Frequent-flier penalty

Sporting News, The, Dec 20, 1999

Caught on the FLY

Hey, didn't you used to be the Round Mound-o-Rebound?

* Yeah, yeah, NHL owners shot down the intraconference-only schedule, but here's how hard-pressed some teams are in this here garage league: The Spies say this scheme got as far as it did--and you-n-Fly'll see it again ... soon-because 86in' interconference play pinches serious travel penny.

* Fly hears players're puh-rayin' that the Angelssans-Chuck Finley can generally manage. "Let's hope," one starter says under his breath, "Bill Stoneman turns out to be a genius."

* Speaking of Team Disney's corporate write-off (as in, season-ducat holders, you can write off the '00 season), Fly couldn't make out the fine print in the intraoffice e-mail. Was that "Mo Vaughn" or "Move on"? Both?

* Fresh from the Rumorama (where the scoop du jour is cream of NFL scuttlebutt): When Norv Turner gets axed to leave D.C., he'll pick up where Chan the Man left off deepinthehearta, which'd be puttin' in an 0 that can go. And was that Butch Davis on the `Skins' speed dial?

* What's the point of second-, third- and fourth-tier bowls? Think of it this way, booster-breath: Dear ol' alma mater's gettin' weeks-o-practice (read: built-in '00 advantage) that D-I programs wanderin' bowl-free wilderness don't get.

* Serious 1B rock (no help on the roster) and hard place (impending move there by Mike Piazza eventually but not this season) leaves the Mets to overpay to fill the spot. Pssst, remember this name: Lee Stevens ... if you can think over the chuckling from the Bronx.

* Forty-whiners worker bee confirms front-office mobocracy: "It's just not working the way it is now." No joke, Henny. Which cook/s callin' recipe shots? John York's sleepin' with the owner (who's his wife, too), then there's Wile E. Walsh, Coach Mooch and, don't forget, hoverin' 'bout is Terry Donahue.

* Fly hears it wasn't Mateen they were there to see. That was Jerry West and Dr. J scrib-scrib-scribblin' Great Eight notes on MichState's Mo Peterson, legit NBA prospect if/when he's not layin' bricks at the end-o-serious hops.

* Buzz is that even before season's kill shot to the helmet, Broncos QB Chris Miller had teammates worried because of 1) those lapses in mid-conversation, and 2) that time the mental fog rolled in at mid-pregame drill.

* Finally, it's Shawn Kemp's right vs. calorie-cap restrictions, but it's the Cadaverliers who're fed up. Yes, oh, yes, Rainman's still got a 42--except it's belt size instead-o-vertical. Whispers one NBA coach: "He plays below the rim now." Goes to show, the Spies say, a waist is a terrible thing to mind.

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