Hear Him Howl, Now That Sneaker Is on Other Foot

Kevin McHale, vice president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, has an aversion to sports agents. “They know everything about basketball, and their basketball background is none,” he told the Boston Globe.

“I’m thinking, ‘How can you be so smart and never play?’ But if they have leverage, the agents will try to kill you. If they have no leverage, they want to be fair.

“My thing is, why don’t we start out being fair?”

*

Trivia time: Which quarterback holds the NFL record for passes completed in a season?

*

Fall guy: Mark Grace of the Chicago Cubs, putting the firing of Manager Jim Riggleman in perspective:

“Somebody has to answer for [what] people saw out there this year. But the problem is not in the dugout, it is between the lines. Rigs didn’t hit one pitch or throw the ball for us. And he didn’t go from runner-up manager of the year to an idiot in one season.”

Oh, no, not that! “The whole thing has really pumped me up,” Charles Barkley told the Houston Chronicle in response to Scottie Pippen’s criticism of him before Pippen was traded to Portland. “I want to prove him wrong. My manhood has been questioned.”

*

Workhorse: Atlanta Brave backup infielder Ozzie Guillen got game-winning hits in two late-season games, then quipped:

“They better bring me back next year. I’m tired of carrying this team for two days.”

*

Cccccc-cold: The Houston Astros finished their 35th and final regular season in the Astrodome on Sunday and former major league catcher Bob Boone said of the dome:

“This is a tough yard for a hitter when the air conditioner is blowing in.”

*

Who can learn it? New Orleans Saint defensive tackle La’Roi Glover, on the Chicago Bear offense: “They remind me of a high school offense we used to play against in San Diego.

“They run 100 different formations and each formation has 100 plays.”

Footnote: The Bears defeated the Saints Sunday, 14-10.

*

No thanks: From the Morning Line column of the Dallas Morning News: “A company in Kansas City that manufactures coffins sent a note to Kansas basketball Coach Roy Williams, asking him to stop by a company function and ‘shake hands with a few of our clients.’ Which clients are those?

“Williams, apparently, had the same reaction. He declined because of a prior commitment.”

*

Trivia answer: Warren Moon, 404, while playing for the Houston Oilers in 1991.

*

And finally: San Antonio Spur Coach Gregg Popovich, on 23-year-old Tim Duncan: “By the time he’s 27 or 28, he’ll reach his peak, and then he will be there for 10 or so years. Tim has more potential than either Bird or Magic.”