The Shoe Fits, if His Foot Isn’t in His Mouth

Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle, on Charles Barkley joining Turner Sports as an in-studio analyst on NBA games:

“Not since the handsome prince brought a glass slipper to Cinderella’s house has there been a fit this perfect. . . .

“Profane and profound, enraging and engaging, unapologetic and unpretentious. It’s already been a duller NBA season without Charles and his pearls of wisdom/outrageousness.

“Barkley and a live TV camera. They fit together like a hot dog and the bun.”

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Trivia time: Where did the UCLA men’s basketball team finish in the Pacific 10 Conference in 1980, when the Bruins got all the way to the NCAA championship game before losing to Louisville?

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Beware of Fido: Former pro wrestler Paul Ellering is making his mushing debut in the Iditarod. What he has learned: “Never trust a dog to guard your food.”

All-day job: Keith Van Horn of the New Jersey Nets, on Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz: “No one is Malone strong. Trying to get around the guy is like trying to get around the Titanic.”

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It’s Dan’s call: Dave Kindred in the Sporting News suggests that Dan Marino should play another season--with the Minnesota Vikings.

“Maybe those skeptics are right. Maybe Marino with the Vikings will be Joe Namath with the Rams, Johnny Unitas with the Chargers, Ken Stabler with the Oilers.

“But if Marino wants to play, he ought to play. He has earned the right to squeeze the lemon until it is dry.”

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More Marino: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post is skeptical that Marino could be successful with the Vikings:

“Nobody who saw Marino at the end of last season struggling to throw deep could possibly believe that Marino can throw downfield far enough or often enough to accommodate the talents of Randy Moss and Cris Carter.

“Jeff George can throw farther going backward than Marino can going forward.”

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President Dude? Texas Ranger pitcher Darren Oliver, on why he’s supporting former team owner George W. Bush for president: “I just think it would be cool to know the dude in the White House.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1958, George Yardley of the Detroit Pistons became the first player to score 2,000 points in a season.

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Trivia answer: Fourth place, with a 12-6 record.

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And finally: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The U.S. Open will be at Pebble Beach in June and homes near the course are being offered for rental at up to $50,000 for the week.

“Considering that you can sit on your veranda with a quadruple martini and shout, ‘You da man’ at Tiger Woods, that’s a bargain.”