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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

He’ll always be an animal


Anderson
 (The Spokesman-Review)
From wire reports The Spokesman-Review

From bear to bull, the man who made the University of Montana’s Monte a national mascot of the year accepted an offer last week to become the NBA’s Benny the Bull in Chicago.

Barry Anderson said he turned down a financially better offer from the Detroit Pistons when he agreed Wednesday to go with Chicago. Anderson, a 2002 UM theater graduate from Miles City, said choices aren’t always about money.

“For some reason I’ve just always wanted to live in Chicago,” he said. “I’m a jazz fan, I like live theater. It just felt good. Now that I’ve made the decision, I have 100 percent no reservations, 100 percent no regrets.”

Benny’s costume is already getting a trimmer redesign so he’ll be able to execute slam dunks.

“They’re putting a lot of faith – ill-advised as that might be – into me doing what I feel I need to, to make Benny more like Monte,” said Anderson, who has been assistant marketing director for UM’s athletic department for 1 1/2 years. “They really liked what they saw on the tapes I sent them.”

He’s just protective

This from Mac Entegart in Sports Illustrated: “Diego Maradona’s doctors are banking on Cuban president Fidel Castro to help the former soccer great finally kick his drug addiction. Argentina’s ambassador to Cuba, where Maradona is headed for drug treatment, says the hope is that Castro will take advantage of ‘the friendly relationship he has with Maradona to become a strict father’ to him. Castro has a reputation as a tough but fair dad, though historically he has had great difficulty letting his children leave the nest. Ever.”

This just in: It was worth it

One week after the closing ceremony, 82 percent of Athenians say the Olympics were worth the years of sacrifice, according to a poll published Saturday.

Bruce Lee would be proud

When LSU coach Nick Saban offered his players a chance to take karate lessons as part of their off-season workouts, center Ben Wilkerson was the first to sign up.

A longtime fan of kung fu movies, Wilkerson thought it would be fun to learn a few techniques and break some boards.

Once the classes began, Wilkerson loved them as much as he thought he would.

“Doing it gives you a lot of flexibility, hip flexibility, ankle flexibility,” Wilkerson said. Wilkerson set a new team record this summer, smashing three 1-by-12 inch wood boards.

“I had never done anything like that, it was fun,” Wilkerson said. “I believe if I can break three boards then I can stop some big-time defensive linemen too.”