He Can Moan, but Kid Went Three for Three

New York Times reader Robert J. Condlin writes of 12-year-old Yankee fan Jeffrey Maier, the youngster who interfered with the ball in the Yankees’ American League championship series with Baltimore:

“It’s not hard to see why New Yorkers love this kid. He lied to his teachers about an orthodontic appointment to get out of school, cheated in the game by reaching into the field of play, and would have stolen the ball but for the fact that someone else beat him to it.

“Lie, cheat and steal. The kid’s morally precocious by New York standards.”

Note: Condlin lives in Baltimore.

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Trivia time: Who holds the Pacific 10 Conference single-season record for rushing average in football?

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FYI: Head coaches in Texas’ top two levels of high school football earn about $54,000 a year, nearly 75% more than the average teacher’s pay of $31,000.

And it’s not only the top coaches, paid up to $83,000, who make more than teachers. Even the lowest-paid coach earns more than the typical teacher.

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Comedian golfer: Television commentator Peter Alliss during Mark Brooks’ 10-and-8 loss in the semifinals of the recent Toyota World Match Play Championship:

“He may be putting like Mark Brooks, but his long game is more like Mel Brooks.”

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Overweight: Detroit Red Wing Coach Scotty Bowman claims opposing goalies are getting an illegal edge by stuffing their pads.

“I saw Patrick Roy [on TV] the other night, and he looked like he was 300 pounds. [Detroit’s] Chris Osgood is going to get a lot bigger in the next couple of weeks.”

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Hallelujah! Philadelphia Eagle running back Ricky Watters, crediting his blockers with opening the holes that enabled him to rush for 173 yards against Miami on Oct. 20: “Now I know how Moses felt.”

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Sinking feeling: It doesn’t figure, but Navy, not Notre Dame, is the home team for Saturday’s game in Dublin, Ireland. The Fighting Irish refused to give up a home game for the trip.

Even though Navy has a 5-1 record and Notre Dame is 4-2, the odds are definitely against the Midshipmen. There’s the Dublin factor, of course. Moreover, Notre Dame was won 32 consecutive games against Navy, a Division I-A record.

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Looking back: On this day in 1974, Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the eighth round in Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain the world heavyweight boxing title.

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Trivia answer: Kermit Johnson of UCLA, 7.5 yards in 1973.

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And finally: Charles Claxton, a 7-foot basketball player from Georgia, played in Taiwan last season. He left after six weeks in the obscure league.

The last straw occurred in a restaurant one night.

“They were serving dog,” he said. “I can adjust to almost anything, but not that.”