Some Questions Turn Out to Be Questionable

Stan Sutton, who covers Indiana basketball for the Louisville Courier-Journal, has some ground rules for newcomers on questioning Coach Bob Knight. A sampling:

--”Don’t second-guess his strategy, lest the news conference end abruptly, before your peers have asked their questions. Any tough questions must come after all the others.

--”Don’t say, ‘I thought.’ . . . Knight could care less what you think.

--”And above all, don’t ask anything personal. A network television interview once ended abruptly with the question, ‘What do you and your wife talk about in your private moments?’ ”

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Add Knight: “Still, there are reporters who have experienced his kinder side,” Sutton writes. “Several years ago, a writer who had his ups and downs with Knight contracted cancer. Without fanfare, Knight helped cover the medical costs.”

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Trivia question: Who holds the NFL playoff record for most touchdowns in a career?

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Free at last: Shaquille O’Neal, the Orlando Magic’s productive rookie center, says he has more freedom in the NBA than he had in college.

“This is the first time I’m not getting zoned, or three guys are collapsing on me,” O’Neal told the Chicago Tribune. “In college, they’d pull and tug on me, jab me. This is much better. And I’m still learning. Wait until next year when I start getting the veterans’ (foul) calls. Then, you’ll see something.”

We can hardly wait.

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Priorities: Ben Johnson, the featured attraction at the Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, indoor track meet in Canada last Saturday, was disqualified in the 60-meter dash for two false starts.

Johnson blamed race officials.

“I react so fast to the gun, they can’t believe I’m not jumping the gun,” he said.

In any event, track and field promoter Al Franken said Johnson wouldn’t be disqualified in any of his meets. “I would have disqualified the starter,” Franken said.

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Net result: From television tennis commentator Bud Collins: “My uncle always describes an unforced error as his first marriage.”

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New York muggers: The New York Knicks are getting a reputation as an over-aggressive team under Coach Pat Riley.

“He’s gone from an orchestra leader in L.A. to Hannibal Lecter with this team,” Indiana Pacer President Donnie Walsh told Peter Vecsey of USA Today. Said Miami Heat Coach Kevin Loughery: “(The Knicks) foul every time, and the referees just get tired of calling them all.”

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Tales from the crypt: Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, writing about the plight of the New England Patriots:

“For years, the Patriots have practiced on a field at a state mental institution. We’re beginning to wonder if there’s some connection.

“These past few days rank near the top of the epic horror that is Patriot lore. (Coach) Dick MacPherson was fired. (General Manager) Sam Jankovich spent 20 hours washing the blood off his hands, then followed Mac to the gallows.”

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Trivia answer: Franco Harris of the Pittsburgh Steelers with 17.

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Quotebook: San Francisco 49er Coach George Siefert, asked if anyone still confuses him with Bill Walsh: “Do people call me Coach Walsh? That and a lot of other things.”