MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / March 8, 2000

Where’s Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray when you need them? Because maybe it was the carnival season or because of El Nino or whatever, there have been some strange happenings in the sports world over the last couple of weeks. Events so out of the ordinary, they make even “Who Wantsto Marry a Millionaire?” believable.

Suddenly the New Orleans Saints are being praised for their acquisitions in free agency. One football “guru” even predicted that the Saints could bethis season’s Falcons or Rams and make the Super Bowl. And you thoughtthat the terms “New Orleans” and “Super Bowl” would not be associated until after the 2001 season.

Speaking of the Saints, they will be holding training camp in Thibodaux this year. If the Saints players thought there was nothing to do after hours inexotic LaCrosse, wait until they get to exotic downtown Thibodaux.

The LSU basketball team, it of the four straight last place finishes in the SEC, is now the league’s co-champion. On the other hand, the baseball team,the team of the 1990s, is struggling. Basketball is such in the news in BatonRouge that Rohan Davey, expected to challenge for the starting quarterback spot, tore his ACL while preparing for a pickup basketball game.

Shaquille O’Neal is suddenly making shots from the free throw line. Tulaneand the Los Angeles Clippers suddenly cannot make shots from anywhere.

The Green Wave shot 14 percent from the field while scoring 10 points in the first half in a 77-49 loss at Memphis last week. With 15 minutes left in thegame, Tulane was under 10 percent from the field. The Clippers shot afranchise low 26.8 percent in a 96-77 loss to Houston last week.Ken Griffey Jr. is in Cincinnati. Jason and Jeremy Giambi are in Oakland. JohnRocker is in Orlando but will be on the sidelines when the season starts.

Darryl Strawberry is in rehab and could end up in Newark, N.J. (amazing howclose that is to Yankee Stadium and yet so far away.)Tiger Woods hasn’t won a golf tournament in a month but Darren Clarke has.

In the America’s Cup, a New Zealand boat defeated one from Italy to defend its title.

You want weird? How about bridge in the Winter Olympics. There is actually apush for it to happen. Can you imagine Al Michaels yelling “Do you believe inmiracles!” after an upset victory? A few more sports like that and the Games will be televised by PAX.

Anna Kournikova and Pavel Bure got engaged and it made world news. SteffiGraf and Andre Agassi didn’t get that much publicity when they supposedly got engaged and I’ll take them in a doubles match over Kournikova and Bure any day.

And what’s a little weirdness without Tonya Harding being involved? It seems Harding was accused of hitting her boyfriend in the face with a hubcap. TheRussian judge deducted a point from her score.

All this craziness in sports has caused FOX to consider having another episode of “Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire?” In the first episode, Pavel Bure proposes to Anna Kournikova and she says yes. Show host Bud Seligasks her if that is final answer and is immediately hit in the face with a hubcap. The show gets higher ratings than the NHL All-Star Game.

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