You Don’t Have to Play the Game to Know the Game

Sportswriters would be able to retire much earlier if they got a dollar every time an athlete questioned their credentials, pointing out they have never played the game.

Then there are the coaches.

According to a recent Dallas Morning News survey, 12 of the 26 coaches in the NHL have never played at that level.

“Coaching players in the ‘90s is very similar to coaching players in junior hockey in the ‘80s,” Dallas Stars Coach Ken Hitchcock told the Morning News. “This is much more of a high-maintenance job than it even was eight years ago, when I first started at the pro level.”

The final word on the issue is found in Detroit, where the Red Wings have the winningest coach in the NHL, Scotty Bowman. His NHL playing experience? Zero games.

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Trivia time: Evander Holyfield is the International Boxing Federation heavyweight champion. Who is the IBF’s No. 1 contender?

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Magnetic field: It shouldn’t take long to guess what fans did with their free magnetic schedules at the Phillies’ home opener at Veterans Stadium.

Keep them for their refrigerators?

In Philly? Don’t be silly.

They were, of course, tossed onto the field.

“Thank goodness I don’t have a plate in my head or one of them might have stuck to me,” outfielder Doug Glanville said.

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Elway High? John Elway is getting to the legend stage, the rarefied place where people start naming facilities after you.

In June, a high school stadium will bear Elway’s name.

It all started for Elway at Granada Hills High, and Principal Kathy Rattay confirmed the renaming of the stadium.

Said Rattay: “Remember that he is not just a famous athlete, but also a Stanford grad, a man with family values and a friend to our school. Who can better illustrate for our students that athletes also need academic excellence?”

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Legal beat: Gender equity may be alive in Mexico after all. The Mexico City government has lifted a ban on female fights, one month after women were stopped from competing on the undercard of a Don King promotion.

The city issued a “judicial interpretation” saying that a 52-year-old regulation that has been used to keep women from boxing was in violation of a 1992 constitutional reform proclaiming equality between the sexes.

“We believe that women’s rights should be respected and applied in practice,” said Mauro Gonzalez Luna, undersecretary of judicial matters in Mexico City. “Now women will be able to fight.”

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Trivia answer: Vaughn Bean.

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And finally: Said Phoenix Coyote forward Rick Tocchet, who was suspended for two games for high-sticking St. Louis’ Scott Pellerin, “I’m not thinking very positive things right now about the NHL office. I mean, the guy only got a fat lip. I just slapped him a bit with my stick. Of course it’s going to look a lot worse in slow motion.”