Owner’s Not the Only Thing Old and Rotten

Marge Schott’s legendary frugality surfaced again at Christmas.

Schott, the Cincinnati Reds’ owner, gave candy to her employees, explaining that she could not afford bonuses.

It turned out that the candies being distributed were samples from the Leaf-Donruss Company, a firm that also prints and distributes baseball cards.

Not only was Schott handing out free samples as gifts, staff members discovered that the candy was not exactly fresh. With the candy came coupons inviting consumers to “Win a free trip to the 1991 Grammys.”

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Trivia time: Who was the first Laker named the most valuable player of the NBA All-Star game?

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Shooting machine: Fred Newman, a 58-year-old assistant coach at Caltech, broke his own record for free throws made in one hour during the NBA All-Star festivities over the weekend in San Antonio. He made 2,034 of 2,243 attempts.

Newman is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for consecutive free throws blindfolded, 88; most free throws in 10 minutes using two balls, 336; percentage made in 24 hours, 98%, and most made in 24 hours, 20,371.

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Hot item: The Associated Press reports that runners will be able to buy torches they carry in the Olympic flame’s journey across the United States to the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

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Motivation: David Letterman asked Super Bowl star Larry Brown of the Dallas Cowboys whether he’s “making Deion Sanders money.” Said Brown: “No, but I think after this year, I’m going after David Letterman money.”

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Scary: Headline in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis on a story about the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 19-year-old rookie, Kevin Garnett: “The Kid is Being Raised by Wolves.”

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Add headline: “SUPER TRY”--2 3/4 inches deep in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after the Steelers’ loss to the Cowboys.

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Fashion update: The San Francisco 49ers will have a new look in the fall. Their uniforms will be the color of burgundy--blending with traditional gold--replacing the fire-truck red that has been part of the team’s color scheme for 49 years.

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FYI: Stanford has not won a conference basketball championship since 1963, when it shared the title with UCLA. The league was known then as the Athletic Assn. of Western Universities.

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Trivia answer: George Mikan in 1953, when the franchise was in Minneapolis.

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Quotebook: NBA Commissioner David Stern when asked about Dennis Rodman not being picked for the All-Star game: “I really do believe he’s having an All-Star season, although he wasn’t selected, and I prefer him as a platinum blond.”