To Know Him Is Definitely Not to Love Him

Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer on the trade that sent 76er Shawn Bradley to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Derrick Coleman:

“They [76ers] have abandoned a player (Bradley) whose potential remains undeveloped and unknown in exchange for a player [Coleman] about whom there is no mystery at all, whose reputation is firmly established as one of the Titans of Temperament in a league of rampant egoism.

“For all his failings, at least Bradley wasn’t a blatant mutineer. Coleman’s presence has been invariably poisonous.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I women’s basketball record for most points in a game?

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Baaah: Navy Coach Charlie Weatherbie on the Midshipmen bringing two goats as mascots to Saturday’s game against archrival Army: “We’re deep at goat.”

And Army got Navy’s goat with a 14-13 victory.

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Last resort: From Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News: “Now Jerry Colangelo, who runs the Phoenix Suns and Arizona Diamondbacks, is talking about bringing NHL hockey to Phoenix. Failing that, Colangelo says he would take the [New York] Islanders.”

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Different breed: Kansas basketball Coach Roy Williams on his team team trailing UCLA by as many as 19 points in the first half on Saturday before winning, 85-70:

“At the 16-minute mark of the first half, I was probably as mad as I’ve been. We played like a bunch of dogs. Then we played like a pack of Dobermans.”

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Success formula: Maryland’s basketball team was ranked No. 19 in the Associated Press preseason poll. When the Terrapins moved up five spots without playing a game, Coach Gary Williams said:

“I think we can win the national title if we simply don’t play.”

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Marked man: Pittsburgh Penguin rookie Rusty Fitzgerald on the Olympic rings tattoo he got before he was cut from the 1994 U.S. team:

“I got it to get psyched for the Olympic experience. Unfortunately, I had no Olympic experience.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1945, Doc Blanchard, “Mr. Inside” of Army football, became the first junior to win the Heisman Trophy and also became the only athlete to win the Heisman and the Sullivan Award.

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Trivia answer: Cindy Brown of Long Beach State, with 60 against San Jose State on Feb. 16, 1987.

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Quotebook: Byron Scott, on the Lakers’ championships under Coach Pat Riley: “We did it for us, not for him. He was like a tool in the toolbox.”