What's in a name? Well, cash, hopefully

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 13, 2000 by Jim Bainbridge

North Gwinett High in Suwanee, Ga., tried to use the eBay auction site to sell the naming rights to its new baseball field - and struck out swinging. With a minimum bid of $50,000, the offer stayed online for 10 days without drawing a single response. But it's probably just as well. The Dugout Club never asked the school for permission and would have faced a fight from county authorities. "The naming of a field would not be granted on a highest-bidder format," said spokesperson Sloan Roach. "A name with history, prestige or honor is preferred."

HE CARBON COPIED HIMSELF: The Cleveland Indians were amused when rookie C.C. Sabathia showed up at spring training with his last name tattooed on his back. "You don't need a name on the back of your uniform," catcher Sandy Alomar told him. "You just need a hole in the back of your jersey."

FOUR IRON FOR HIRE: Scott Hoch, wondering aloud after Davis Love III routed him in the World Match Play quarterfinals - "Where's Tonya Harding when you really need her?"

DUMMY - THAT'S A BRIDGE TERM ISN'T IT? There's a move afoot to include the game of bridge in the Olympics and John McGrath of the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune doesn't get it. "As a former spectator at the Winter Olympics - Albertville, 1992 - I can recall many moments where I gazed upon a gleaming Alpine mountaintop and said to myself, 'Standing in the shadow of this incredible snow-capped peak is OK, but I'd pay anything right now to sit in a smoky hotel suite and hear the sound of shuffling cards.'"

SPIN DOCTORING 101: The headline on a San Jose State news release after the school's women's basketball team ended a 17-game losing skid read "Spartan Women's Basketball Begins Winning Streak With Victory Over UTEP."

AMERICA'S GREATEST COLLECTION OF GETAWAY VEHICLES: Lawyers argued last week that former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe's behavior in abducting his wife and kids two years ago was due to being brain damaged by all those blows to the head. "Some of this is embarrassing," testified his former manager, Rock Newman. "At one point, he bought 26 cars and then sold 18 of them. Then he went out and bought 15 more."

AXEL BEATS A SLAM DUNK EVERY TIME: Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes that ratings for the NBA All-Star Game were down 35 percent. The ratings for the Buick Invitational, where Tiger Woods' streak was stopped, were up 25 percent. But what outdrew them both? The women's free skate at the U.S. Nationals, won by Michelle Kwan. For which Lyons concludes: "The hand that rocks the cradle not only rules the world, she controls the remote when it counts."

AND FINALLY: Cleveland Browns general manager Dwight Clark, was asked about the character of possible No. 1 draft pick Peter Warwick: "We've had three people checking into it, and there's nothing really there." Said Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Wonder if he'd like to rephrase that."

Culled from international news wires, cyberspace and the corner coffee shop.