Fact: Jimmy Connors called the chair umpire "an abortion" in the fifth set against Aaron Krickstein. Did it twice.
Opinion: What Connors is doing is remarkable for a 39-year-old, but my memory is too long to buy into him as anything other than a jerk. (Just can't seem to shake the memory of him turning to Princess Di in the Royal Box and grabbing his privates.)
Fact: The Orioles did win a pennant this year. One of their farm teams, the Kane County Cougars, won the second-half title of the Class A Midwest League's Northern Division.
Opinion: The Orioles have all the excuses they needed for not re-signing Glenn Davis.
Fact: Of the six major-league baseball teams with payrolls of $30 million or more, only one -- the Dodgers -- are in or near a division lead. The others are the A's, Angels, Mets, Giants and Red Sox.
Opinion: NFL division winners: Giants, Bears, 49ers, Bills, Oilers, Broncos.
Fact: Eleven of the 28 opening-day NFL quarterbacks were 30 or older.
Opinion: NFL conference finals: Redskins over Giants, Bills over Oilers.
Fact: After tearing up his knee on artificial turf Sunday, Marcus Allen said: "That stuff should not be used by anybody."
Opinion: Super Bowl: Bills 28, Redskins 20.
Fact: The Peninsula Pilots of the Carolina League ended their season Monday with a 5-1 victory over the Kinston Indians -- breaking a 22-game losing streak.
Opinion: The Orioles are rushing Arthur Rhodes. It is doing him no good to be getting knocked around like this.
Fact: Astros pitcher Jim Deshaies has 335 career at-bats without an extra-base hit.
Opinion: Anyone who thinks the AL East is baseball's worst division hasn't been following the Braves and Dodgers stumble to glory in the NL West.
Fact: The United States has won the gold medal in men's basketball only twice in the past five Olympics.
Opinion: Morgan State has hired an able football coach in Ricky Diggs.
Fact: The Cincinnati Reds have gone back and forth across .500 16 times this season.
Opinion: Luis Mercedes bats leadoff for the Orioles next year. (And I don't care that he threw his batting helmet at someone's third baseman.)
Fact: Hall of Fame voters didn't elect Joe DiMaggio until the third year he was eligible.
Opinion: After the disgrace of last year, Cal Ripken ought to tell the Gold Glove people to keep their silly award when he wins this year.
Fact: The first year DiMaggio was eligible for the Hall, seven players -- Dizzy Dean, Al Simmons, Bill Terry, Bill Dickey, Rabbit Maranville, Dazzy Vance and Ted Lyons -- received more votes. Dean and Simmons were elected.
Opinion: Kudos to Bo Jackson for having the heart to make his comeback, but the sad truth is he may never be the same again.
Fact: Says the Minnesota Twins' Scott Erickson: "Confidence is a mental thing."
Opinion: The Orioles obviously miss Mickey Tettleton, but Chris Hoiles and Bob Melvin are not the reason the team is losing.
Fact: The Redskins scored more points than the entire NFC Central (45-32) last week.
Opinion: Excuse the broken record, but it looks as if Poly has the best football team in the city.
Fact: As of yesterday, the Orioles had a better road record than the Detroit Tigers.
Opinion: NFL end-zone celebrations should be legal. Period.
Fact: The Twins were 23 games out of first place a year ago today.
Opinion: Twins and Pirates in the Series.
Fact: Seven of the 11 teams on Maryland's football schedule had winning records in 1990.
Opinion: The poor, pitiful Eagles will need yet another quarterback when Jim McMahon suffers his inevitable injury.
Fact: Sixty-three years ago today, the Boston Braves began a run of nine consecutive doubleheaders.
Opinion: Give me one NFL player to start my team, I take Barry Sanders.
Fact: Kent Desormeaux is the leading jockey at the Del Mar summer meeting with one week remaining.
Opinion: They ought to cancel the Horse of the Year award for 1991. Isn't one.
Fact: (From the Office of Random Testing) At track's World Championships in Tokyo, only five of the 19 winning women's results were better than four years ago.
Opinion: The Orioles have a lot of nerve getting all huffy and stubborn about the name of their new ballpark that didn't cost them a dime.
