He Still Thinks Their Roger Should Be Jolly

Fashion critic Mr. Blackwell is appalled by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ new uniform.

“I’m disappointed that the team went from a winking pirate--something slightly whimsical--to a logo that’s mean and angry,” he said.

“We’ve had enough of that in movies. Red stands for anger and the skull means death. Why must we produce more anger, more meanness and more hatred?

“Why? Why? Why?”

Easy, Mr. Blackwell, easy.

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for the highest three-point field goal percentage in a season?

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Short shift: Cincinnati Reds’ pitcher Dave Burba explaining why he’s considerate to reporters, even after getting shelled as he did against Colorado last Wednesday:

“I understand they are just doing their jobs. And it is part of my job, part of my nine innings . . . or, in this case 3 1/3 innings.”

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Bully! Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune on former Clipper Brian Williams, now with the Chicago Bulls:

“[Williams] once ran with the [real] Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, which is good training for playoff series against Pat Riley’s militias in Miami and New York.”

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Quandary: In the new Jean-Claude Van Damme movie “Double Team,” a Roman stadium is destroyed. Said Dennis Rodman’s character: “They’re probably going to blame me for this. I wonder what the fine would be.”

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Here we go again: Peter King commenting on Ohio State defensive back Shawn Springs on CNN-SI: “Twice he ran the 40 [yards] under 4.3 [seconds].”

If so, that makes Springs faster than Bob Hayes and Carl Lewis in their prime.

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Lifeboat: The miserable start of the Chicago Cubs didn’t seem to surprise Jaime Navarro, their 15-game winner of last season who moved to the South side, signing with the White Sox as a free agent.

“Every year, the Cubs make the same promises, but they’re stuck in the same boat,” he said. “I rode that boat for two years, and the boat is still sinking. Fill the holes, already.”

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Eastern bias: Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe commenting on the season-opening game between the Red Sox and Angels:

“Kids are supposed to skip school for the first game of the season. They don’t have to do that in Anaheim, a wasteland of night-only baseball. Not that anybody would skip school to watch the Angels, anyway.”

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Say what? Golden State forward Andrew DeClercq, backing off a statement that he won’t return to the Warriors if they don’t make changes: “I misquoted myself.”

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Trivia answer: Steve Kerr of the Chicago Bulls, 52.4%, 1994-95.

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And finally: John Crumpacker in the San Francisco Examiner commenting on the NFL draft Saturday and Sunday:

“JOHN BELUSHI MEMORIAL AWARD: Like Bluto in ‘Animal House’, Texas Tech RB Byron Hanspard had a 0.00 grade-point average his last semester.

“As Bluto remarked ruefully, ‘Seven years of college down the drain.’ ”