Rams Are on Top, For Now
T rying to remember the last weekend the Rams and the Angels spent together in first place . . .
* Of course, the Rams’ stay could end today, assuming Jim Everett improves his stranglehold over his former cellar mates to 3-0 in today’s “Who Burned Anaheim Worst?” Bowl. How will the marquee outside Busch Stadium read? “The Team That Bailed Out Against The Quarterback Who Did The Same”? Or “This City Once Had A Jim With Hart--Now We See How The Other Half Lives”?
* Years after the fact, it’s becoming apparent that Everett’s biggest problem in the postseason was never having faced the Rams in the postseason.
* The 1-0 Rams. Tied with the 1-0 49ers for at least the next two minutes. That’s one more difference between the Rams and the Angels. There are no Texas Rangers or Seattle Mariners in the NFC West.
* We Tried To Tell You, St. Louis: Attempting to build on the swelling civic enthusiasm as only Georgia Frontiere and John Shaw can, the Rams reneged on an agreement to have the Southwest Missouri State marching band perform at halftime during today’s historic opener because the team claims it can’t afford the travel expenses. Twenty million dollars in relocation enticements sure don’t go as far as they used to.
* Add “Where Did All The Money Go?”: The Ducks report to training camp today and season-ticket holders who had to hawk family heirlooms in order to keep up with runaway ticket-price inflation will be pleased to know that it will be unnecessary to buy programs this season. The Ducks made printing up new rosters pointless during the off-season by signing no big-name--or small-name--free agents and making no trades of any significance. The team you saw in April will be the team you’ll see in September. That team missed the playoffs and finished last in the Western Conference. So, no, plaza concourse dwellers, you don’t always get what you pay for.
* What do you get, actually? Well, let’s see . . . wait . . . there is a new name in camp. Chad Kilger, first-round draft selection, having agreed to report without a contract as an act of good faith. Kilger’s agent, Larry Kelly, figures he’s playing his cards right on this one. He knows there’s money out there, because the Ducks haven’t spent any of it.
* Meanwhile, the Kings open camp with a new coach, Larry Robinson, who has already set the new Los Angeles record for most hosannas in the press before actually coaching one game. “Larry Walks On Water!” has been the tone of the general reaction to his hiring. Yes, we know. It’s frozen.
* Robinson was a Hall of Fame-caliber defenseman and a major reason why the New Jersey Devils now hold the Stanley Cup, but look at what awaits him at Iceoplex. A 34-year-old Wayne Gretzky. A 35-year-old Jari Kurri. A 31-year-old Rick Tocchet with a 51-year-old back. No Dan Quinn, the Kings’ third-leading scorer last season, who fled during the summer to Ottawa. Why? Maybe he liked the playoff chances there better.
* The Kings will try to replace Quinn with Dimitri Khristich (means “diminishing returns” in Russian), whose annually dwindling point totals sank last season to 26 points, or five fewer than Tocchet. The Kings’ defense is nominally unchanged except for the possibility of top draft choice Aki-Petteri Berg bucking the odds and making the opening-night roster at 18. If Robinson finishes ninth in the conference with this group, I’ll vote for his canonization, too.
* Overheard while watching Cal Ripken’s record-breaker on a big screen at a local pizza parlor: “If baseball were any slower, it’d be gardening.” The speaker? A men’s rec-league soccer coach. I tell you, it’s all-out war out there.
* Hard to argue with the pace and results of last weekend’s Cal State Fullerton soccer invitational--four games, 18 goals, including five apiece in both Fullerton games (a 3-2 loss to Penn State, a 4-1 victory over Vermont). Fullerton has a freshman forward, a national top-10 recruit named Joey DiGiamarino, who scored three minutes into his collegiate career and again, spectacularly, in his second appearance. Titan Coach Al Mistri can scarcely contain himself. “He’s from Corona--we grow them out there,” Mistri quips. “But don’t tell UCLA.”
* So who was the biggest winner at Flushing Meadow Saturday? Steffi Graf? Pete Sampras? Andre Agassi? How about Nike, which has endorsement deals with both men’s finalists? And where will Sampras and Agassi play today’s U.S. Open title match? In the intersection of 51st and Lexington, after hopping out of a cab?
* Boris Becker sounds just a tad too paranoid when he harps on U.S. Open officials for trying to grease the rails for an all-American final. Some pro-Agassi calls Saturday were iffy, but I just don’t see it. All-Nike, well, that’s another story.
* Monica Seles’ streak fizzles while Ripken’s keeps going and going and . . .
* The Graf-Seles final was the most entertaining women’s tennis match in, oh, about 2 1/2 years.
* “And today, the San Francisco 49ers host the Atlanta Falcons at 3Com Stadium.” San Franciscans hate the name; maybe now they can empathize with cringing Southern Californians every time they hear the words “St. Louis Rams.” For sure, 3Com is no Candlestick. From the Bay perspective, the only thing worse would be No-Deion Stadium.
* For every point the Cleveland Browns score this season, one major airline is offering 10 frequent flyer miles to passengers making two trips between Cleveland and a Browns’ opponent city. “I promise you, boss, it’s a good business risk. Testaverde’s the quarterback.”