Titans Already Have Shown Pickens the Gate

Carl Pickens is so anxious for a fresh start, he arrived at the Tennessee Titan practice facility at Nashville early Sunday and found himself waiting outside a locked gate.

“I was out there for about five minutes [before getting in],” Pickens said. “I’m ready to go.”

The wide receiver agreed to terms on a five-year contract last Wednesday but went home to prepare for the move to Nashville.

He was asked to return to Nashville on Sunday afternoon, and he showed up a couple of hours early.

He met with coaches and received a playbook. He also talked to reporters for the first time since his contract was announced.

Pickens said that although he had a couple of other offers, choosing the Titans was an easy decision.

“These guys went to the Super Bowl last year,” he said.

“My best year was 7-9. The facilities, the team, the ownership. Everything is positive, and the places I’ve been, I haven’t seen that.”

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Trivia time: Who has more runs batted in than anyone else eligible for the baseball Hall of Fame and not elected?

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At a loss: It may be the middle of summer, but Arkansas Monticello’s football losing streak just got 11 games longer.

The streak reached 33 games last week when the school forfeited its four victories from last season for eligibility and financial-aid violations.

The Boll Weevils had a 22-game losing streak entering the 1999 season--the nation’s longest losing streak at the time--and beat Stillman College, 30-7, Sept. 4.

Stillman was playing its first game in 50 years.

That, plus three other victories, were wiped out and instead of a 4-7 season, the school listed its record as 0-11.

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Add loss: South Carolina’s 21-game losing streak still will be listed as the longest current string in the nation, the NCAA said.

Rick Campbell, a statistician at the association’s headquarters in Indianapolis, said the NCAA will not count the additional losses for Arkansas Monticello because the forfeits were on the school’s initiative and not the result of NCAA sanctions.

School spokesman Jim Brewer said three players took only 11 hours during the spring semester of 1999. NCAA regulations require that student-athletes take 12 hours.

Sir Charles the thespian? Former NBA star Charles Barkley, who made a cameo appearance in the Spike Lee movie “He Got Game” in 1998, says he’s looking for roles that will let him create some on-screen mayhem.

“That’s been my ultimate goal, and I’ve got it narrowed down to five or 10 scripts,” Barkley said Sunday before a charity golf event.

“I’m not going to be no action hero, but I do want to kill people,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to kill somebody, so I can’t wait to do that.”

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Stick a fork in it: The Brett Favre Steakhouse in Milwaukee has closed. But it’s supposed to reopen in January as Joey Buona’s Pizzeria Grille. Favre will be a partner.

Meanwhile, Favre’s steak house in Green Bay remains open, reservations recommended.

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Trivia answer: Dave Parker, with 1,493. Rusty Staub is second with 1,466.

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And finally: Jim Hines, former gold medalist and world-record holder in the 100 meters, on current record holder Maurice Greene:

“I would rank him about fifth or sixth, because of [Jesse] Owens, [Bob] Hayes, [Carl] Lewis and myself. He comes out of the blocks and explodes. He explodes better than anyone between 20 and 60 meters--even me.”