It Was a Very Colorful Team, a Predominant Shade of Green

It was noted in Morning Briefing the other day that Chinese athletes in the Barcelona Summer Olympics were lavished with cash and gifts when they returned home.

But in terms of merchandising, the bronze-medal winning Lithuanian basketball team gets the gold medal.

The colorful tie-dyed Lithuanian basketball warm-up shirts--donated by the Grateful Dead, detailed with a slam-dunking skeleton--are the hottest selling item to emerge from the Games.

The band’s merchandising arm reportedly received 20,000 orders since the shirts went on sale last week. The shirts sell for $30, of which $8 to $10 will go to the Lithuanian Olympic Committee.

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Is that all: Kermit Zarley, telling the Seattle Times why he enjoys the senior golf tour more than the regular tour:

“You only play three days, there are half as many players, there’s no cut, you don’t have to qualify, there’s a better chance to win, and the fellowship is terrific.”

*Trivia time: Bob Hope bestowed what nickname on Zarley?

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Gofer: Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun says that baseball owners don’t really want a commissioner. He writes:

“They say they do. They give him the title. A big salary. Expense accounts. Gets to go to the games free. But they want basically is somebody to answer the phone. They want somebody to send out for coffee. They want somebody who can type. If you get down to it, their idea of a commissioner is Della Street.”

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Low key: Dave Barr, who will start at quarterback for California on Saturday against San Jose State, is a contrast to Mike Pawlawski, the Bears’ outspoken, sometimes outrageous quarterback of previous years.

“If you don’t make bold statements, no one’s going to point to you,” Barr told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Maybe if I had a national championship under my belt, I might say a few things. Plus, I never learned anything by talking.”

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Ordinary people: John Rawlings, editor of the Sporting News, on the demanding nature of fans in East Coast cities:

“They are brutal, they are unrelenting, unforgiving and they border on the psychotic,” he said jokingly. “By contrast, fans in the Midwest are very loyal and tend to be forgiving.

“And in the West, if a team is real good, and if the surf isn’t up, and if the wine harvest wasn’t good, they might be interested.”

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Trivia answer: The pro from the moon.

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Quotebook: Albert Lewis, veteran cornerback of the Kansas City Chiefs, assessing his worth: “If I don’t leave this game being recognized as the best in history, I personally won’t consider my career a success.”