Oh Well, Two Out of Three Isn’t So Bad

Jason Kidd’s new shoe commercial bills him as a triple threat. Shown grabbing a missed shot, the Dallas Maverick point guard looks at the camera and says, “Did you know I could rebound?”

Shown whipping a pass behind his back, he says, “Did you know I could pass?”

Then, he clangs a 20-foot shot off the rim and the career 38% shooter says, “Did I tell you about my rebounding?”

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Trivia time: How many points did UCLA score in its first two football games against USC?

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High-five award: Chris Webber of the Washington Bullets has not re-signed with Nike, in part because the company charges $140 for his shoes.

“How can I charge that for my shoe when I speak to those inner-city kids and preach to them?” Webber asked. “How can my shoe cost more than Michael Jordan’s?”

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Ooouuuuch! Edmonton’s Doug Weight, recalling having his broken nose jerked back into place some years back: “I only screamed for five minutes.”

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Memory lapse: Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley on point guard Tim Hardaway: “There’s not a better guard in the league, not one, at the end of a game to have the ball in his hands.”

How about the guy in Chicago, you know, the one whose shoes are less expensive than Chris Webber’s?

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Come again? Defensive end Hugh Douglas of the New York Jets, who are 1-10: “I don’t think it’s that hard to win. I just think we’re having a hard time doing it.”

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FYI: If the Bulls, now 11-0, go undefeated in November, their 16-0 record will be the best start in NBA history.

The record is 15 held by the Washington Capitols in 1948 and Houston Rockets in 1993.

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Bottoming out: How embarrassing was San Diego State’s 44-42 loss Saturday to Nevada Las Vegas, a team with an 0-10 record and a defense ranked 111th in Division I-A?

Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune has an opinion: “Considering the quality of their opponent, this has to rank as the worst loss in the school’s history.”

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Natural habit: After Brigham Young routed Rice, 49-0, on Nov. 9, Cougar linebacker Darren Yancey said: “ESPN picked us to be their Upset of the Week. We decided right then and there we were going to eat Rice. Why not? Seventy percent of the world does.”

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Trivia answer: None. USC won the first game, 76-0, in 1929 and won the second game, 52-0, the next year.

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And finally: What next? Even Jerry Tarkanian now has his own site on the World Wide Web. “He doesn’t even have a computer in his office,” said son Danny, who takes care of the home page’s content. It includes offers to purchase Tark T-shirts, Tarkanian’s autobiography or a video and is located at https://www.tarkanian.com.