Air Jordan Does His Part to Deflate the Competition

Michael Jordan doesn’t expect much competition in Barcelona.

“When you look at the talent (on the U.S. Olympic team) and the teams we’re supposed to play against, it’s a massacre,” he told Inside Sports. “It should never be close. We taught them the game of basketball.

“We’ve got people who have the ability and the height. We’re talking about the greatest players that play the game now, and the team is the best team that’s ever been put together. Who’s going to beat us? The Japanese? The Chinese?

“They can’t match up to the athleticism we’re going to have on this team, not to mention the mental advantage we’re going to have with Magic, or whoever’s going to play the point. You have Stockton, Barkley, myself, Robinson, Bird. Come on--these are the people the Europeans look up to, so how can they beat us?

“If any game is even close it will be a moral victory for Europe.”

Trivia time: Who was the last UCLA player to play for the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team?

Not what it seems: As part of a promotion this season, the Memphis Chicks of the double-A Southern League will give two fans an expenses-paid trip to Paris and Moscow.

That’s Paris, Tenn.

And Moscow, Tenn.

St. Ernest: An article in this week’s U.S. News and World Report, entitled “Saints in the City of Angels,” includes a profile of Ernest Carr, a former Pepperdine basketball player and Dominguez High coach who is a vice principal at Centennial High in Compton.

Carr, 43, and his wife, Teresa, operate a foster home for six boys, ages 15-21, who have Down’s syndrome, autism or other disabilities.

“His teams were noted for unselfishness and mental toughness, but Carr was also known for his compassion,” the magazine said. “ . . . Away from the court and the classroom, Carr is much the same.”

Out of gas: When the New York Rangers survived the first round of the NHL playoffs, center Mark Messier told the Sporting News: “The first round . . . is usually a lot like the Indianapolis 500. If you’ve ever seen that race, there are an awful lot of crashes on the first turn. Then it becomes a marathon--a survival of the fittest.”

The Rangers hit the wall Wednesday night, when they were eliminated from the playoffs in a second-round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Out of gas II: After making a needless slide at home to complete an inside-the-park home run, outfielder Gary Varsho of the Pittsburgh Pirates told reporters: “That wasn’t a slide. I just couldn’t stand up anymore.”

Leaving ‘em all shook up: The pitching staff from Tupelo High in Mississippi will not soon be checking into Heartbreak Hotel.

Led by Kirk Presley, a third cousin of Elvis, Tupelo’s pitchers this season have thrown seven no-hitters and seven one-hitters. As of Thursday, Presley was 10-1 for the Golden Wave with an earned-run average of 0.34. The right-hander pitched a perfect game on March 31, then threw a no-hitter against the same team on April 21.

His coach loves him tender.

A gun wouldn’t have done it: When pitcher Russ Springer was called up by the New York Yankees and told to join the team in Toronto, he had a difficult time clearing Canadian customs. Without a passport, birth certificate, driver’s license or voter registration card, Springer finally was allowed into the country after showing a valid Louisiana hunting license.

Trivia answer: Walt Hazzard, in 1964. Six other Bruins have played basketball in the Olympics: Don Barksdale in 1948, and Sam Balter, Carl Knowles, Frank Lubin, Don Piper and Carl Shy in 1936.

Quotebook: Joe Kapp, coach at California when the Golden Bears used a five-lateral play through the Stanford band to defeat the Cardinal in 1982, after being named coach of the Sacramento Attack of the Arena Football League: “The first thing I’m going to do is recruit some Stanford band members.”