Long Before Iverson, Scott Had the Answer

New Jersey Net Coach Byron Scott was 22 in 1983 when he was the first-round pick of the Clippers (then in San Diego) in the NBA draft.

When asked to whom he might compare his game, Scott replied, “Magic Johnson,” then added, “Except I’m quicker and can shoot better from the outside.”

Mike Vaccaro of the Newark Star-Ledger recalls the conversation, about four months later, when Scott was traded to the Lakers and showed up for his first day in training camp.

“You have a high opinion of yourself,” Johnson told him. Scott replied, “I was asked a question and I answered it.”

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Trivia time: What do former NFL quarterbacks Joe Germaine, Paul Justin and Chris Redman have that Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Jim Kelly don’t?

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Straight talk: Shannon Sharpe, who had his NFL record of being on the winning side in 12 consecutive playoff games come to an end Sunday, said of the Baltimore Ravens’ 27-10 loss to Pittsburgh that included four costly turnovers:

“You can’t turn the football over like we did and expect to beat a football team of that caliber. I’m not going to say that we were turning the football over. They were turning us over.”

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Say what? After throwing six interceptions, three returned for touchdowns, in the Green Bay Packers’ 45-17 thrashing by the St. Louis Rams, quarterback Brett Favre said: “I guess we can talk about, if we had done this, or if we had done that, but if a chicken had lips, he’d whistle.”

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Some slam: Karrie Webb will win the women’s grand slam this year, predicts Mike Lupica in T&L; Golf magazine.

“That’s the good news for women’s golf,” he wrote. “The bad news is that no one, at least no one outside of women’s golf, actually has any idea which four tournaments that is.”

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Fair warning: The Southern Ute Indian tribe has pulled out of the Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

Tribal spokeswoman Edna Frost said she feels the ceremony is a potential terrorist target.

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Big job ahead: From an Indy Racing League release: “Lincoln Welder ... has been named the Official Welder of the Indy Racing League and a sponsor of the Indianapolis 500-mile race.”

Maybe it can weld the IRL and CART back together.

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It will happen: Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle put his stamp on referee Walt Coleman’s instant-replay reversal of Tom Brady’s apparent fumble in the Oakland Raiders’ overtime loss to the New England Patriots:

“It’s two days later, and the real Miracle on Ice is that Al Davis hasn’t sued the NFL yet.”

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Corporate talk: Sports Illustrated Managing Editor Bill Colson announced that he is leaving his job, but not until next month because he wants to oversee one more Olympic Games.

“I guess that sounded better than one more swimsuit edition,” quipped Jay Leno.

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Trivia answer: NFL championship rings.

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And finally: Jon Saraceno wonders, in USA Today, if when George O’Leary was hired as an assistant coach by the Minnesota Vikings, “did he list Notre Dame on his resume?”