Former Univ. of NC men's basketball coach DEAN SMITH,
Univ. of SC football coach LOU HOLTZ and Univ. of KY men's
basketball coach TUBBY SMITH will testify today in DC before
the House Judiciary Committee in support of "legislation to
end legal betting on college sports" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
6/13). But in Birmingham, Paul Finebaum writes, "What
bothers me is the hypocrisy of the aforementioned coaches.
This group will appear in front of Congress and talk about
the evils of gambling when every one of them takes gobs of
money from sneaker companies that are debasing sports far
more than illegal wagering" (BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD, 6/13).
...76ers G ERIC SNOW was awarded the NBA's JOE DUMARS TROPHY
for sportsmanship yesterday. Snow "is splitting his $25,000
cash award between" Hartford Middle School in Canton, OH, and
Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia (PHILADELPHIA DAILY
NEWS, 6/13)...Former Univ. of MI G JAMAL CRAWFORD, who played
just one season at the school, has hired agents AARON and
ERIC GOODWIN (SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, 6/13)....In K.C.,
Jeffrey Flanagan notes that a "roast" was held last Thursday
for former HOK Sports architect and co-Founder RON LABINSKI,
who recently retired after 33 years. Chiefs radio announcer
BOB GRETZ, said to Labinski: "You know, Ron, I just saw the
movie, 'Gladiators.' And I was wondering: In your original
design of The Coliseum, did you have the trap doors?" (K.C.
STAR, 6/13)....JIMMY CONNORS was a guest on the "Late Show"
last night and was asked if he watched a lot of tennis: "No,
I don't." Connors: "The women's [tennis] game has created
quite an enormous amount of interest on the court and off the
court, which is good. A lot of people say that the men's
game is maybe struggling a little bit, I don't see it, ...
but the women's game has carried it" (CBS, 6/12).
