It Won’t Be Easy to Follow in His Footsteps

Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, writing on veteran Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, now in his 16th season in the NBA:

“Malone played against Cedric Maxwell, Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He played at the old Boston Garden, Chicago Stadium, the Spectrum and the Omni. He has been around so long, he still wears Converse on his feet.

“Converse? That’s the athletic shoe company of Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Chuck Taylor himself. Converse is your father’s Oldsmobile . . .

“He was the Mailman when Cliff Clavin was a mailman.”

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Trivia time: Which heavyweight champion had the most consecutive knockouts?

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Leaf falls in Florida: David Whitley of the Orlando Sentinel, on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers picking up troublesome Ryan Leaf on waivers:

“[Leaf], 24 going on 11, is your new hope at quarterback. The initial reaction was: What, Bart Simpson wasn’t available? . . . The Bucs have been built with caution and care. Now they’re bringing in the player voted most likely to wet his diaper?”

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Whatever you say: And, on the subject of controversial athletes, none is perhaps more controversial than Vernon “Mad Max” Maxwell, who is now back in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks. Said Maxwell:

“I am who I am, and I ain’t going to change. People that really, really know me know the kind of guy I am. I’m always the scapegoat for somebody.”

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Good riddance? Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post, on the Wizards’ release of Rod Strickland:

“For at least two years, Strickland has represented much of what damages teams, wastes the work of others and kills public interest in pro sports. . . . Far from being unique, he’s one of the NBA’s recent prototypes--the player who has gone from Me First to Me Only.”

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At least you’re paid: Ed Sherman of the Chicago Tribune, on the underachieving Bulls: “There are few assignments tougher in sports than covering a losing team. Or, worse a losing team that doesn’t make news. . . .

“The biggest challenge is trying to stay fresh. Most days you feel like a banana that has been left out in the sun too long.”

(The Morning Briefing writer can commiserate. He covered the L.A. Rams in the early 1960s, when they won only nine of 40 games.)

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Iceberg ahead: Jerry Greene in the Orlando Sentinel: “It’s worrisome when XFL officials keep calling it ‘a work in progress’ during its first season. After all, how many voyages did the Titanic take?

* “The Green Bay Packers announced a ‘lifetime’ extension for Brett Favre? You mean he never gets to leave?”

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Trivia answer: George Foreman, 24, from March 31, 1970, until losing to Muhammad Ali on Oct. 30, 1974.

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And finally: Georgia State basketball Coach Lefty Dreisell, 69, on the age factor: “Why do people think you can’t coach when you get past 70? I think I could coach until I was 90. Coaching is a piece of cake.”