Smile, Greg, You’re Candid, and on TV

Greg Lloyd, Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker, doesn’t confine his attacks to quarterbacks. Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that in a game against the Houston Oilers on Sept. 10 LLoyd also took a shot at Michael Chalik, a television cameraman.

“After the Oilers finally found a way into the end zone following a long goal-line stand by the Steelers’ defense in the third quarter, Lloyd ripped off his helmet and flung it at Chalik, who was filming him.

“Later, one of Lloyd’s teammates asked Chalik if he had helmet insurance.”

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Trivia time: Who was the first player to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in a single game twice in his career?

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Coin crisis: Peter Schmuck in the Baltimore Sun: “The two [major] leagues tried to sort things out on Monday by determining the sites and matchups for every possible tiebreaker combination, but American League President Gene Budig and National League President Len Coleman had to perform so many coin tosses--20--that they both could be candidates for rotator cuff surgery.”

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Heartburn trail: Dave Hyde of the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel is intrigued with the aspect of Pat Riley’s new contract with the Miami Heat that allows him $300 per diem. So Hyde made the rounds of Miami restaurants to see if he could spend $300--of his paper’s money--on food in one day.

He got to $210.44, the bulk of it at a pricey spot called The Forge in Miami Beach. Then he gave up.

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Sticking point: Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe on the name change of Candlestick Park to 3Com Park:

“Believe us, locals are not pleased with the new name. One native said it was like selling the Golden Gate Bridge to a hamburger chain and renaming it ‘McDonald’s Golden Arches Bridge.’ ”

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Come again?: Shaquille O’Neal and Hakeem Olajuwon will meet in the main event in the Taco Bell One-on-One championships Saturday on pay-per-view in Atlantic City.

Television actor Jerry Van Dyke predicts Olajuwon will win because he’s “bigger and taller.” Not so. Olajuwon stands 7 feet and weighs 255 pounds. Shaq is 7-1 and 305 pounds.

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Yawn: Ron Borges of the Boston Globe in a pregame analysis of the New England Patriots’ game with the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday:

“This is the kind of game in which the 49rs tend to stumble. There is nothing on the line. There is no rivalry, nothing to stir the blood of the five-time Super Bowl champions.”

The unmotivated 49ers won, 28-3.

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Trivia answer: Jim Russell did it in a game with the Boston Braves in 1948 and again with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950.

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Quotebook: Cuban triple jumper Yoelbi Quesada on his food tastes: “I don’t like green vegetables, herbs, all those bizarre things that Europeans put on their plates.”