Orange You Glad You Didn’t Cry Wolf?
The squeeze is off Otto the Orange. Syracuse University’s mascot has survived the threat of being replaced by a wolf, thanks to chancellor Kenneth Shaw.
“Though some might say we sacrifice a more powerful image with this decision,” Shaw wrote in a memo, “I believe that, with the orange, we retain a unique position in collegiate athletics.”
And that would be where - right between the Scottsdale Community College Artichokes and the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs?
Torre! Torre! Torre!
Would you believe Joe Torre’s tenure as manager of the New York Yankees nearly flamed out within 72 hours?
It seems Buck Showalter, Torre’s predecessor and now manager of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks, has been telling friends the bizarre story. Three days after Torre had signed Nov. 2, Yankees owner George Steinbrenner went to Showalter’s home in Pensacola, Fla., and asked him to reconsider his resignation.
Jack Curry of the New York Times recently interviewed Showalter and asked if it was true.
“(Showalter’s) face turned crimson,” Curry reported. “His chin dropped to his chest, and he adjusted his tie. ‘I don’t think I have any comment on that,’ Showalter said. ‘That’s not fair to Joe. Don’t get that going. It wasn’t exactly like that.”’ Steinbrenner has been reluctant to discuss the situation. Torre is trying to shrug it off.
“If I’d have been in the game one year instead of 100 years, I would be concerned,” he said.
A year with the Yanks just feels like a hundred, Joe.
A rhetorical question, right?
Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke was recently asked, for the second week in a row, about coach Norv Turner’s job security.
“Why would I change in two weeks?” he exploded. “What the hell kind of effervescent, fairy-like creature do you think I am?”
Bellewether
When Cleveland Indians slugger Albert Belle left court last week - after pleading no contest to reckless operation of a motor vehicle for trying to run down some hecklers Belle had stiffed on Halloween night - a kid carrying an Indians cap asked Belle for an autograph.
“This is not an autograph session,” barked Belle.
Next Halloween, Albert’s going as a human being.
Fan depreciation night
Fans were scanty in Ypsilanti Monday night. The second half of Eastern Michigan’s basketball game against San Francisco State was played to an empty arena after protesters demanding an end to police brutality converged on the court for an hour.
The protest stemmed from the Nov. 7 arrest of a black student who had scuffled with a white university police officer at a residence hall. Before play resumed, officials had the arena cleared of some 1,300 spectators. Eastern went on to win 111-61.
Making all 1,300 stay and watch - now that’s brutality.
The last word …
“It’s the only town where you can watch your dog run away for three days.”
- Maple Leafs coach Pat Burns on the flat terrain of Winnipeg
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