At Very Least, This Golfer Needs a Tongue-Lashing

Bill Fields, writing in Golf World magazine, is not against demonstrative gestures by players after a good shot--but there are limits.

He cited Eamonn Hodgson Jr., a 6-year-old from England. “In a recent junior tournament, according to one report, Hodgson ‘stuck out his tongue at playing partners on holes when he beat them.’

“Golf can use a good fist pump, but young Eamonn needs a spanking.”

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Trivia time: Who was the most valuable player in the Pro Bowl in 1973?

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Noble cause: Jay Leno, on former New England Patriot coach Bill Parcells, who might end up coaching the New York Jets: “How admirable is that? I mean, a man quits his job to do charity work.”

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Voodoo warning? Tedy Bruschi, a rookie linebacker with the Patriots, told Greg Hansen of the Arizona Daily Star what advice the team was given during Super Bowl week by Parcells:

“He said to stay away from certain places; the casinos, public parks, cemeteries. I don’t know why I would want to go to a cemetery. But he said a lot of bad things happen. I believe him.”

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The other Jordan: When commercials urged people to “Be Like Mike,” Pennsylvania freshman point guard Michael Jordan was already there.

Michael Hakim Jordan is making a modest effort to live up to his famous namesake.

Penn’s Jordan is averaging 9.9 points and 3.6 rebounds after working his way into the starting lineup seven games ago.

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The Bambi Bunch: Houston’s Charles Barkley, on the latest crop of NBA players: “They’re getting dumber. They run like deer, they jump like deer and they think like deer.”

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Unimpressed: Bernie Lincicome in the Chicago Tribune: “As a conversation piece, the [New Orleans] Saints could not do better than Mike Ditka. As a football coach, well, they just hired a nice conversation piece.”

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But will they win? Oakland Raider running back Harvey Williams is pleased that former assistant coach Joe Bugel is the team’s new head coach.

“This team will take on his personality--that’s bloody your nose, kick some butt. I’m really excited,” Williams told Ron Koichick of the San Francisco Chronicle.

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One is enough: Val Ackerman, president of the Women’s NBA, on Dennis Rodman: “[NBA Commissioner] David Stern and I talked about it. We’re not letting Dennis play in both leagues.”

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Trivia answer: O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills.

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And finally: Detroit Piston forward Grant Hill in the San Jose Mercury News, on why he wouldn’t want to play for the Warriors, or any other Western Conference team:

“It’s so individualistic that there’s only one guy who really does anything. It’s not team basketball, and that’s not playing to my strength.”

Oh, well, it looks as if Hill will never be in a Laker uniform.