This, That, and the Other Thing

WHATEVER HAPPENED to free speech in this country, at least where white athletes are concerned? San Francisco Giants left fielder Barry Bonds, recently retired NBA forward Charles Barkley, former Georgetown University men's basketball coach John Thompson, New York Jets linebacker Bryan Cox, ex-NFL lineman Reggie White, renowned tennis father Richard Williams (dad of Serena and Venus)--that's off the top of my head; there are plenty more--are all black and all have been given a virtual free pass to spew bigoted remarks and racist vitriol against the much-despised and universally hated "whitie." Yet, Atlanta Braves reliever John Rocker is ordered to see a psychiatrist by the baseball hierarchy (and then is given a lengthy suspension and hefty fine) for a harshly worded, but not altogether inaccurate, description of the clientele found on New York City's subways.

* Go figure. NHL salaries have skyrocketed to the point where they're almost right up there with the outrageous numbers being flaunted by other sports, yet hockey's team owners refuse to spend enough for good ice and flexible boards. The resulting rash of groin pulls, abdominal strains, bad backs, and concussions means that they must pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to players stuck on the disabled list or forced to retire early.

Football and baseball have begun to come around in this regard, a number of clubs replacing Astro-turf fields with natural grass. They finally decided that maybe it didn't make sense to have their millionaire players trying to perform on carpeted concrete slabs.

* The millennium- and century-closing accolades in baseball properly have been bestowed upon the New York Yankees, winners of 36 American League pennants. Don't forget about the Atlanta Braves, though. They finished first nine times in the 1990s. Their five National League flags in a single decade give them as many or more pennants in a 10-year period as 18 of baseball's 30 teams have registered in their entire history.

* Traditionalists are always accused of refusing to accept the economic realities of the modern-day sports world. But the modern-day sports world refuses to bow to tradition, even when it makes economic sense. When major league baseball expands to 32 teams, instead of having small divisions, wild card contenders, and interleague play, why not simply break up the National and American leagues into two divisions apiece, with eight teams in each--and only the four first-place teams make the playoffs? From 1903 to 1960, the National and American leagues had eight teams in each circuit, the first-place clubs meeting in the World Series. It was a great system that can almost be duplicated. But you know what will happen. Baseball will create 32 divisions of one team each, with the first-place team in each division--that's fight, everybody--qualifying for the post-season.

* While the Yankees piled up the most championships (25) in the just-completed century, the number-two team on the title list, the Montreal Canadiens (24 Stanley Cups), did something that even the mighty Bronx Bombers could not duplicate. Only once did the Habs go more than eight years without winning a championship. By the way, time's just about up: Montreal's last Cup came in 1993.

* Now that the Clintons are spending more time in New York, the President can show off his ultimate piece of hockey memorabilia: a jersey presented to him by the New York Rangers after they won the 1994 Stanley Cup, their first in 54 years. The weird thing is, the Broadway Blueshirts inexplicably gave Clinton a home jersey emblazoned with the number one. Too bad that number was retired years earlier in honor of goalie Eddie Giacomin. That's being quite disrespectful, and, for a change, it wasn't even Clinton's fault.

The NHL showed even more disrespect to its best-ever player, Wayne Gretzky, when The Great One closed out his one-of-a-kind Hall-of-Fame career with the Rangers last spring. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman proclaimed that no league player would ever wear number 99 again. Two months later, at the amateur draft, there were many number 99 sightings. The shirts were supplied by the NHL clubs. What were they thinking? Wasn't that the time to alter the annual practice of putting the year on the jerseys of the number-one picks?

Goodwill ambassador Gretzky is used to such slights. Imagine Michael Jordan, not even the greatest basketball player in history, being named the Athlete of the Century by a prominent weekly sports magazine while Gretzky had trouble cracking the top 10 on most millennium lists. No one has dominated a major sport like Gretzky since Babe Ruth rewrote the baseball record books during the Roaring Twenties. And even there, Gretzky gets the nod, as all of Ruth's major marks have fallen over the past seven decades. Gretzky's numbers, however, will remain just as unapproachable in 2070 as they are today. And thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, I plan on being around then just to say I told you so.

* When listening to avid sports freaks go off their tree on call-in radio, it's easy--and quite justifiable--to simply say: Geeze, get a life, would you. But it helps if you've at least walked a mile in their cleats. When I was a kid and an out-of-my-mind Cleveland Browns fan, I used to run out on the front lawn (sans shoes) in the dead of winter before a crucial play. I'd jump around for a couple of minutes to keep warm, then bolt back inside to see if my beloved Brownies had blown it again. (Remember, Cleveland has been within one win of going to the Super Bowl on five separate occasions, only to lose each time--an unprecedented feat, as is the fact that the Browns did it by losing NFL title games in back-to-back years as well as the AFC championship contest three times in four seasons.)

Some might suggest that it would have been far easier to simply turn off the TV set for a few moments rather than risk catching pneumonia in my yard (but I couldn't take the chance that the picture might not come back on). Or, better yet, how about growing up and just watching the game like a normal person? There you have it. Don't just tell that idiot sports nut to get a life. Make sure you say: Geeze, grow up and get a life, would you.

Wayne M. Barrett is Managing Editor of USA Today.

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