The Eighth Dirty Word in the NBA? Rebuilding

Dave D’Allessandro in the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger: “The dirtiest word in the NBA has 10 letters, and most general managers are unable to say it publicly without fear of embarrassment or ridicule....

“Pat Riley knows the word, and has the courage to use it. But just once. Then don’t bring it up again....

“ ‘Rebuilding,’ says the staunch Miami advocate, spitting it out as if he were saying ‘Phil Jackson’ or something. ‘I hate the word rebuilding because I have to fight off those thought processes of it from other people.’ ”

Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for points in a season?

Dream on: Dave Boling in the Tacoma News Tribune: “Critics might want to scold Washington State football fans for violation of protocol with their display of roses in the stands at a game in early November.

“I don’t happen to think that they’re premature as much as short-sighted. They’re not aiming high enough. They should be waving corn chips.

“Why not start out passing out bags of corn chips and dishes of salsa to emphasize the team’s chances of playing in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl ... the national championship game.”

Unusual reaction: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Joe Paterno, please note: Tyrone Willingham was never classier than when he refused to say an unkind word about the referee who blew that apparent touchdown catch in the end zone Saturday [against Boston College].

“I’m not sure I’ve ever heard a coach say he was sure the refs were doing the best they could.”

Long way to go: The Cincinnati Bengals became the last NFL team to win a game this season -- against the expansion Houston Texans.

“We need to build off this and not get too relaxed,” receiver Chad Johnson told Associated Press. “Everybody needs to stay humble.”

Quarterback Jon Kitna said that won’t be a problem. “Why would you be overly joyful?” he said. “We’re 1-7.”

New occupation: After the Arizona Cardinals’ 27-14 loss to St. Louis, Pedro Gomez of the Arizona Republic said, “It’s time to turn [quarterback] Jake Plummer into Liquid Plumber and follow directions on the bottle.”

High praise: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, commenting on running back Marshall Faulk: “He is the best football player St. Louis has ever had and may well be the best football player in the game today.”

Spin-off: From comedy writer Earl Hochman: “With women’s wrestling scheduled to make its Olympic debut in Athens in 2004, already more than 300 candidates have expressed interest in trying out -- 295 from ‘The Jerry Springer Show.’ ”

Trivia answer: Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers scored 176 points in 1960 on 15 touchdowns, 15 field goals and 41 conversion kicks.

And finally: “This is what’s called an off-year election because there’s no presidential elections,” says Jay Leno. “It’s kind of like the Winter Olympics. We pretend to care.”