Right Now, No One Can Be an Arch-Rival

R.B. Fallstrom of the Associated Press writes that St. Louis holds the dubious claim as a no-sports city.

Without an NFL or NBA team and with the baseball season canceled and the NHL on strike, St. Louis is in limbo.

The city recently opened a $135-million indoor sports facility and next fall, the $260-million indoor football stadium will be ready for use.

“Too bad, there’s nobody to play in them,” Fallstrom writes.

*

Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for most yards gained rushing in a game?

*

Bonding: Shawn Lee, San Diego Charger defensive tackle, on the close bond among his teammates:

“After a game we give much love, if that’s what you want to call it. You see a lot of hugging, but you don’t see much kissing.”

*

Pippen’s legacy: The Good Doctor in Inside Sports on how Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls spent his summer:

“He played 17 holes of golf, bowled nine frames, lost a set of tennis 0-5 and attended eight innings of a Cubs game.”

Pippen refused to play in the final 1.8 seconds of an NBA playoff game against the New York Knicks last season.

*

Simple philosophy: Bam Morris, 240-pound rookie running back of the Pittsburgh Steelers: “I like hittin’ folks, runnin’ over folks.”

*

Bugs Bunny? Trace Armstrong, Chciago Bear defensive end, on Detroit running back Barry Sanders:

“Barry’s inhuman. Playing against him, it’s like trying to catch a cartoon character. . . . It’s like watching amination the way he darts around.”

*

Air Something: Imran Khan, a world-famous cricket player from Pakistan, was asked by Chicago Tribune writer Reshma Memon Yaqub how he felt being compared to Michael Jordan.

Said Khan: “I don’t know. Who is Michael Jordan?”

*

Star struck: Former heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson realized something was wrong during his 1959 fight with Ingemar Johansson when he got a very close look at a famous actor sitting at ringside:

“ ‘My goodness,’ I thought, ‘that’s John Wayne. Why am I looking up at him at this angle?’ That’s when I realized I was on the canvas.”

*

Sour note: Kevin Kennedy, the new manager of the Boston Red Sox, was greeted by this headline in the Boston Herald: “Second Fiddle.”

It was noted that Boston’s first choice was Tony La Russa, but he decided to remain in Oakland.

*

Trivia answer: Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears with 275 against Minnesota on Nov. 20, 1977.

*

Quotebook: Charles Barkley on NBA exhibition games: “Preseason is just to break a sweat and cheat the fans out of some of their hard-earned money.”