MICHAEL KIRAL / L’Observateur / August 2, 2000

Thoughts to ponder while waiting between two-a-day practices…It was only a preseason game and it may be too early to tell but Dennis Miller didn’t sound too bad Monday night. And, hey, any guy who says he’s a KevinFaulk fan can’t be all bad. Speaking of preseason, if the Saints keep having games like Saturday night, Jim Haslett won’t have to worry about making any cuts. There might be only47 players standing when its all over. A few more injuries and they mightconsider bringing Fetch Monster back. And losing Cam Cleeland, a vital part inthe new offense, really hurts. And aren’t preseason games about as meaningful now as political national conventions? Harold Baines, Mike Timlin, Charles Johnson, B.J. Surhoff, Will Clark. Will thelast Baltimore Oriole to leave Camden Yards please turn off the lights.

(Maybe Peter Angelos heard those fans in the stands who wanted to get rid of the whole team.) You know pitching in the majors is shaky when the first sentence of a lead is “Desperate for pitching, Toronto acquired Steve Trachsel and Mark Guthrie from Tampa Bay…” Has there been a busier trading period in baseball in recent years? Think about it, all 30 teams made at least one trade.

Of course, you can tell that the rich get richer when the Yankees get a player like Denny Neagle and a team like Minnesota gets a bunch of minor leaguers. Holy cow! Could it be the Cubs are only eight and a half games out of first? Joe Montana might have stolen the show at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony this weekend but another ex-49er, Dave Wilcox had the best speech. So, Gerry DiNardo has been named the head coach of the Birmingham franchise in the XFL. Couple of tips, coach. First, do not open a restaurant ordo car commercials for a couple of years. Second, find another Faulk, HerbTyler and Gabe Northern. Third, if you have a chance to win a championshipand the defensive coordinator wants to change the defense, DO NOT listen to him. You know the world has changed when the U.S. hires a former Soviet Unioncoach for its Olympic bobsled team. And did you know that University of Arizona basketball coach Lute Olsen is the highest paid public employee in the state? Decisions, decisions. University of Cincinnati basketball coach Bob Hugginsreportedly has turned down an offer of roughly $2 million to coach the Los Angeles Clippers.

Ok, let’s review. The Bearcats usually win as many games as the Clippers do.There are players who actually want to play for Cincinnati. And come March,Cincinnati will be playing in games that matter. Now, which would you choose?

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