Bad News Belle Isn’t Getting Any Sympathy

John Eisenberg writing in the Baltimore Sun on Albert Belle: “He was a selfish churl who made his own bed of boos with 11 years of boorish, off-putting behavior, forfeiting any chance of his engendering more than token sympathy or goodwill now.

“Think that’s just typecasting from the media he disdained? Maybe you never noticed the way he made sure to drop his batting helmet on the field after almost every out he made, forcing batboys to leave the dugout and clean up after him--a small act that spoke volumes. . . .

“Frankly, his departure is such good news for the Orioles and their fans that gauging the moral correctness of any reaction to his bad luck is pointless.”

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Trivia time: How many teams were in the men’s NCAA Division I basketball tournament from 1939 to 1950?

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Bad timing: Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post, directing comments in his column to Wizard Coach Leonard Hamilton:

“Look on the bright side. It could be worse. You could be Tim Floyd, who left Iowa State for the Chicago Bulls, or Lon Kruger, who left Illinois for the Atlanta Hawks.

“You know how Jordan, Elway and Gretzky opened mvp.com? The three of you should open oops.com.”

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Perspective: New York Met first baseman Todd Zeile: “I hear a player say, ‘How can I be paid $5 million less than Player B?’ My response to this is, ‘How can you make $11 million more than Willie Mays?’ ”

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Stumped: Dan Patrick of ESPN The Magazine asked Chris Pronger of the St. Louis Blues, “How many teeth do you have, last count?”

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Pronger: “Real teeth? Oh my God. How many are you supposed to have?”

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Adaptable: General Manager John Schuerholz of the Atlanta Braves, on Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine:

“You could make a strike zone shaped like a triangle, and with both those guys, it wouldn’t matter. I’d be willing to bet they’d find a way to be successful.”

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Come again: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Braves’ boss Bobby Cox says of his Andruw Jones: ‘He’s the greatest center fielder in 50 years, better than DiMaggio, better than Mays, better than Mantle.’ ”

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Looking back: On this day in 1989, UCLA defeated Washington, 64-54, in the Pacific 10 basketball tournament at the Forum. The tournament was won by Arizona.

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Trivia answer: Eight. The field was expanded to 16 in 1951.

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And finally: Cliff Harris, former Dallas Cowboy safety who retired before Troy Aikman joined the team, in an interview with Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

“I played against some of the greatest quarterbacks who ever lived and always prided myself on being able to read their eyes. The eyes would tell you everything you needed to know about the emotional state of that quarterback at a particular moment in the game.

“But I see this kid Aikman, and I’d have wanted no part of him. Watch his eyes during a game and you see no emotion. He tips off nothing. Those eyes are full of ice water.”