This Shot Was Heard ‘Round His World
Bubba Fatino didn’t see the layup he made for his first varsity field goal, but he heard it. Fatino, who plays for West Des Moines Dowling High in Iowa, is legally blind.
“I got up there a little and knew it was in,” said Fatino, a senior. “Then I heard the crowd and I heard our announcer. It’s cool when you hear your name as you’re going down the court.”
Fatino has Stargardt’s disease, a hereditary condition that affects the retina. He uses Braille for his schoolwork and cannot drive, but he has played basketball since third grade.
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Trivia time: What is the single-game individual scoring record for a high school basketball game?
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Easier game: Joe Montana is called “the greatest quarterback of all time” in the magazine, NFL Insider. The publication says that to hone his competitive juices, Montana has been riding horses in cutting contests.
After being thrown, he was asked if he was hurt.
“Hell no,” he said. “The sand is soft, and there wasn’t 800 pounds landing on top of me.”
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The best: Tennis great Bjorn Borg was selected as Sweden’s sportsperson of the century by Swedish athletes, beating out skier Ingemar Stenmark and boxer Ingemar Johansson.
“In the early ‘70s, I went out in the world to play, representing a country that I loved and will always love,” said Borg, who won five consecutive Wimbledon titles.
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Happy days: One month from today, the Dodgers will report for spring training at Vero Beach, Fla.
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About the Ducks: From the San Francisco Chronicle: “A sad sight: Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, two of the game’s most gifted players, being reduced to the grinding game by Coach Craig Hartsburg, another of those foaming-at-the-mouth defensive zealots.”
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Short and sweet: After Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt’s 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Spain’s Alex Corretja in the Australian Open, he said to the loser, “Bad luck, mate.”
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About time: Michael Waltrip has started 430 Winston Cup races over 18 years without reaching victory lane, but he is still upbeat.
“I have a new car, a new sponsor and it’s a new century. So maybe I’ll win a race,” he said.
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Trivia answer: 135 points, by Danny Heater, Burnsville, W.Va., High, Jan. 26, 1960, in a 173-43 win over Wilder High.
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And finally: Shortly after Tiger Woods received $30 million to have Buick plastered on his golf bag, he won the first tournament of 2000 and was shown on national TV alongside the car he won--a Mercedes.
Even though he gave it to his father, the sight couldn’t have pleased the General Motors honchos.
At least Woods still hasn’t won the Nissan Open.