He Talks Big, but His Play Is a Fade Pattern

Hubert Mizell of the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times writes that it’s time for Keyshawn Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be more productive and, perhaps, less boastful:

“To hear him self-aggrandize, you’d think U.S. 19 would be Keyshawn’s apt nickname. A great American hero he suggests. Johnson’s pontifications tell us No. 19 thinks he’s in Jerry Rice’s class.

“Key doesn’t back it up.

”. . . It’s time for Keyshawn to put up. If not, shut up. Manage the challenges, but also manage the tongue.”

Johnson has caught 26 passes for 294 yards and one touchdown going into tonight’s game against Detroit.

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Trivia time: Who has played in the most World Series?

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Box-office bonus: Peter Vecsey in the New York Post: “According to the Sonics, [Patrick] Ewing’s acquisition already has greatly impacted ticket sales. Partial-season plans (buy six, get a seventh game as a bonus) have gone from 80 per day to 200 per.

“At this juncture a year ago, 3,000 packages were sold, as compared to Friday’s 6,200 figure.”

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New York, New York: Dan Shaughnessy in the Boston Globe: “Never in baseball history has one city had a baseball October like this one. Sure, there were Subway Series in earlier decades, but none required two rounds of playoffs to qualify for the Fall Classic.

“New York this fall is hardball heaven with one, sometimes two playoff games per day, usually resulting in a win from the team from the Apple.”

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Another view: Nick Canepa is not thrilled about the Subway Series: “The worst thing, the worst thing of all, is that a New York team is going to win the World Series. Again. Haven’t we, as a sporting nation, suffered enough?

“If we get a Giants-Jets Super Bowl, I’m moving to Costa Rica.”

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Careful wording: Fox’s Steve Lyons, profiling New York fans: “This a town where fans know your mother’s name and they do not like her.”

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Take your pick: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “The best player from the famed Quarterback Class of ‘99? It has to be Daunte Culpepper, who has led the Vikings to a 6-0 record in his first year as a starter.

“Either him or Cade McNown, who’s 1-5 with the Bears and dating the Playmate of the Year.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1986, Boston defeated the New York Mets, 9-3, to take a 2-0 lead in the World Series. However, the Mets rallied to win in seven games and kept the Red Sox without a Series title since 1918.

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Classy comment: Golf World, reporting on the recent Solheim Cup matches: “Best television phrase: By British broadcasters, who instead of saying the matches were close Sunday, said they were ‘delicately poised.’ ”

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Trivia answer: Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees, 14.

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And finally: Before the St. Louis Rams signed kicker Pete Stoyanovich to replace injured Jeff Wilkins, Ray Ratto, writing for ESPN.com, suggested that the Rams didn’t need an extra-point kicker.

He noted that the explosive Rams converted four two-point conversions in their 45-29 victory over Atlanta on Sunday.

“And now that the Rams have committed to a new kicker, we consider it an opportunity blown, a moment lost perhaps forever. A chance to make a mark on the new era of offensive football . . .”