Broncos coach MIKE SHANAHAN and QB JOHN ELWAY appeared
on the "Tonight Show" with JAY LENO last night, where Elway
delivered a mock retirement announcement: "This is the place
to do it. I've been waiting to get on your show forever.
What could be a more perfect opportunity. I've changed my
golf clubs to Maxfli." Shanahan, when asked by Leno if his
reaction to Falcons S EUGENE ROBINSON's arrest for
solicitation was 'Yessss!": "That's exactly what I did"
("Tonight Show," 2/23)....Orioles Owner PETER ANGELOS is
being sued by NJ attorney MARC EDELL for "fraud and breach
of contract" regarding their work on the tobacco lawsuit
brought by the state of MD. Edell claims he deserves a
"substantial, unspecified share" of what "could be" a $1B
payment to Angelos' law firm, following a $4.2B settlement
by the tobacco companies (Baltimore SUN, 2/23)....In St.
Petersburg, Darrell Fry notes the player signings by hip-hop
artist-turned agents, including MASTER P, and writes that
LEIGH STEINBERG and DAVID FALK "need to appeal more to
today's athlete." Fry: "They should change their names to,
say, Leigh 'Mob G' Steinberg and David 'Funk Nasty' Falk ...
and just to be on the safe side, they should get a gold
tooth, too" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 2/24)....WTA Tour CEO
BART MCGUIRE will be a guest speaker at today's annual
Tennis Canada sponsor workshop (THE DAILY)....MARK MCGWIRE,
on his offseason: "Kiss HELEN HUNT and meet the pope, now
that's a great winter" (USA TODAY, 2/24)....In N.Y., ROBIN
FINN writes that the relationship between WTA Tour player
PATTY SCHNYDER and "self-described faith healer" RAINER
HARNECKER has "rocked Europe's tennis community," leading to
allegations that Schnyder "has been virtually brainwashed"
and has "ceded control of her career to him" (N.Y. TIMES,
2/24)...KATARINA WITT, on the reaction following her
appearance in Playboy: "The majority of (fans) say it's
beautifully done and, well, 'Go girl'" (AP, 2/21).
