They Expect Garnett to Be a Bigger Star

Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves successfully made the transition from high school player to the NBA last season.

Moreover, Minnesota Coach Flip Saunders said Garnett, 20, has only scratched the surface as to his ability.

“He’s unique,” Saunders told the Christian Science Monitor. “At 6 feet 11 inches, he can jump, shoot, rebound, defend and all the rest. Plus he’s still growing. We expect he’ll top out around 7-1.”

Trivia time: How did the term love come to mean zero in tennis?

Gone with the wind: Rich Donnelly, a Pirate coach, has vivid memories of wind-blown Candlestick Park. He recalled to Paul Meyer of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he even changed cap sizes there.

“I usually wear 7 1/4,” he said. “But there I wore 7 1/8, so my hat wouldn’t blow off. By the seventh inning, I’d always have a severe headache.

“But you couldn’t have your hat blow off--especially if your hat is the bunt sign.”

One of a kind: Elaine Cheris has qualified for the Olympics as a member of the U.S. fencing team--epee, to be exact. It’s a notable accomplishment. She’s 50 years old.

No competition: Comedian Jackie Mason said that holding the Olympics in New York, possibly in 2008, is a “terrific idea,” because the Big Apple could host its own event.

“Instead of high-jumping, we can have turnstile jumping. We’d win that in a second,” he said.

Payback: New York Yankee General Manager Bob Watson may have retired Steve Howe when he released the relief pitcher recently.

Watson was the last Yankee player to bat in a World Series game in 1981. He was retired by Howe, who was pitching for the Dodgers.

Whoopee! Quarterback Jim McMahon, who has been with several NFL teams, on fan devotion to his current team, the Green Bay Packers:

“There’s nothing else up there but the Friday night fish fry.”

Viewpoint: Dan Le Betard in the Miami Herald: “Why all the outrage about basketballers skipping college? Nobody complains when baseball players do it. We’re making these kids grow up too fast? Tell that to the 13-year-old Olympic gymnast.”

Looking back: On this day in 1980, the Dodgers’ Jerry Reuss pitched a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants for an 8-0 victory at Candlestick Park.

Trivia answer: Love is derived from l’oeuf, French for egg, the equivalent of goose egg or zero in English.

And finally: Unlike trophies in other sports, hockey’s Stanley Cup doesn’t stay in a trophy case, it travels. Mark Wolf of the Rocky Mountain News writes:

“The Cup has been stolen, ransomed, abandoned on a street after the Montreal Canadiens pulled over to fix a flat tire on their way to a party, punted into a canal, spent time in adult dancing parties, used as a feed bag for a Kentucky Derby winner, and as a flower pot and peanut dish.”