So the General Got What Was Coming to Him

Skip Bayless of the Chicago Tribune on Bob Knight:

“The General remains in his Indiana University bunker, reassured by those who blindly worship him, blaming it all on the idiot media, refusing to surrender as the world closes in on all sides.

” . . . The biggest surprise of an NCAA tournament with relatively few first-round upsets was not that No. 6 seed Indiana lost to No. 11 seed Pepperdine. It was that Indiana lost by 20.

“The same players who lined up like good (or scared) soldiers to defend Knight after the most recent attack on his abusive style spoke their hearts with their performance.

“Their 20-point loss said, ‘We’ve had enough.’ ”

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More Knight: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “Give [him] his due. At least he’s smart enough to pick on skinny guards and potbellied sportswriters.

“When’s the last time you saw him give a love tap to a 6-foot-10 power forward with biceps from here to Pueblo?”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Laker single-game record for steals?

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Short-term: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The Tampa Bay Devil Rays are retiring Wade Boggs’ No. 12. which is the least they can do for someone who gave the club all those years of service. Both of them, to be specific.”

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Go figure: Gary Shelton of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times on Bill Mazeroski’s being overlooked again in Hall of Fame voting:

“I ask, what does it say about this country when Jesse Ventura can get elected but Bill Mazeroski can’t?”

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Ouch! John “Bid” McPhee, a second baseman with Cincinnati from 1892 to 1899 and a recent Hall of Fame inductee, was known for not wearing a glove in the field.

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Insensitive: Florida Panther tough guy Peter Worrell after getting a penalty Thursday for hitting Pittsburgh Penguin defenseman Darius Kasparaitis:

“I’ve had fights with my girlfriend and hit her harder than that.”

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Mood swings: Milwaukee Buck Coach George Karl on his enigmatic team: “I’ve told [the players] we’re a sometimes team. Sometimes we’re good, sometimes we’re bad. Sometimes we pass it, sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we shoot, sometimes we don’t.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1959, California, coached by Pete Newell, won the NCAA basketball championship by defeating West Virginia, 71-70, in Louisville. Jerry West scored 28 points for the Mountaineers.

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No wash and wax? Grant Fuhr, 37-year-old goalie for the Calgary Flames, recently had another of his semi-regular knee arthroscopies.

“They cleaned out a little more junk in it--cartilage and whatever else they found floating in there,” Fuhr said. “And gave me a free lube job on top of it. I get one of those every year.”

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Veni, vedi . . . : Boxer Mike Tyson will fight fellow U.S. heavyweight Lou Savarese on May 20 in Milan, having recently knocked out Britain’s Julius Francis in the second round in Manchester, England. That fight drew high ratings in Italy, where Tyson apparently thinks guys are still running around wearing thigh-length tunics, breastplates and plumed helmets.

“My experience in England was incredible and I am looking forward to traveling overseas and fighting in front of my legions of fans in Italy,” he said.

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Trivia answer: West, 10 against Seattle on Dec. 7, 1973.

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And finally: For those planning to attend the Summer Olympics in Sydney this year, just listen to Australians talking about their cars: “Don’t slam the boot with such force, or the bumper bars will fall off and the duco will peel.”

Translation: boot=trunk, bumper bars=fenders, duco=paint.