Stars No Longer Twinkle in Eyes of Minnesotans

Apparently there is little sentiment for the Dallas Stars in Minnesota, their ancestral home, where they were the North Stars from 1967 until 1993. Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune found few links between the Stars and the North Stars.

“A few familiar faces are one thing. The team’s identity is something else,” he wrote. “And the identity of today’s Stars bears about as much resemblance to the old North Stars as Anna Kournikova does to Mama Cass Elliot. . . . Whether Minnesota hockey fans choose to cheer, boo or ignore the Stars, they should know this: They may recognize some of the faces, but little of the franchise they used to call their own.”

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Trivia time: Al Benton won 98 games in 14 years pitching in the major leagues. What is his chief claim to fame?

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Doubting Thomas: Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post on Isiah Thomas, who has been rumored to be the next coach of the Washington Wizards:

“Don’t let that cherubic smile fool you; Isiah was the baddest of the Bad Boys. Rick Mahorn, Bill Laimbeer, John Salley and Dennis Rodman were the villains in the public’s mind, but everything that team did started with Isiah Thomas. He’d do anything to win. Play dirty? Sure. Isiah found a kindred spirit in Laimbeer, and then conveniently let Laimbeer absorb the heat.”

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Dinner first: Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell always maintained an adversarial relationship in public, but the truth is the two spent many Thanksgivings together at Wilt’s mother’s home in the Overbrook section of Philadelphia.

The ritual was that after stuffing himself with turkey and dressing, Russell would go upstairs and nap.

“My mother always thought that was kind of rude,” Chamberlain says.

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Clip and save: Dave Wannstedt, now Jimmy Johnson’s assistant coach with the Miami Dolphins and an assistant to Johnson at University of Miami in 1986-88, says of their reunion:

“Everywhere I’ve been, we’ve won. I know the formula and what it takes to win a championship.”

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It’s a game: New York Met Manager Bobby Valentine is using a five-man rotation in his outfield, and veteran Brian McRae is not pleased.

“I have to treat each at-bat like it’s life or death,” he said. “It’s like I’m fighting for my life, like everything is riding on each at-bat, like it’s the biggest at-bat you’re ever going to have.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, Patrick Roy made 18 saves as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Kings, 4-1, to win their 24th Stanley Cup. It was the Kings’ only Stanley Cup finals appearance.

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Vicious: From talk show host Jay Leno: “Know who I feel sorry for in this whole NBA playoff thing? Karl Malone. Now he has to go to the mall to elbow people.”

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No foul: Blackie Sherrod, commenting in the Dallas Morning News about the NBA:

“There’s an old lady who lives in a shoe, who has a grandfather, whose great-uncle remembers the last time an NBA zebra whistled a traveling call.”

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Freebies: One of the perks of being a Nike representative is that you get to shop at their Beaverton, Ore., headquarters in what is called a “friends of the company” atmosphere.

San Antonio Spur guard Steve Kerr says, “It’s ironic that you have all these millionaires running to get free stuff. But everybody likes free stuff.”

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Trivia answer: He pitched to both Babe Ruth, in 1934, and Mickey Mantle, in 1952.

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And finally: Andre Agassi says he is fortunate to be able to play tennis as well as he does, because he doesn’t think he has any other talents.

“I have no rhythm whatsoever, no musical ability, no ear for language,” he said after winning the French Open. “I can’t even stand up on roller skates.”