He Could Also Serve as a Writing Coach

Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News writes that he should be the perfect guy to coach the Pistons because the coach is largely irrelevant in the NBA:

“Rick Adelman was a horrible coach at Golden State, remember? He’s brilliant with [Chris] Webber in Sacramento. Pat Riley was a genius with Magic [Johnson] in L.A. and a playoff failure elsewhere.

“How about Lenny Wilkens? The washed-up hall of famer was riding it out in Atlanta, right? Now he’s in Toronto with Vince Carter and everyone loves Lenny again!”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NHL playoff record for most overtime goals?

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The Golden Years: Jack Buck, 76, is in his 47th year of announcing St. Louis Cardinal games, and he’s doing it despite Parkinson’s disease, diabetes, cataracts, vertigo and sciatica.

“I shook hands with Muhammad Ali recently,” he told Sports Illustrated. “It took them 30 minutes to get us untangled.”

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Reversal: Mark Kreidler of the Sacramento Bee, commenting on the Lakers: “Grumpy, backbiting and petty right through the schedule--until it came time to really keep score.

“And now that the time is here, the Lakers have stopped picking at their own scabs and gone to work on the other guy’s open sores. It’s a pretty effective deal when you get down to it.”

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Outraged: Mike Bianchi in the Orlando Sentinel: “In case you missed it, the NCAA last week eliminated the time-honored restriction of playing college football games on Friday night--a night traditionally reserved for the nation’s high schools.

“In one of the most brutally selfish moves in the history of organized sport, our nation’s institutions of higher learning are now free to mine the untapped Friday night TV market. And who cares if it pushes high school football toward bankruptcy?”

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Misleading: Much has been made of the fact--in print and on television--of the Sacramento bench out-scoring the Lakers, 32-1, Tuesday. Not that surprising considering that the Laker bench players took (and missed) only nine shots from the field while the King bench was converting 11 of 20.

Moreover, four King bench players totaled 83 minutes of playing time compared to 41 for their six Laker counterparts.

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Another goal: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “And just in case the Lakers had any illusions, no team has gone through the playoffs undefeated. The closest was the 1982-83 76ers, who had Julius Erving and Moses Malone and went 12-1.”

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Chicken feed: Arizona forward Richard Jefferson, a junior who is making himself eligible for the NBA draft, on an NCAA proposal that would allow top athletes to take out $20,000 loans and pay them off later out of their pro earnings:

“That would barely cover the down payment on my Mercedes.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1970, Bobby Orr’s goal gave Boston its first Stanley Cup in 29 years as the Bruins beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-3, for a four-game sweep.

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Triva answer: Maurice Richard of Montreal, six.

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And finally: Florida Marlin catcher Charles Johnson on the rigors of his position in an interview with Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald:

“You squat 200 some times a night, up and down . . . Look at my hands. They build up calluses from the pounding, and I’m continually shaving the calluses down, but my hands are always sore.

“The skin cracks on them, and it hurts just to get soap and water on it in the shower.”