McEnroe Finds Another World to Conquer

John McEnroe, who says he used to visit art galleries while traveling the world on the international tennis circuit, now has his own gallery in New York.

McEnroe, 36, says he has a lot to learn about art. “It’s an intense world, the art world,” he told London’s Sunday Telegraph.

Why the interest in art?

“It settles me down,” he said. “I don’t need more of getting amped up. I was born amped up. I need to slow down.

“Finally I am into something that makes me feel good without having to be No. 1. Art is not all about competition.”

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The art of politics: Another former “bad boy” of tennis, Ilie Nastase of Romania, is running for mayor of Bucharest even though he still lives in the United States. An advisor said Nastase, his American wife Alexandra, and his two sons won’t move to Romania unless he wins the election, and the polls indicate he will.

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Trivia time: Who holds the major league record for grounding into the most double plays?

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Quarterback quarry: Kevin Greene, former Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker, explaining his playing philosophy at his first news conference for his new team, the Carolina Panthers:

“What I do is slick my ears back, slick the hair back and foam at the mouth. I’m one of those guys who’s just going to keep coming. It may sound sick, but I really enjoy coming after those little fragile guys standing in the pocket, all helpless.”

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Why not? Nolan Ryan showed up at the Ballpark in Arlington on May 1, for the fifth anniversary of his seventh no-hitter.

Ryan, 49, commented on the lack of pitching throughout baseball: “I ought to start throwing again. I believe if I got in shape I could get a job.”

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Geography incentive: Green Bay quarterback Bret Favre, the NFL’s most valuable player, has high hopes of playing in the Super Bowl next year in New Orleans.

“My hometown [Kiln, Miss.] is about 45 miles away, so I have to play in it,” he said.

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Negative approach: Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants discussing his philosophy on hitting with Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury-News:

“In this game, you fail more than you succeed. When you’re in a job where [failing] is what you do for a living, it’s pretty easy to talk about. Almost every sport, you’ve got to be .500 or better. Baseball, it’s .300.”

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Batters beware: Melvin Cheatum III is an umpire in the Northern League. With a name like that, how can he be fair?

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Holy cow! Carl Steward in the Oakland Tribune: “In French or English, Montreal’s current second-short combination of Grudzielanek to Stankiewicz is a bona fide broadcaster’s bad dream. But the sadist in me would love to hear Harry Caray call that double-play turn just once.”

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Trivia answer: Henry Aaron, 328, while playing for the Braves and Brewers.

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And finally: Cleveland Indian broadcaster Herb Score did his Ralph Kiner impression recently during a 14-minute power failure at Jacobs Field.

He said the lights “disappeared.” If so, who stole them?