difference: Ron Gant, the Cincinnati Red outfielder, says at first he was bothered by the gyrations of Montreal rookie pitcher Carlos Perez, who reacts wildly after each strikeout.

“I thought he was trying to show people up,” Gant said. “But now that I’ve met him, I realize he’s just goofy.”

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Extra points: Reader George Kiseda, after watching the United States defeat Mexico on penalty kicks, says it was “like having a home run contest to decide the winner of a baseball game that’s tied after nine innings.”

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The real story: When the Canadian Football League held a dispersal draft of players from the defunct Las Vegas Posse, the Ottawa Rough Riders picked a player who had recently died in a car accident.

The headline in an Ottawa paper: “Rough Riders Draft a Real Stiff.”

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Golfing FYI: Jack Nicklaus, the oldest entry in the PGA, won his first PGA championship seven years before Phil Mickelson, the youngest entry, was born. Nicklaus is 55, Mickelson 25.

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Precarious walk: Howard Schnellenberger is taking over as head coach at Oklahoma this fall with redshirt freshman Eric Moore as his quarterback, but he told the youngster, “I’ll make you an All-American before you leave, but you’ll have to work hard.”

Asked about the propriety of making such a bold statement, Schnellenberger replied, “I’ve always walked out on a limb as far as I can. You can’t walk back from it.”

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Target practice: Randy Johnson, the Seattle Mariners’ fire-balling left-hander, has issued the following warning to would-be thieves:

“I don’t own a gun, but I keep a bag of baseballs near our bed. If someone breaks in, they had better be wearing a batting helmet because I’m going to throw at their heads.”

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Trivia answer: Walter Hagen, 1924; and Nick Price, 1994.

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Quotebook: Comedian Alan King: “One of the quickest ways to meet new people is to pick up the wrong ball on a golf course.”