Odd Monikers Name of Game in Minor Leagues
Odd nicknames in minor league hockey are springing up wherever teams skate: Lizard Kings, Mysticks, Nailers, Mallards, Cottonmouths, Channel Cats and Ice Bats, to name a few.
The East Coast Hockey League’s Wheeling Nailers are thus named because the West Virginia city is home to one of the oldest cut-nail manufacturing plants in the world.
The Colonial Hockey League’s team in Columbus, Ga., uses Cottonmouths as a nickname after poisonous water snakes.
And the West Coast Hockey League has its Bakersfield Fog, which plays in the misty San Joaquin Valley.
Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I-A career record for most yards gained rushing?
ZZZZZZZ: Atlanta’s new stadium has been named Ted Turner Field. A reader of the Journal and Constitution called to complain: “The only thing I’ve ever seen Ted Turner do at a baseball game is sleep.”
Yogi’s wisdom: After Don Larsen pitched his perfect game 40 years ago in the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankee catcher Yogi Berra hugged him and said, “That might have been the best game you ever pitched.”
The real boss: Dick Motta, 65, a much-traveled NBA head coach, explained how he made his decision to take the Denver Nuggets’ assistant coaching job:
“I kicked it around for about a month, then one day my wife said, ‘Get out of the house.’ ”
Ugh! Ed Jovanovski of the NHL Florida Panthers is a quintessential hit man: “I enjoy a good hit more than scoring,” he said. “You can feel it throughout your body--the sound, the rush, the wind leaving another man’s body.”
Isolated: From syndicated columnist Norman Chad: “Everyone is talking about Shannon Lucid spending 188 days in space. Big deal. [Offensive tackle] Paul Gruber has spent nine years in Tampa Bay.”
Under siege: Steve Aschburner in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis: “[Chicago] Bulls guard Ron Harper said he has no idea why an unknown shooter riddled his sport utility vehicle with bullets while he was playing basketball in a Dayton, Ohio, recreation center.”
Wouldn’t he be curious to find out?
Down and out: Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post on the 0-6 New York Jets: “J-E-T-S. Just End the Season. Do it now. End the misery.”
Looking back: On this day in 1981, LeRoy Irvin scored two touchdowns on interception returns to give the Rams a 37-35 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Trivia answer: Tony Dorsett of Pittsburgh, 6,082 yards from 1973-76, a 5.7-yard average.
And finally: Joe Montana, regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, isn’t interested in the game anymore.
“I don’t watch it much,” he said. “I don’t know who’s doing what. I’m leading a much different life now. I’ve got other things to do on Sundays.”