Team Better Turn Over a New Leaf After This Effort

It doesn’t seem possible, but the East Allegheny (Pa.) High boys’ basketball team committed 70 turnovers in a recent 111-36 loss to Wilkinsburg.

“I didn’t think you could have that many in one game either, but our assistant coach keeps track of them on the bench during the game and we did have that many,” East Allegheny Coach George Padezan said.

The NBA record for turnovers in a game is “only” 43 set by the Lakers against Seattle in 1974. That statistic has been kept by the NBA since the 1970-71 season.

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Trivia time: Who was the first Los Angeles Laker to be named most valuable player of the NBA All-Star game?

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Come again? Golden State Warrior guard Mookie Blaylock, 32, on whispers that age and injuries are catching up with him: “I don’t care. I’m too old for that stuff.”

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Needling media: In an interview with William Gildea of the Washington Post, Indiana basketball Coach Bob Knight indicated that he is not proud of some of his outbursts.

“My grandmother used to say, ‘Sometimes the devil grabs your soul.’ I wish I didn’t get as upset as I do.” Then he added: “Even God made a mistake. He allowed some sportswriters.”

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Lady, it’s me! The Chicago White Sox brought in real players to sell season tickets over the phone last week, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

But when catcher Bruce Fordyce called Carol Onik of Lockport, Ill., she told him: “I don’t think Mr. Fordyce would appreciate you impersonating him.”

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A league of their own: Michael Jordan told Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post that Tiger Woods calls him once or twice every 10 days. So does Michael have any advice for Tiger?

“I’ve told him that his success is just beginning, but don’t even focus on that. Just work. Don’t look at the prize, just work.”

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Slandering Seattle: Rick Telander of the Chicago Sun-Times on Ken Griffey Jr.: “The 30-year-old with the backward hat, 398 homers, the center field play of Willie Mays and the pizazz of Tiger Woods has moved from the back of the stage to the center of the proscenium.

“And we the audience get to watch him in the bright lights. Seattle is not a baseball city; it is a coffee stand with computer geeks chattering over scones.”

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A different view: Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune doesn’t share Telander’s view of Cincinnati:

“It always is discouraging when someone such as [Griffey], who already has everything--wealth, talent, youth, the longest home run stare in history--gets exactly what he wants, until you see that what he wanted was Cincinnati.”

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Trivia answer: Jerry West in the 1972 game at the Forum.

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And finally: Golfer Jean Van de Velde, when asked if he has watched the Kevin Costner movie about a go-for-broke professional whose gambling style loses him the U.S. Open on the 72nd hole:

“Have I seen ‘Tin Cup’? I think I wrote the script.”