As Guest on Daly’s Show, Isiah Is Candid, If Not Humble

Chuck Daly does his own Detroit television show, called “One on One,� and before Friday’s big game against the Boston Celtics, his special guest was his star player, Isiah Thomas.

Thomas turned out to be a pretty candid subject. Either that, or Daly asks good questions.

According to Vartan Kupelian of the Detroit News, the coach wondered if his All-Star guard found the game of basketball, at times, too easy. Yes, Thomas said.

“Because every night, the guy I’m playing against--and I don’t mean this to sound bad--I’m better than him,� Thomas said. “And, I know I’m better than he is, and he knows I’m better than he is.

“So, it’s a matter of having to get myself up to play against Sam Vincent, to play against Ennis Whatley or to play against Michael Adams, where on the other hand they have no problem getting up to play against me.�

Thomas went on to say: “I realize that it’s not how well you play the game; it’s how people say you play the game that makes you a great player or not. I can be the greatest basketball player who ever lived, but if they don’t say I’m great, then I’m never going to be great.�

Because they had prayed so long and so hard for a Piston championship, Bill and Sandy Fullmer of Birmingham, Mich., decided before Friday night’s game against the Celtics that they would take their prayers to the limit.

So, they came to the game dressed as a priest and a nun.

The Fullmers rented clerical garb at a local costume shop, and entered the Silverdome dressed that way. Bill called himself Father O’Detroit. Sandy said she was Sister Mary O’Piston.

Not wishing to offend, the Fullmers changed back into street clothes just before tip-off. “We don’t want anyone, like some little kid, to think it’s real and see us drinking beer and yelling at the ref,� Sandy said before changing. “Besides, this priest has a wife and two kids.�

Steve Carlton, who for the most part refused to be interviewed during his illustrious baseball career, talked recently to Philadelphia Inquirer sports editor Frank Dolson and explained that his silence actually brought out the best in reporters.

“Writers depend on the quotes too much, and they get away from their skills,� the four-time Cy Young Award winner said. “They didn’t go to college and train just to write down quotes. I can write down quotes, and I have no skills as far as journalism.

“What I did, I think, brought a little more creativity out of the writers. Like the guy down here (who) used to carry on that bogus interview with me every spring. He’d make up the questions and answer them. By not talking, I extracted from the writers a little more ingenuity.�

The 43-year-old Carlton, winner of 329 major league games, is currently in Japan trying to prolong his pitching career, and in all likelihood, quietly helping to increase creativity in the Japanese press.

In his youth, Bud Greenspan, now known for his Olympic films, was a sportscaster who often shared the microphone with Marty Glickman. Greenspan’s favorite memory of the early day Glickman was a radio show in which UCLA stars Jackie Robinson and Kenny Washington were scheduled to be guests. Neither athlete was there when the show began, but in the first few minutes, Kenny Washington walked into the booth. Glickman, having met neither athlete, assumed, for some reason, that Robinson had just entered.

“Say hello to the fans, Jackie Robinson,� Glickman said.

To which Washington said, “The name’s Washington.�

Undaunted, Glickman replied, “Well, say hello to the fans, George.�

Quotebook

Kansas City reliever Dan Quisenberry, on his diminished role with the Royals: “I can’t trade myself. I can’t release myself. I can only be like a St. Bernard, and just hang.�