Unlike Nordiques, Lindros Story Just Won’t Go Away

It seems it was only yesterday that Eric Lindros was refusing to play for the Quebec Nordiques.

The Nordiques are long gone, but Lindros is in the middle of another maelstrom after trade talks between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Toronto Maple Leafs--the only team he wants to play for--broke down last week.

Toronto Coach and General Manager Pat Quinn called Philadelphia’s trade demands “a moving target” that could never be hit and called off talks saying, “I’m not going to slop around anymore.”

The Flyers claim the teams never had a deal, and General Manager Bobby Clarke blasted Quinn in the Philadelphia Inquirer, saying Quinn was “just covering his butt” and “Who the hell calls a press conference to criticize another person and another team?”

It all brings to mind Pierre Page’s assessment when he was general manager and coach of the Nordiques during the 1992 Lindros squabble. Page said the whole affair “was getting to be like a 25-cent novel.”

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More Lindros: “What do Bill Clinton and Eric Lindros have in common?” Claire Smith asks in the Inquirer.

“We can’t say goodbye to either if they simply won’t go away.”

As for Quinn, Smith says he is not blameless.

“The former on-ice protagonist is playing this one against Clarke like he’s still mucking it up in the corner with the old Flyers’ captain, exchanging unprintable bon mots instead of acting like acceptable players in trade talks that more resemble the Hundred Years’ War.”

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Trivia time: Who were the six players traded to Quebec along with two draft picks and cash for Eric Lindros in 1992?

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Chalupa competition: The College of Charleston has its own promotional giveaway along the lines of the Dallas Mavericks’ free chalupas.

When the Cougars win and score 88 points or more, fans get free crab legs at a local restaurant.

Our response: Go Cougs!

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Trivia answer: Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall and Chris Simon.

The deal also included $15 million cash and draft picks who became Jocelyn Thibault and--in a pick that was eventually traded to the Washington Capitals--Nolan Baumgartner.

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And finally: After Stanford’s recent 88-56 victory at Cal, point guard Michael McDonald from Long Beach Poly clutched a photo of his face doctored with a pacifier and the word “crybaby” underneath.

“I’m going to put it up on my wall,” McDonald told Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News. “I’m just happy I got a sign. All the other guys get them, but I never got one before.”

So who’s crying now?