Next Thing You Knew, Opponents Were in Deep Hole

When Stan Morrison coached at the University of Pacific in the 1970s, his teams played its home games at the old Stockton Civic Auditorium, where one end of the basketball court had slightly sunk.

“Morrison, no fool, often told his players to steer opponents toward this drooping end of the court,” writes Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle.

“There, near the stage, the basket stood nearly 11 feet above the floor, not 10. Amazingly, most shots struggled to find their way through the net.”

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for free throws in a game without a miss?

Painful plea: Iain McIntyre of the Vancouver Sun, criticizing the Canucks after the team’s 8-1 loss at St. Louis on Monday, the latest in a string of dismal performances:

“Please, for the love of the game, make them stop,” he wrote. “Make the Vancouver Canucks stop playing hockey this way before the sport suffers irreparable damage.

“How long will this be allowed to go on? Does Amnesty International not have a hockey division? Is there no United Nations convention on the prevention of cruelty to hockey fans?

“Where is our humanity?”

No more rings? Ron Rapoport of the Chicago Sun-Times is in favor of abolishing the Olympics:

“Here’s one thing I know for sure. The self-important potentates who make up the IOC will never truly reform their organization.

“The only way to save international sport is to destroy it and start over from scratch.”

Limited goal: Robb Butler, a defensive back/receiver who was recruited by the University of Pittsburgh, on what he wants to do in the future besides play football:

“I want to continue running my mouth. But it’s a good running. It’s not a bad running. I just like to have fun. I want to be the next Ahmad Rashad.”

Where are they now? Cazzie Russell, former NBA standout, is coaching the Savannah (Ga.) College of Art and Design, a Division III school.

The Bees had an 18-6 record last season.

Kindergarten? “Hockey Night in Canada” host Ron MacLean on bombastic commentator Don Cherry walking his son to school every day: “He had to because they were in the same grade.”

Trivia answer: Dominique Wilkins of Atlanta, 23, against Chicago on Dec. 8, 1992.

And finally: In the 1958 World Series, Yankee catcher Yogi Berra reportedly noticed Hank Aaron holding his bat incorrectly, with the trademark facing down.

“Turn the trademark around so you can read it,” Berra warned. “Otherwise, you’ll break your bat.” Said Aaron: “Yogi, I came up here to hit, not to read.”