The day after the Miami Heat took a historic beatdown, practice was set for noon
yesterday. The last ball stopped bouncing at 4:12 p.m.
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Big sendoff
Sinatra's “My Way” was the song that accompanied a pregame video tribute to Red Auerbach at the Celtics' opener last night in Boston.
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Everyone was trying to get past the 108-66 season-opening loss to the Chicago Bulls.
“Anytime you get beat like that, you remember,” guard Dwyane Wade told Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “When I got beat like that in high school, I still remember. I mean, it was hard to get to sleep.”
It not only was the most lopsided opening-night loss for a defending NBA champion, it also was the largest margin of victory ever by a visiting team on opening night.
Coach Pat Riley spent more than two hours reviewing Tuesday's loss, which he called “an absolute terrible display of basketball.”
He was prepared to call it a day at that point, but his players insisted on taking the lessons to the court.
“Coach told us to go home, but we felt we needed a practice,” Wade said. “We needed to get playing with each other more.”
The two hours on the court were eerily quiet, save for Riley pushing for consistency.
Said forward Antoine Walker: “We embarrassed ourselves. ... There's nothing you can take from it.
“It's not the end of the world. There's 81 games left. You want us to quit, season over with? I mean, it's not that big a deal. We're embarrassed. We obviously want to perform better.”
Trivia time
Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown was also a star in what other sport at Syracuse?
He's hunting bigger game
Bengals receiver Chad Johnson issued a friendly warning to Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis yesterday, joking that when he faces him Sunday he'll “hit him in the mouth.”
Cincy swept Baltimore last year with the aid of Johnson's 10 receptions for 179 yards and a touchdown against cornerbacks Samari Rolle and Chris McAlister.
Before each game, Johnson says, he makes a list of players he plans to beat.
“Chris and Samari have made the list before and haven't been able to do the job,” Johnson said. “So, I'm going to go ahead and move up in the ranks.”
Johnson settled on Lewis, a seven-time Pro Bowler.
“Yeah, I put Ray on the list,” Johnson told The Associated Press. “The agenda? Hit him in the mouth.”
Lewis laughed when told of Johnson's comments.
“For me to take that personal, it's like one of my kids saying, 'Daddy, I can beat you fighting,'” Lewis said. “I talk to Chad at least three or four times a week. It's football. If you don't have fun with this game, who will?”
Film one for the Gipper
A new movie planned about the life of Notre Dame football player George Gipp might star current Irish quarterback Brady Quinn in a role previously played by Ronald Reagan.
Bloomberg news service says the movie will examine Gipp, who played for coach Knute Rockne and became Notre Dame's first All-American in
1920. Gipp died of pneumonia the same year at age 25.
Parting shot
Peter Vecsey of the New York Post: “Don't know about you, but I won't be convinced Fidel Castro's condition is terminal until the Knicks sign him.”
Trivia answer
Lacrosse.
