Sizing Up Boykins Is Not All That Easy

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times commenting on Earl Boykins, the Golden State Warriors’ 5-foot-5 backup point guard: “Not only is Boykins short. He is slight. One of Shaquille O’Neal’s legs weighs more than Boykins.

“Athletes his size are supposed to ride the favorite in the feature race at Santa Anita, not drive a basketball into the defense of angry shot-blockers. They should be fighting for the lightweight title or lining up corner kicks, or playing second base.”

Trivia time: Who is the only Laker to win the NBA’s award for defensive player of the year?

Game? What game? Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “If the latest Australian spectator fad ever catches on in the States, the cost of attending a sporting event will go up, up, up.

“Aussie cricket fans, not wanting to miss any action because of standing in beer lines during games, have hired young women wearing hot pants and tight T-shirts to deliver beer to their seats at the stadium.”

They have no home: Tiger Woods, whose holiday trip to the Swedish home of girlfriend Elin Nordegren was hampered by paparazzi camped outside Nordegren’s door: “They didn’t leave for 2 1/2 days, which was very unfortunate. We kept telling them, ‘Why don’t you go home and spend the holidays with your families?’ ”

Out of touch: Even though the Buccaneers’ secondary had four of Tampa Bay’s five interceptions, Oakland Raider receiver Jerry Porter told the New York Daily News: “I’m not going to sit here and say they’re great. I’m not impressed.... Across the board, they’re awful, but they apply enough pressure up front to where you can’t expose them.”

Game is secondary: Jerry Greene in the Orlando Sentinel: “The Internet folks at America Online had a poll all day about why you watch the Super Bowl. The results after 927,815 votes: The halftime show: 13%; the game: 35%: the commercials: 51%. Are we a material society or what?”

Sudden fame: Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe: “Tampa Bay free safety Dexter Jackson became the most inadvertent hero since Forrest Gump or Wilton Parmenter [of ‘F Troop’ fame].”

The rest of the story: Jay Leno on the aging Raiders: “You know the pirate logo on their helmets? You know why the pirate wears a patch? Glaucoma.”

Looking back: On this day in 2001, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers made a franchise-record 23 free throws in 26 attempts against Cleveland.

Looking back: On this day in 1971, UCLA started its 88-game winning streak with a 74-61 victory over UC Santa Barbara.

Trivia answer: Michael Cooper in 1986-87.

And finally: Both Super Bowl quarterbacks, Rich Gannon of the Raiders and Brad Johnson of the Buccaneers, were traded by the Minnesota Vikings. Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune recalls that the fans weren’t any smarter.

In a March 1993 Star Tribune poll, he points out, “Voters were asked to name who should be the team’s starting quarterback. Joe Kapp got more votes than Gannon or Johnson. Kapp was 55 at the time.”

-- Mal Florence