It’s Never Too Late to Act Like a Child on the Tennis Court

John McEnroe is 35, but his court behavior is still adolescent. While losing a tennis match to Mats Wilander in Key Biscayne, Fla., on Saturday, McEnroe smashed his racket, questioned several line calls and cursed at fans who yelled sarcastic remarks.

“Obviously, people want to see me get mad,� McEnroe said. “Maybe it takes away some of the joy of playing.�

Poor baby.

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Trivia time: Where did UCLA’s Troy Aikman finish in the Heisman Trophy balloting in 1988?

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Nosebleed section: Art Modell, owner of the Cleveland Browns, on Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones’ plan to add a deck at Texas Stadium to increase the capacity to 100,000:

“I’d like to see an upper deck on the top of Texas Stadium. If you buy a seat up there, the game will be a rumor.�

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Clipper clone: Dan Barreiro in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis: “In their hallowed history, the Timberwolves have selected seven players in the first round of the NBA draft.

“Three--Pooh Richardson, Felton Spencer and Luc Longley--have been traded. Those brilliant (General Manager) Jack McCloskey maneuvers have left the Wolves with Micheal Williams, who is on the injured list; Mike Brown, so obsolete that nobody even bothered to tell him he had a consecutive-games-played streak, and Stacey King, who could be outscrapped under the boards by Woody Allen.�

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Trash talk: Ira Miller in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The Rams and officials in St. Louis are haggling over punctuation marks in a lease agreement, which is one of the reasons the deal is not yet done. One of the hang-ups, believe it or not: Who’s responsible for stadium cleanup after games.�

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Out on a limb: Bob Smizik in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Who said this in August: ‘Do we have a Rose Bowl team? Yeah, it’s a Rose Bowl team. And if it isn’t, it’s my fault.’ �

“Answer: Michigan State Coach George Perles (who was fired recently).�

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The Walsh file: Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner on Bill Walsh resigning as Stanford’s football coach:

“What will be remembered was how Walsh left Stanford in worse shape than when he arrived. How the most grandiose schemes are still dependent on the dirty business of execution.

“And how hard it is to come back to high-profile coaching after you’ve been away from it a while.�

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Duck bashing: Miami Hurricane cornerback Chad Wilson slighted Rose Bowl-bound Oregon when he said: “I feel sorry for Penn State. They have no way to know how good they are, because they don’t get to play anyone.�

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Trivia answer: Third, behind Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and USC’s Rodney Peete.

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Quotebook: Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons on rookie teammate Grant Hill: “When I saw him play in college, I thought he’d be a great player in this league in two years. I’ve revised that from two years to two months.�