June 20, 1997|By John Eisenberg
Opinion: If they're really going to mix the American League and National League with interleague play, grumble, grumble, the baseball bigwigs finally have to make a call one way or the other on the designated hitter rule. (And here's one vote for nixing it.)
Fact: College athletic directors, supposedly waging war on campus gambling, held their recent convention in, um, Las Vegas.
Opinion: John Daly is a tormented soul, but he deserves no pity for failing to finish his second round at the U.S. Open. Walking away from his partners and caddie after nine holes was the definition of unprofessionalism.
Fact: Spotted a Barbie-style Dennis Rodman cut-out dress kit in the children's section of a bookstore the other day. Didn't say if it was for boys or girls.
Opinion: The Bulls won't re-sign Rodman, who, aside from being a constant distraction, suddenly looked very old in the playoffs. They can use the money to pay Michael and Scottie and Phil and everyone else while Rodman goes to play in Europe?
Fact: The Orioles have to go 54-41 through the rest of the season to win 100 games for the first time since 1980.
Opinion: The Orioles should give Rick Krivda a shot as their No. 5 starter before trading for one. Krivda has pitched incredibly well at Rochester, he has won in the bigs and he couldn't do any worse than Mike Johnson or Shawn Boskie.
Fact: Attendance at Fenway Park has dropped only 3 percent from a year ago, despite the Red Sox's poor record and depressing outlook. (That's a baseball town.)
Opinion: Keith Booth will get picked somewhere in the second round of the NBA draft next week.
Fact: Tiger Woods said recently that he swings at only 80 percent of full speed on the tee. "I could add another 30 or 40 yards, easy," he said.
Opinion: As great as Woods is for golf, let's hope his failure to win the U.S. Open brings his fans' expectations for him back to a more realistic level -- and makes him a little more humble, too.
Fact: Coming soon to the National Hockey League: Columbus vs. Nashville. (Two teams that just plain don't like each other.)
Opinion: There isn't a bigger surprise in tennis history than Gustavo Kuerten's recent French Open victory at the age of 20, ranked 66th in the world, having never won a pro tournament before. Unreal.
Fact: For those keeping score at home, Andre Rison has now been employed by teams in six NFL cities in 30 months. (Atlanta, Cleveland, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Green Bay, Kansas City.)
Opinion: Most disappointing team in baseball? Here's a vote for the Dodgers, who have the pitching to do a lot better than they're doing.
Fact: NASCAR prodigy Jeff Gordon has won 23 races in 2 1/2 years.
Opinion: The coming Olympic ice hockey competition will be the real deal, with four or five Dream Teams as opposed to basketball's one.
Fact: Deion Sanders after getting into a dispute with Padres pitcher Sterling Hitchcock: "I thought he was Alfred's kid."
Opinion: The Philadelphia Flyers fired Terry Murray as their coach after a terrific season because star Eric Lindros didn't approve of Murray saying the players choked in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Fact: After nine years in the minors with four organizations (including the Orioles), Pete Rose Jr. is hitting .317 at Double-A and looking like a September call-up for the Reds.
Opinion: If Mike Tyson has any pride, he'll beat Evander Holyfield in their rematch next week in Las Vegas.
Fact: The last American League team to go wire-to-wire in first place? The Detroit Tigers, 1984.
Opinion: It's hard to remember a weaker NBA draft pool than the current, which is a virtual free fall after Tim Duncan and the best of the rest (Ron Mercer, Tony Battie, Keith Van Horn, Tim Thomas).
Fact: They'll have single-elimination playoffs in the WNBA, the new women's pro league.
Opinion: The Orioles need another DH more than they need another right fielder.
Fact: Ten major-league teams are drawing more fans per game than the Yankees.
Opinion: I love it when Rick Pitino says everyone's got it completely wrong, he's just making $54 million, not $70 million, goodness gracious, come on, no one gets $70 million, hoo boy, wouldn't that be some paycheck
Pub Date: 6/20/97
