In Washington, the Interest Rate Is on the Rise

Thomas Boswell writes in the Washington Post that the Redskins are trying to purchase a Super Bowl.

“After adding Deion Sanders on Monday, the bill for their latest haul comes to $127 million, including Jeff George, Bruce Smith, Mark Carrier, Adrian Murrell and much-sought defensive coordinator Ray Rhodes.

“We can now assume the Redskins will be reviled as the most recent example of Everything That Is Wrong With Sports, free agency, new money. To which, as a native Washingtonian, I can only say, ‘It’s about time.’ . . . The Redskins can work on a new motto: ‘Greed is Good.’ ”

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More Sanders: Randy Galloway of the Forth Worth Star-Telegram has a different view, writing that Sanders isn’t worth his $8-million signing bonus:

“The genius of Deion is to be admired. He’s 32, brittle, always complaining of this ailment or that ailment--either real or a convenient excuse--and is coming off the worst season of his NFL career.

“There is also a lack of desire to go through the training-camp grind in an attempt to retool aging body parts that, real or made up, now regularly fail [him] during the regular season.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for assists in an NBA finals game?

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He’ll be missed: Mark Purdy in the San Jose Mercury News on Steve Young leaving the San Francisco 49ers:

“Young’s legacy with the 49ers is of a man who performed with class and understood his place in the greater scheme of life--and knew that winning one Super Bowl as a starting quarterback would never be enough for some people.”

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Pure shooter: Hall of Fame coach and TV analyst Jack Ramsay, commenting on Reggie Miller in an interview with Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee:

“There is nobody like him. Reggie is the best catch-and-shoot guy in the history of the game. You can put a hand in his face, but it doesn’t matter. And he makes big shot after big shot.”

Not on Wednesday, though, when he missed 15 of 16 shots.

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A hometown vote: The majority of sportswriters in the country have predicted that the Lakers will defeat the Indiana Pacers in six games, at the most. Bill Benner of the Indianapolis Star is a holdout. He predicts the Pacers will win in seven.

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Looking back: On this day in 1991, Jim Courier rallied to beat Andre Agassi, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, to win the men’s singles title in the French Open. It was the first all-American men’s final there since 1954.

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Trivia answer: Magic Johnson with 21 against Boston on June 3, 1984. He also recorded 20 assists against Boston in 1987 and against Chicago in 1991.

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And finally: Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe, on the NBA finals: “The Indiana Pacers could win, I suppose. And I could sing the lead in the road company of ‘The Music Man,’ too.

“You know where my heart is in this one. It’s with Larry. And Reggie. And Dale. And Rik. And Travis, the greatest player ever to come out of Springfield, Mass.

“And with Donnie Walsh, who is in the teeny-weeny top percentile of intelligent and accessible sports executives.”