WE report, you decide (if the world has gone nuts). The following appeared in the May 23 Cincinnati Enquirer as the final item in Dustin Dow’s college basketball column:
“[Reds’ infielder] Barry Larkin’s 11-year-old son, Shane, apparently takes after his uncle, Xavier University’s all-time leading scorer, Byron Larkin.
“Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop ranks Shane Larkin as the 20th best fifth-grader in the nation. That’s right – fifth grade. Or, as Francis writes, the [high school] Class of 2011.
” ‘I’d like to see the players who are ranked ahead of him because they must be very good,’ ” Barry said. ” ‘He’s got a little bit of everything. He’s got handle. He plays great defense. He’s a rebounder, a slasher and a jump-shooter, everything. He’s very talented. He understands the game and does what he has to do to win.’ “
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That Man Behind The Curtain: Thursday, Chris Russo asked Mike (the Wizard of Oz) Francesa, if Gary Stevens would be riding early-line second-favorite Rock Hard Ten in the Belmont. (Rock Hard Ten had been Stevens’ mount in the Preakness).
“Yes,” Francesa said. Yes, he said, firmly, confidently, empirically, because Mikey knows all, yes, all!
But Stevens will be abroad, riding in the English Derby. Pat Valenzuela is scheduled to ride Rock Hard Ten. Shoot, it was in Monday’s papers.
Earlier in the week, Francesa schemed out loud that, with Jason Giambi injured, the Yanks would be wise to try to convert Bernie Williams to first base. Francesa spent several minutes on the matter, stating, with great conviction, that it made sense because Williams is the kind of athlete who can most easily adapt to such a change.
Fine. It didn’t sound like an off-the-wall opinion, thus we could consider and respect it.
Thursday, with Joe Torre their guest, Russo and Francesa broached the issue. Torre quickly dismissed it as a bad idea. Francesa then sat back, saying nothing, as if he either agreed with Torre or the idea to play Williams at first had belonged to someone else, certainly not him.
And Russo, as is his habit during these sessions with Torre, erupted with raucous laughter in response to any mildly amusing response.
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ESPN studio baseball analyst Harold Reynolds is beginning to make us wonder whether he’s pulling our legs. Addressing Tom Glavine’s one-hitter against the Rockies last Sunday, Reynolds, during the “Breakdown” segment on “SportsCenter,” told us that Glavine throws his fastball, “between 83 and 86 miles per hour.”
And in the pitches first shown on ESPN, via Ch. 11’s footage, the in-game graphic showed Glavine to be throwing in the mid-80s.
Then, by way of enlightenment, Reynolds did a show-and-tell over footage of Matt Holliday popping out, the result, said Reynolds, of being out in front of Glavine’s change-up. But the Ch. 11 graphic showed that pitch to have been thrown at 82 mph, meaning the difference between Glavine’s fastball and changeup is as little as 1 mph.