Published: Saturday, November 7, 2009
FINISH LINE: Proof that NBA stars get all the breaks
He chose wisely
Preferential treatment for NBA superstars from officials is a tradition and a culture that has existed for decades.
Kevin McHale (below right), now a TNT analyst, remembers breaking in with the Boston Celtics, with Larry Bird (left) as a team-mate.
“I go up to do what I think is a good block, and they blow the whistle,” said McHale, whose first season was 1980-81. “They yell, ‘Foul on No. 32.’ I said, ‘32? You mean 33? Larry (Bird) is the one who fouled him.’ He said, ‘You want Larry to have three or you to have one?’ I said, ‘My foul!’”
Law and Order NFL: After the Buffalo Bills lost to the Houston Texans 31-10 last Sunday, The Buffalo News ran the headline, “Lousy game leads to fewer arrests.” Police made just 14 arrests at the game, about half what is normal. Orchard Park, N.Y., police chief Andrew Benz suggested that the early fan departures may have been the reason for the low crime count.
Notable among the arrests: three Canadian men who “borrowed” a golf cart to negotiate the parking lot before the opening kickoff.
Then the game began and the Bills’ game plan, lacking that kind of on-the-move ingenuity, bored most potential lawbreakers inside the stadium into a quiet kind of submission.
Parting shot
“I thought I was somebody. But this confirms it: In worldwide golf, I’m a nobody.”
— Pat Perez
After finishing his 18th hole Friday at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, then looking up to see just two spectators watching him. He didn’t say whether that included his wife.
Preferential treatment for NBA superstars from officials is a tradition and a culture that has existed for decades.
Kevin McHale (below right), now a TNT analyst, remembers breaking in with the Boston Celtics, with Larry Bird (left) as a team-mate.
“I go up to do what I think is a good block, and they blow the whistle,” said McHale, whose first season was 1980-81. “They yell, ‘Foul on No. 32.’ I said, ‘32? You mean 33? Larry (Bird) is the one who fouled him.’ He said, ‘You want Larry to have three or you to have one?’ I said, ‘My foul!’”
Law and Order NFL: After the Buffalo Bills lost to the Houston Texans 31-10 last Sunday, The Buffalo News ran the headline, “Lousy game leads to fewer arrests.” Police made just 14 arrests at the game, about half what is normal. Orchard Park, N.Y., police chief Andrew Benz suggested that the early fan departures may have been the reason for the low crime count.
Notable among the arrests: three Canadian men who “borrowed” a golf cart to negotiate the parking lot before the opening kickoff.
Then the game began and the Bills’ game plan, lacking that kind of on-the-move ingenuity, bored most potential lawbreakers inside the stadium into a quiet kind of submission.
Parting shot
“I thought I was somebody. But this confirms it: In worldwide golf, I’m a nobody.”
— Pat Perez
After finishing his 18th hole Friday at the HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, then looking up to see just two spectators watching him. He didn’t say whether that included his wife.
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