He Stumbles Into a Gray Area, Foot in Mouth

Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post takes George Karl to task for his contention that experienced white assistants are finding it difficult to get head coaching jobs in the NBA because black coaches with less experience such as Doc Rivers and Isiah Thomas are cutting to the front of the line:

“Now, Karl has been a fine coach for a long time in the NBA, in Seattle and now in Milwaukee.... But anybody who has been around the NBA for a while knows that while Karl is engaging, he often pops off and says stupid stuff.

“He singled out Rivers, citing that Rivers went straight from NBC to become coach of Orlando. And, yes, Thomas did go from NBC to the Indiana Pacers’ top job.

“Somehow, Karl didn’t seem so offended by Danny Ainge going from TV to head coach, or, more notably, Larry Bird going from the 18th green to head coach of the Pacers.

“What? Karl forgot about them, or did he ignore a pair of white coaches because they didn’t fit his rant?”

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Trivia time: Who is the only three-time winner of the NCAA men’s Final Four most outstanding player award?

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Forever young: Although he turns 40 Tuesday, John Stockton of the Utah Jazz isn’t as impressed as others that he still ranks among the NBA’s top point guards.

“I’m still playing, so that’s a little more of a plus than a minus,” he said.

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Who knew? South African batsman Jonty Rhodes, regarded by many as the best fielder in cricket history, says he will quit the sport after the 2003 World Cup.

“After 10 years, I’ve put in my pound of flesh,” Rhodes said.

Maybe cricket is tougher than we thought.

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Pregnant pause: A downcast Rem Murray was traded this week by the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers to the New York Rangers and had to leave behind his wife, who is seven months pregnant and isn’t allowed to travel at her late stage.

Kim Murray is due to deliver in May, leaving open the possibility that her husband could miss the birth if the Rangers start playing well.

“I don’t know what happens if the Rangers make the playoffs,” Rem Murray said.

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Proper perspective: Dan Perkins knows all about the Oxford vs. Cambridge Boat Race on the Thames River in London--a grueling, 41/4-mile competition that tests the limits of athletic endurance.

But after twice surviving brain cancer, he isn’t fazed by the race anymore.

“The Boat Race is an awful, terrible thing and it’s really painful,” said Perkins, a member of Oxford’s eight-man crew for Saturday’s race.

“But none of it is going to kill you. It’s just not your life.”

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Trivia answer: UCLA’s Lew Alcindor, who later became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, from 1967-69.

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And finally: Former Olympic and beach volleyball player Bob Ctvrtlik is digging his new profession as a caviar merchant.

Ctvrtlik’s company, Ciram Corp., is among the first to sell Iranian fish eggs harvested from the Caspian Sea to North American restaurants and has imported 3,300 pounds, or $2.5 million worth, of caviar since November.

“This business is like water in a dike; right now it’s trickling through, but it’s getting ready to burst,” he said.

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Rob Fernas