Knicks Can Raise Their Flag There Again

The New York Knicks don’t know what kind of team they will have this season. But they do know where they will train.

Back in Charleston, S.C.

New York players and executives had agreed to honor the NAACP boycott of South Carolina due to state officials’ reluctance to stop flying the Confederate flag over the statehouse. This past spring the Knicks abandoned the camp they had set up in Charleston to prepare for the NBA playoffs.

But the state legislature voted in July to take down the flag from atop the statehouse, and fly it instead next to the Confederate soldiers monument.

That satisfied the Knicks, who will open their preseason camp at the College of Charleston on Oct. 2.

“As a result of the compromise reached to remove the Confederate flag from above the state capital, we as an organization are comfortable returning to Charleston for training camp this October,” Steve Mills, the team’s executive vice president of franchise operations, told the Associated Press.

Don’t be surprised if the NAACP starts rooting for the New Jersey Nets.

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Trivia time: What do Corey Dillon, Marcus Allen, O.J. Simpson and Skip Hicks have in common?

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Wrong, wrong, wrong: Dom DiMaggio is throwing high, hard ones at Morris Engelberg, the attorney for his late brother Joe DiMaggio

In an interview with Vanity Fair magazine, Engelberg--who was at the Yankee outfielder’s bedside when he died--said Joe DiMaggio’s words were “I’ll finally get to see Marilyn,” referring to movie star Marilyn Monroe, who died in 1962, seven years after their one-year marriage ended in divorce.

“Mr. Engelberg professes a great love, affection and a very close friendship with and for Joe, then proceeds to destroy the privacy Joe so zealously guarded when Joe is no longer available to defend himself,” DiMaggio told the Sporting News. “I think it’s disgusting.”

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Memories: Dan Marino may be retired, but he is not forgotten. In their 2000 media guide, the Miami Dolphins have a Marino photo montage inside the front cover and devote 49 pages to his NFL legacy.

Miami will retire Marino’s No. 13 at halftime of their game against Baltimore on Sept. 17.

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Golden era: John Nicholson, executive director of the Kentucky Horse Park, remembering 1976 Kentucky Derby winner Bold Forbes, who was euthanized at age 27:

“The 1970s were a great time for horse racing. You had great champions like Riva Ridge, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Bold Forbes definitely deserves to be mentioned along with those other champions.”

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Trivia answer: They share the Pacific 10 Conference record for rushing touchdowns in a season, with 22.

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And finally: Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Levon Kirkland, who could be fined for a late hit on Carolina quarterback Jeff Lewis: “If it was [late], that’s not my style. I think people know that. But I’m going to hit you too. If I’m rushing the quarterback, what do you want me to do, tag him off?”