To Tell the Truth, Some Coaches Just Can’t

Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald, writing on new University of Miami football Coach Larry Coker:

“Coker and his predecessor seem almost total opposites. Butch Davis was a hell-for-leather salesman who sometimes exaggerated to the extent that most reporters on the Hurricane beat regarded him as a chronic liar.

“Coker seems incapable of that. Better fix an asterisk to that statement. For whatever reason, assistant coaches who ordinarily wouldn’t think of lying begin to climb trees to lie when they become head coaches.”

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Trivia time: What is the overall NCAA record for consecutive free throws made?

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Don’t have a cow, man: Andre Agassi reportedly enjoyed portraying himself Sunday in the animated sitcom “The Simpsons,” but wasn’t overjoyed at how the artists made him look.

Later, the tennis star modified his displeasure, saying: “When I’m standing next to Homer and Bart, I guess I look a little better.”

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Bring ‘em on: Pete Sampras isn’t ready to step aside and let the next generation battle for Grand Slam supremacy.

“There’s a lot of good young players, but no one who really scares me,” he said. “Agassi is the one guy who can beat me when I’m playing well, but with Marat Safin and Gustavo Kuerten, even though they’ve beaten me, I feel like the match is on my racket.”

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Free at last: The Boston Celtics have been surging since Jim O’Brien replaced Rick Pitino as coach. Said ex-Celtic great Bob Cousy: “He’s not calling every play. It’s like taking a straitjacket off the team.”

You get the inference.

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Cheap shot: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Chris Webber may leave the Kings after this season and has been quoted as being disappointed that Sacramento lacks soul-food restaurants and an exciting night life.

“Some fans think he should open a club or restaurant himself to fill the void. Great idea. Call the restaurant the Webber Grill and the club the Illegal Timeout.”

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Shelve it: Jerry Greene in the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel: “Right now the NBA has a 24-second clock (and, no, nobody knows why it’s 24 seconds and not 25) but is thinking about reducing it to 20. Swell, then we’ll have fewer passes and more bad shots.”

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Do it again: Washington Capital center Jeff Halpern scored an empty-net goal recently after Colorado goalie Patrick Roy left the crease to clear a puck along the boards.

Roy angrily heaved his stick all the way to the opposite blue line. Said Halpern: “I wished he had signed it before he threw it. I would have kept it.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1978, Leon Spinks won a 15-round split decision over Muhammad Ali to take the world heavyweight title in Las Vegas.

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Trivia answer: 94, by Paul Cluxton of Division II Northern Kentucky in 1997.

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And finally: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, roaming a hotel lobby where the players stayed during NBA All-Star weekend:

“Shaquille O’Neal walked right past me, close enough to read the ‘I Hate Kobe’ crest on his blazer (oh, please, I’m kidding; it said, ‘Die, Selfish Punk Egomaniac’), and I thought: If Shaq was any larger, he’d have to have running lights.”