For Hot Rod, Observing Was Simply Great

Hot Rod Hundley, while playing for the Minneapolis Lakers, recalled the first time he played against Bob Cousy, the famous Boston Celtic player, in “Tall Tales” by Terry Pluto:

“He was my idol and when he said hello, it was as if my heart stopped beating. In that first game, he scored 20 points on me in the first half.

“George Mikan was my coach and Mikan said, ‘Hundley, I told you to watch Cousy, didn’t I ?’

“I said ‘I did and he’s great, isn’t he?’ ”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I record for blocked shots in a season?

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Is that all? Not everyone is lamenting the demise of the Southwest Conference. This from Eagle Green, the North Texas alumni sports newsletter:

“The most unsportsmanlike, back-biting, egocentric clique of uningratiating, rule-breaking schools in athletic history.”

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Last Straw? George Vecsey in the New York Times on the Yankees’ not offering Darryl Strawberry a $1.8-million contract:

“So what was this all about? What was Darryl Strawberry doing in a Yankee uniform in the first place? What was all this blather about helping his rehabilitation from drugs and tax penalties? What was all this babble about Darryl’s helping the Yankees?

“It was all willy-nilly as most things are around the Yankees.”

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Bottom line: Art Spander writing for the ESPNET SportsZone: “Well, those well-known football factories California and Colgate fired their coaches, proving that even at places where it’s mandatory to open a book as well as a hole off tackle, intercollegiate sport isn’t merely fun and games.

“After all, as the late author John Tunis advised, “Losing is the great American sin.”

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The Big O: Peter Vecsey in the New York Post: “In Monday’s [Denver] Nuggets loss to the [Sacramento] Kings, Antonio McDyess went 0-8, while Don McLean added an 0-6. In Sacramento, that’s called a McDonut.”

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Some party: Tom Weir in USA Today: “Considering that Ilie Nastase’s tennis tantrums made John McEnroe look angelic, this week’s biggest shocker was learning ‘Nasty’ was elected to the powerful national council of the ruling Social Democracy Party in Romania.

“If Jeff Tarango has any designs on a political career, maybe he should apply for a Romanian passport.”

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Trivia answer: David Robinson of Navy, with 207 in 1986.

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Quotebook: Betsy King on being inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame: “Sometimes I feel the press has been unfair to me. But then again I never had to sit down and write about a golf tournament and make it sound exciting so that people would come out and see it.”