Randy Moss, soccer violence occupy masses longing for NBA

Thursday, November 5, 1998

Randy Moss, soccer violence occupy masses longing for NBA

COLUMN: During lockout people have to care about race for Golfer
of the Year

OK, so here we are at day 128 of the NBA Lockout, and day 3 of
the NBA season that isn’t.

Much Ado About No Games To Watch On Television. I am not
suffering, though. Are the players suffering? I do not know.

Who is suffering? The people who work at the arenas: the
concessions workers, the ushers, the security staff, the ticket
office employees, the parking attendants, the cooks and the media
relations interns. They are suffering. They have no money coming
in. Will it ever end?

I watched a football game on Saturday. Stanford might not have
come out of the game a winner, but did UCLA?

I also watched a football game on Sunday, and I still can’t
understand what it is about the green and gold uniforms that enable
the Packers to handle Steve Young and the 49ers every single time
they play.

And I watched a football game on Monday. Okay, you got me. I
watched a poor excuse for a football game on Monday. The Dallas
Cowboys defeated the lowly Philly Eagles. Big deal. That kind of
result is expected for a team that has made the brilliant moves
that Philly has in the last couple of years regarding
quarterbacks.

Let’s see. Randall Cunningham is the most celebrated quarterback
in your team’s history. But if you don’t feel he’s effective
enough, bench him. All right; Rodney Peete is more effective than
Cunningham, so start him. On second thought, he’s not effective
enough either, so bench him. Now what? Oh yeah, let’s start Bobby
Hoying. But he doesn’t stay healthy, so we’ll replace him with
Rodney Peete, who gets hurt again. And where are you now?

You’re back where you started, right? Oh no. Cunningham is now
leading the Vikings to the best record in the NFC, while your team
is only a bit ahead of the helpless Redskins.

And speaking of Cunningham, he’s only playing because Brad
Johnson, who replaced the legendary Warren Moon, is injured. Of
course Randall is one of the top-rated passers in the league, but
knowing Denny Green (the coach of the Vikes) this won’t matter when
Johnson is healthy.

I always knew Cameron Dollar had it in him to be a head
coach.

What’s the 411? San Diego knows. Some of the greatest fans in
major league baseball rewarded their fans on Tuesday with a $411
million ballpark. The Cincinnati Reds and Denver Broncos received
the votes necessary for new stadiums as well.

And Oscar De La Hoya meets his toughest opponent yet. While
sparring, the undefeated ­ well, officially undefeated, with a
questionable win or two ­ fighter injured his eyelid and
needed stitches.

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Charleston
Southern football player Scott Wehnes who died Tuesday from
bleeding in the brain one day after collapsing just before
practice.

Four Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference officials were fired after
the supervisor of officials ruled they missed a critical call that
led to the winning score in last weekend’s William &
Mary-Hampton game. And what about the officials that blew it in
last year’s UCLA-Alabama women’s basketball game? Same
situation.

Are they finally back? The 5-2 Miami Hurricanes are ranked 26th
in the ESPN/coaches poll and 24th in the AP poll this week. The
‘Canes trail first place Syracuse by one half of a game in the Big
East. The two teams face off on November 28. A Miami win could mean
the Big East title and a world of momentum heading into the
December 5 matchup versus UCLA.

Who should be voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year? David
Duval, who edged out Tiger Woods for lowest scoring average on the
tour at 69.13 and edged Vijay Singh for the money title with
$2,591,031? Or should it be British Open and Masters Champion Mark
O’Meara? Well, it comes down to a popularity contest because the
players decide.

Speaking of popularity, soccer, one of the world’s most beloved
sports, is really getting a tough break lately. Just over a week
after the Chicago Fire defeated the DC United for the MLS cup,
there has been a rash of violence at the UEFA Cup.

In Italy, a linesman was injured by a firecracker thrown onto
the field and the match called. In addition, ten players were
ejected in Tuesday’s 15 games.

Just an observation: it was only a matter of time before Lindsay
Davenport became No. 1 in the women’s tennis’ world.

Can Pete Sampras finish the year as the top-ranked men’s player
for the sixth-straight year? I say he can because, as the man
himself has stated, he (leads) history two sets to one in the
fourth set and time is running out.

He’s too good. His closest competition are Marcello Rios (No. 2)
and Patrick Rafter (No. 3). Rios can’t win a major and Rafter is
never healthy when it counts.

Andre Agassi and Serena Williams have had quite some success
this season. In the last 12 months, Williams has shot up from being
ranked 453 to number 17.

Agassi, a former No. 1, leads the tour with 50 wins against 12
losses this season and has risen from number 141 to No. 5 this
year.

After USC defeated Purdue in the Pigskin Classic, I predicted
that there was a quarterback controversy. Head Coach Paul Hackett
disagreed. Well, it looks like I won. After Carson Palmer saw
playing time in each of the games John Van Raaphorst started, the
reverse did not occur last week when Palmer finally started.
Hackett didn’t have enough faith in his old starter to pull Palmer.
Nope, no controversy there.

What a disturbing thought! Neither of the last two winning Super
Bowl quarterbacks has a winning record in the big game. John Elway
is a meager 1-4 and Brett Favre is 1-1.

How long will Schea Cotton play at Long Beach City College
before bolting to the NBA (if there still is an NBA)?

Will the ABL suffer for disbanding the Long Beach franchise?
Probably. Many ABL supporters (including myself) are displeased
because of the slap in the face handed down by the league in
regards to the StingRays.

Soon after the team advanced to the ABL finals, losing to the
back-to-back champion Columbus Quest, it was decided that the Long
Beach franchise was losing too much money. Wow. Thanks for the
memories. Fans have all of one whole season to reflect on.

Toby Bailey loves the opportunities he’s presented with the
Phoenix Suns (if the season ever starts). He feels that his skills
can be showcased there.

Toby’s brother Moose has finally found a home at UCLA.

Moose went from high school to a Tennessee commitment to prep
school to almost committing to USC to Penn State to UCLA. The
younger Bailey is now a full-fledged member of the men’s basketball
team and couldn’t be more satisfied with his decision to attend
school in Westwood.

While writing this column it occurred to me that: a) some of you
out there think I don’t like men’s sports at all and you’re wrong
(I just like women’s sports too), b) only George Zidek and Tyus
Edney from the UCLA’s 1995 national championship team are getting
paid to play basketball right now, c) I have no idea why in the
world would NBC hire Marv Albert back d) I don’t know if Jim
Lampley’s voice annoys anyone else, e) Randy Moss is laughing at
all the naysayers now, f) journalists are underpaid and g) college
athletes should be paid to play their respective sports.

Thank you for your time and attention.

A. CinQue Carter is a seasoned journalist who wanted to his
random thoughts on the sports world with you this week. Please
forward questions or comments to [email protected].

A. CinQue Carter

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