Now that Chris Beniot has killed himself and his family, it seems appropriate to look at the carnage of the wrestling business. A conclusion I came to a while ago is that wrestling on the National/International level is deleterious to human kind. I vividly remember being with Ric Flair one time when a kid came up to him and told him he wanted to break into the business and the Champ said ‘No. You don’t want to get into wrestling. Unless you want to die young or die brokie.’ Not a ringing endorsement but probably pretty close. Here’s a list of Wrestler list of people who’ve met an early demise due to their choice of career! It’s the reason I quit watching. I like ole school stuff now. Pre-87. That’s when steroids in wrestling got out of control. Look at all these kids who have died! Do you think Beniot was roided up! Please……

Carnage Of Professional Wrestling:
David Von Erich--February 2, 1984--Died of enteritis (acute inflammation of the intestine)
Adrian Adonis: July 4, 1988--Died when a mini van drove off a cliff into a lake.
Bruiser Brody--July 17, 1988--Stabbed to death in a locker room fight with another wrestler.
Dick the Bruiser--November 10, 1991--Died of internal bleeding after rupturing a blood vessel while weight lifting.
Buzz Sawyer--February 7, 1992--Died of a drug overdose.
Texas Tornado Kerry Von Erich: February 18, 1993--Committed suicide.
Dino Bravo: March 11, 1993--Died of gunshot wounds in his living room.
Joey Marella (WWF Referee/Gorilla Monsoon's Son): July 4, 1994--Died in motorcycle accident.
Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell--January 22, 1995--Died of complications from injuries sustained in a road accident.
Big John Studd: March 20, 1995--Died of liver cancer.
Ray Stevens--May 3, 1996--Died of heart failure.
Dick Murdoch--June 14, 1996--Died of heart failure.
Sapphire: September 10, 1996--Died from a heart attack.
Brian Pillman: October 5, 1997--Died from arteriosclerotic heart disease.
Bobo Brazil: January 20, 1998--Died from complications from a stroke.
Louie Spicolli: February 15, 1998--Died from arteriosclerotic heart disease caused by hypertrophic cardiomyopathy syndrome.
Junk Yard Dog: June 2, 1998--Died in a car accident after falling asleep at the wheel.
Sky Low Low [famous midget wrestler]: November 9, 1998--heart failure.
Rick Williams [Renegade in WCW]: February 23, 1999--Died from suicide.
Ravishing Rick Rude: April 20, 1999--Died from heart attack.
Owen Hart: May 23, 1999--Died from 50 foot fall from ceiling to ring.
Brian Hildebrand (WCW Referee Mark Curtis): September 8, 1999--Died after a two year battle with stomach cancer.
Bobby Duncum, Jr: January 24, 2000--Drug overdose.
Yokozuna: October 22, 2000--Died from a heart attack.
Tex McKenzie--May 31, 2001--Died of an aortic aneurysm.
Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy: July 16, 2001--Blood clot in the heart.
Rhonda Singh: August 2, 2001--Drug Overdose which caused a Heart Attack
"Gentleman" Chris Adams: October 7, 2001--Shot to death.
Helen Hart: November 4, 2001--Complications from a seizure.
Russ Haas: December 15, 2001--Heart Attack.
Big Dick Dudley: May 16, 2002--Kidney failure
"The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith: May 18, 2002--Died from a heart attack.
Rocco Rock of Public Enemy: September 21, 2002--Heart Attack.
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig: February 10, 2003--acute cocaine intoxication.
Miss Elizabeth: May 1, 2003--Died from a combination of alcohol and painkillers.
Hawk [Michael Hegstrand]-- October 19, 2003--Heart Attack
Crash Holly--November 6, 2003--Drug overdose
Malice/The Wall [Jerry Tuite]--December 6, 2003--acute heart attack
Hercules--March 6, 2004--Died in his sleep.
Ray "Big Bossman" Traylor--September 22, 2004--Heart failure.
Chris Candido--April 28, 2005--Blood clot and complications due to surgery.
Eddie Guerrero--November 13, 2005--Enlarged Heart due to years of drug use.
Johnny Grunge of Public Enemy--February 16, 2006--Unknown at this time.
Bam Bam Bigelow [Scott Bigelow]--January 19, 2007--Drugs.
Mike Awesome--February 17, 2007--Apparent Suicide.
Bad News Brown--March 6, 2007--Heart Attack
"Sensational" Sherri (Martel)--June 15, 2007--Unknown at this time
Nancy "Women" (Sullivan) Benoit--June 25, 2007-- Died at home with Chris Benoit and their son.
Chris Benoit--June 25, 2007

Pro wrestler, family found dead in Fayetteville home

By SAEED AHMED, KATHY JEFCOATS
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution
In its ongoing attempt to constantly outdo itself, the World Wrestling Entertainment recently staged the "death" of its chairman in an apparent limo explosion.

Monday night, the largest wrestling organization in the world grappled with a real-life murder mystery: What led to the apparent murder-suicide of superstar wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and child inside their expansive Fayetteville home?

Detective Bo Turner told WAGA-TV the case was being treated as a murder-suicide, but said that couldn't be confirmed until evidence was examined by a crime lab.

The station said investigators believe the 40-year-old Benoit killed his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel, over the weekend, then himself on Monday. The bodies were found in three rooms.

"The details, when they come out," said Fayette County District Attorney Scott Ballard, "are going to prove a little bizarre."

World Wrestling Entertainment said on its Web site that it asked authorities to check on Benoit and his family after being alerted by friends who received "several curious text messages sent by Benoit early Sunday morning."

Deputies checking on the family at the behest of Benoit's employer discovered the bodies on Monday afternoon at their home on Green Meadow Lane.

Benoit, a Canada native, maintained a residence in metro Atlanta from the time he wrestled for the now-defunct Ted Turner-owned World Championship Wrestling organization.

Most recently, Benoit performed as part of World Wrestling Entertainment. He was scheduled to appear in a pay-per-view title match Sunday night, but was a no-show because of a "family emergency," the WWE said during the broadcast.

His employers, apparently worried, asked deputies to check in on the family -- leading to the discovery, said Sheriff's Lt. Tommy Pope.

Murders are rare in Fayette County, particularly so in areas like Green Meadow Lane, a rural stretch of the county where multi-acre mansion-style homes dot the landscape. In 2006, the sheriff's office didn't investigate a single murder.

Fans tried to cope with the news Monday evening as the blogosphere erupted in reader disbelief.

"Obviously, all sorts of speculation are running rampant but I have talked to so many people and nobody really knows," said Bryan Alvarez, who runs Figurefour Weekly, a wrestling newsletter and Web site, from Linwood, Wash.

Benoit began his career in Calgary more than 20 years ago. He wrestled in Japan before moving back to North America.

While working in Atlanta with WCW, he met his wife, Nancy, who managed several wrestlers and went by the stage name, "Woman."

At the time, her then-husband drew up a script that had the couple involved in a relationship as part of an ongoing storyline.

Soon after, the two became romantically involved in real life and married. Benoit has two other children from a prior relationship.

He joined WWE in 2000, and four years later, won its world heavyweight championship.

The family had moved into the Fayetteville neighborhood last summer, said neighbor Alaina Jones.

None of the neighbors recalled seeing police at the house before. Monday night, about half a dozen cars idled on the circular driveway. Deputies stood guard outside the wrought-iron gates of the residence. A car full of youngsters who stopped to gawk at the scene were pulled out by deputies, frisked and sent on their way.

The Monday night broadcast of WWE's "Raw" on the USA Network was supposed to have been a who-dunit into the "death" of Chairman Vince McMahon, whose limousine burst into a fiery explosion moments after he stepped into it after a bout in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., two weeks ago.

The organization scrapped the storyline following Benoit's death, and instead televised a three-hour retrospective on Benoit's career.

And unlike the two-page, hyperbole-filled news release it sent out after its chairman's "death," the statement announcing Benoit's real-life passing was curt and matter-of-fact:

"Chris Benoit and his family were found dead in their home. There are no further details at this time."

Prognosis for Landers' son improving
N. Oconee HS coach killed in crash that injured students
Georgia women's basketball coach Andy Landers and his wife Pam remained hunkered down at Grady Memorial Hospital Monday evening with their son, Drew, who appears to be recovering from head and lung injuries suffered in a Sunday evening car crash in Alabama.

"Drew sustained a head injury in the collision as well as a bruised lung. Other than that, there does not appear to be any additional injuries of consequence," Andy Landers said in a statement issued through the athletics association. "There has been no surgery and none scheduled at this point. The doctors and medical personnel at Grady Health System have been outstanding and from conversations with them we are very optimistic about his prognosis for recovery."

Drew Landers, a rising senior at North Oconee High School, and two of his basketball teammates were passengers in a Honda Accord driven by assistant coach Shawn Smith. A jack-knifed tractor-trailer, heading west, apparently crossed the median of Interstate 20 near Oxford, Ala., and struck their vehicle head on. Smith was killed. Students David Firth and Ja'Rius Ross were treated and released at a local hospital. They were attending a basketball camp at nearby Jacksonville State University.

Meanwhile, Drew Landers was transported via air ambulance to Grady where he could receive treatment in a Level One head trauma unit. He remained in intensive care in critical but stable condition on Monday.

"This has been a harrowing experience as it would be for any parent,"Andy Landers said. "It's been a rough ride but it has been made smoother by the support of family and friends and the extended University of Georgia family. I especially want to thank Drew's friends and the people at North Oconee High School, who have all been super."

SEC intends to scrutinize class attendance
Georgia has adopted a policy that fines its athletes $10 for missing academic appointments.
It wasn't enough to just go to practice this spring. Starting in January, athletes at Georgia have had to go to class and academic counseling appointments if they wanted to protect their playing time -- and their wallets.

"In order to get that academic success in the end, some drastic steps had to be taken," Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans said.

Georgia's attendance policy penalizes athletes with suspensions for missing classes and $10 fines and suspensions for missing academic appointments. Yes, you read that correctly: Georgia is fining its athletes.

And the concept might spread. This coming academic year, the Southeastern Conference will require its 12 member schools to have some sort of attendance policy in place -- and ways to enforce those policies.

"We showed that it worked at the University of Georgia," Evans said. "What we did might have helped sway the vote a little bit."

Since January, when the new policies began, 10 of the school's 18 teams finished with grade-point averages of 3.0 or better -- a record at Georgia -- and 51 percent of the athletes overall had at least a 3.0.

The NCAA's director of member services, Diane Dickman, wouldn't comment specifically on whether the NCAA supports fining athletes for missing appointments but did say the NCAA applauds "activities that support student academic achievement."

Georgia's policy affects students whose GPAs are below a 3.0. Classes taken by those students are monitored; the first missed class results in a warning, but three missed classes in one course means a suspension of 10 percent of the season's games.

That policy is similar to Florida's attendance policy, which suspends players on their fifth unexcused absence. Florida State's policy states that seven or more absences result in a meeting with members of the academic support staff and the athlete's coach, followed by "appropriate disciplinary action." That might include loss of summer aid, suspension from games or the loss of a scholarship.

The financial aspect of Georgia's policy is more unusual.

Starting with a second unexcused absence from an "academic services" appointment, the athlete is fined $10 per absence. On the fifth absence, the athlete is fined and suspended for 10 percent of his or her games.

The policy isn't for everyone. But Georgia's director of academic services, Ted White, said he has heard from other schools -- specifically citing San Diego State and Boise State -- interested in the policy.

Tomas Jimenez, the executive director of LSU's academic center, said fines for missed appointments is something his department is considering. He said athletes should be held accountable for missing meetings with academic services, which he estimated costs the university $200,000.

"I really believe that these are privileges afforded to our young student-athletes," he said. "I want them to get the most of their education, I want them to prepare themselves now for life after sports and I don't want them to regret their decisions."

Not all SEC schools have school-wide attendance policies in place, and not all want them. Alabama Athletic Director Mal Moore, for one, said he likes that each of his teams has a separate policy.

Others see potential problems.

"I could see opposition to rules like that or policies like that, whether it's the ACLU or certain groups," Northwestern Athletic Director Mark Murphy said.

Murphy, a former NFL player, said Northwestern doesn't have a uniform attendance policy and doesn't see a need to implement one. Northwestern's student-athlete graduation rate routinely exceeds 90 percent.

Still, Murphy said he supported such policies if that's what a school needs to improve its academic reputation.

To those opposed to Georgia's rule, Evans' response is plain.

"At the end of the day, it's simple: Go to class, go to your academic appointments," he said. "You do those things, nothing happens.

"If they do what they're supposed to do as a student, they won't miss games and they won't be fined."

Tania Ganguli can be reached at tganguli@orlandosentinel.com.

New-wave stars should meet old-time tools

Teams and apparel companies are big on offering throwbacks these days -- jerseys, uniforms, caps, etc.

What I'd really like to see, though, are some throwback games. A throwback week, maybe. Every sport should have one.

Let's not just change the wardrobe. Let's change the equipment.

Make Tiger Woods and the rest of the PGA Tour use the same clubs and balls that were used 30 years ago.

How about seeing Barry Bonds give up his hard maple bats -- wood too heavy for players to use until technology made it possible -- for a model like Hank Aaron or Mickey Mantle used?



Football? How tough would Ray Lewis be if he had to wear the same getup Dick Butkus wore?

How would Roger Federer look with Bjorn Borg's racket in his hand?

It's only fair. If we're going to call these guys all-time greats, we ought to at least consider the role technology has played. Let's see how they'd do using the same equipment.

I'd settle for one game, one match, one round of golf.

Keeping count
I got to thinking about this last night when Ron Coons, former Courier-Journal reporter and copy editor and current resident baseball guru, bumped into me at Louisville Slugger Field.

"We had a complete game Friday night," Coons said, noting the rarity.

He said it in about the same tone he might have said, "We had a dinosaur in the stadium Friday night."

Because in a way, they did. Complete games are an endangered species. Friday's by Bats left-hander Bobby Livingston was just the team's second of the season and only the 33rd in the International League.

"I was telling them in the press box, I covered a Louisville Colonels team that had 61 complete games in a season," Coons said. "Can you imagine that now?"

Nope. I can't.

Not in the day of the pitch count. I don't have anything against them, especially for kids and high school pitchers. I'm on a strict word count myself.

But I always feel a little strange when I see a major leaguer humming along in the seventh at around the 100-pitch mark, only to be lifted for a reliever on a tight pitch count of his own. Used to be that a manager walked out to the mound and asked a pitcher, "How do you feel?" Now he walks out to the mound with a spreadsheet and tells him.

A bunch of softies
Technology makes us all better -- when it works. A few years back the University of Louisville basketball program brought in a new machine to measure the arc on jump shots. Taquan Dean, who finished his career as the school's top three-point shooter, said, "It's interesting. You can tell that as you shoot more, the arc gets flatter, and you need to compensate for that."

A couple of weeks later I asked him if the machine was helping.

"I stopped using it," he said. "I got to thinking more about the number and the arc than I was about putting the ball in the basket."

With Bonds closing in on Aaron's home run record, Federer going for five straight Wimbledon titles and golfers hitting longer, it's natural for us to focus on the numbers.

Athletes have gotten bigger, faster and stronger. But we all have gotten softer. All I had to do to transmit this column was hit "Send," not write it out longhand and find a telegraph operator.

Race horses aren't as durable as they used to be. Pitchers don't finish games like they used to. And I'm not even talking about certain medical and pharmaceutical advantages available to today's athletes.

As good as today's players are, I'd like to see them pick up the old tools just once, just out of curiosity.

I suspect we'd still acknowledge the greatness of today's stars. I also suspect we'd come away with a renewed respect for yesterday's.



CLOSING COMMENT

Joe Theismann is still talking about Monday Night Football without him, this time to www.metrobostonnews.com: "I believe 100 percent that you cannot insult the football fan . . . Monday Night Football cannot be an extension of Pardon the Interruption because the game is too important."


TB

Summitt hospitalized after passing out
Tennessee Hall of Fame women's basketball coach Pat Summitt was to remain hospitalized overnight Thursday after passing out earlier in the day and being transported to St. Mary's Hospital by ambulance.

Summitt, 55, was being treated for dehydration, and hospital officials kept her there for observation.

Joan Cronan, UT's women's athletics director, spoke by phone to Summitt.

"She sounded good and said she was going to be fine," Cronan said. "They just wanted to make sure they got her hydrated and continue to monitor her."

Cronan said Summitt was grateful for all the concern and well wishes by fans after news broke that Summitt had been hospitalized.

"I was in a meeting when I found out, and I told Pat that my phone just absolutely blew up," Cronan said. "It means a lot to her that so many people have shown so much concern, but she's going to be fine."

Summitt finished up one of her summer camps on Wednesday and has her elite camp this weekend.

"She just had 1,000 kids at camp," Cronan said. "That might dehydrate me, too."

Former UT coach settles in to NBA role
Peterson will help Jordan, Bobcats in personnel job
Buzz Peterson is preparing for the withdrawal symptoms.

Peterson has spent the past 20 years as a college basketball coach. He's the guy who after being fired at Tennessee two years ago, almost immediately took over at low profile Coastal Carolina because he said coaching was in his blood.

But when Peterson picked up the phone and the best man in his wedding, Michael Jordan, was offering him a front office job with the Charlotte Bobcats, he couldn't pass it up.

"I think the point that's going to bother me more than anything is October," Peterson said Thursday, a week into his new role as the Bobcats' director of player personnel. "That's when you're working out your practice plans, you're telling your assistants what they need to be doing and kind of seeing how your younger kids are going to play. That's the part I'll miss.

"But once I get out of that, I'm still going to have my thumb in basketball."

And his first chance to work with Jordan, the Bobcats' part-owner who has the final say on all basketball decisions.

College buds

Peterson and Jordan met as high school basketball players in North Carolina. Peterson beat out Jordan for the state player of the year in 1981. They both went to North Carolina, became roommates, and helped the Tar Heels win the national title as freshmen.

That friendship outweighed Peterson's coaching desires.

"People ask if I'll ever coach again. I can never shut the door on it. You never know," Peterson said. "I know that a good friend has given me an opportunity here, to work with him. I believe in him and I know he believes in having loyal people around him. That's why we've gone back for so long.

"As I told my athletic director and the president at Coastal Carolina, 'I just cannot see passing up this great opportunity to work alongside a good friend.' "

Peterson will run the Bobcats' scouting department, will be involved in the draft and have a voice in personnel decisions. While being Jordan's friend was probably his top asset, new coach Sam Vincent believes Peterson's college experience is essential with the NBA's influx of young players.

Said Bernie Bickerstaff, vice president of basketball operations: "In Buzz, we've hired a guy who has a natural feel for the game and knowledge that will benefit our coaching and scouting staff."


NCAA runs afoul of its old get-tough policy
Mike Bianchi
The University of Alabama football program has a reputation for cheating and chicanery. The school is coming off a five-year NCAA probationary period in which scholarships were stripped and bowl games were banned.

So what's one of new Coach Nick Saban's first orders of business in Tuscaloosa? Apparently, it's to keep up the renegade reputation and thumb his nose at the new namby-pamby NCAA. It seems Saban is not only a proven liar; he's an accused cheater as well.

At least that's what it seems like if the recent reports coming out of South Florida are true. The Miami Herald and Canesport.com, a Web site for University of Miami fans, each reported that Saban had conversations recently that went beyond what the rules allow. In the May recruiting period, college coaches can evaluate players on high school campuses but cannot have a face-to-face encounter "in excess of exchange of greeting."



Miami Krop linebacker Etienne Sabino said he talked with Saban about defensive schemes, and Saban told him he's "the big physical type of linebacker" Alabama is looking for. Miami Northwestern offensive lineman Brandon Washington, who already has committed orally to the University of Miami, said Saban asked him if "my heart was in Miami" and discussed coming to Saban's summer camp for an unofficial recruiting visit. Another Northwestern player, nose tackle Marcus Fortson, spoke with Saban for "a few minutes," and Saban told him Alabama "is a great place to get a degree."

In the grand scheme of NCAA cheating, Saban's alleged transgressions are small, but they speak to a larger issue: How nobody is afraid of the big, bad NCAA anymore.

When its most recent probation was handed down, Alabama had been before the NCAA infractions committee three times in six years. The school was nailed most recently for major infractions that included boosters raising $115,000 to persuade a defensive lineman from Memphis, Tenn., to attend Alabama.

Who will forget the dire warning sounded by Thomas Yeager, the chairman of the infractions committee, when Alabama's last set of penalties were handed down?

"They were absolutely staring down the barrel of a gun," he said. "These violations are some of the worst, most serious that have ever occurred. God forbid, there's ever another appearance -- ever."

Tough words. And empty ones.

The NCAA enforcement staff used to scare college coaches; now college coaches just snicker. NCAA investigators used to hand out the death penalty. Now, in these wimpy times, the NCAA actually allows schools to dole out "self-imposed sanctions."

Example: Former Southern Cal star Reggie Bush's parents reportedly were living in a $750,000 house supplied by a sports agent while Bush was still in college. Can't you just imagine the school's self-imposed punishment: "From now on, all free houses supplied to our athletes shall not be equipped with jacuzzis, plasma TVs and surround sound."

We know nothing will happen to USC. NCAA should stand for Neutered Creampuff Athletic Agency.
But we can't blame it all on the NCAA; newspapers have to take some blame, too. In the NCAA's hard-nosed heyday in the 1980s, many newspaper sports staffs had investigative journalists that essentially did the groundwork for NCAA inquisitions. These days you'd be hard-pressed to find a sports staff that has reporters dedicated solely to investigative journalism. Reporters are too busy blogging about whether Apolo Ohno's Cha-Cha on Dancing with the Stars was more influenced by the Rumba or Mambo motion.

When it comes to enforcing its own rules, NCAA investigators used to be Wyatt Earp.
Now, comically, they have all the firepower of Barney Fife.
"The Kid" returns — and oh, the memories
By Bud Withers Seattle Times staff reporter

One of the most feared lineups in baseball, shown in a 1997 photo: shortstop Alex Rodriguez, center fielder Ken Griffey Jr., designated hitter Edgar Martinez and right fielder Jay Buhner. Griffey, now with Cincinnati, will play at Safeco Field tonight for the first time since 1999.

Tonight it all comes washing back on us, and on Ken Griffey Jr., the echoes of an old love affair that touched both parties to their souls.

It's likely to be emotional, perhaps the greatest outpouring of sporting emotion in the city since that golden 1995 season that saved baseball in Seattle.

The occasion is a three-game series starting tonight between the Mariners and Griffey's Cincinnati Reds — the first time Griffey has been at Safeco Field since 1999. After that season, he asked to be traded to be closer to his family, ending his 11-year run in Seattle.

"I hope he doesn't have his guard up," said Harold Reynolds, Griffey's teammate here in the early years of his long career. "If we get a chance to see the real him, it'd be great."

Griffey left town as a center fielder and returns as a right fielder, having surrendered a bit to age (37). But he's having one of his best post-Seattle years, with 19 homers and 44 runs batted in. He will be honored tonight in a 6:45 pre-game ceremony.

As of late Thursday afternoon, only a few scattered single tickets were available.

Those closest to "Junior" — as he became known through years of wall-scaling catches, long home runs and an uncanny flair for the dramatic — are like many other baseball fans here, crackling with anticipation.

"I would suspect he'd get a standing ovation, and it might last for a while," said former relief pitcher Norm Charlton. "The only question in my mind is, how long is the game going to be delayed before they finally stop clapping?"

"I hope he's in the outfield," said Dave Niehaus, the longtime Mariners broadcaster. "I hope he's not the designated hitter. I want to see him out there galloping around, even though it may not be the same guy."

It was Griffey, front and center in that stretch drive of '95, igniting it with an Aug. 24 homer that beat the Yankees at the Kingdome, helping sway public support to keep the franchise in Seattle. He had sat out much of that season with a broken wrist.

"Without Junior, there would be no Safeco Field," Niehaus says, "no doubt about it."

"He saved the franchise," Reynolds says. "We were a team that was headed to Tampa Bay, and then Junior showed up."

As long a shadow as Griffey cast in Seattle, it's easy to forget that his impact was immense elsewhere, too.

"I mean, he was Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, he was Ted Williams," Reynolds says. "He meant as much to baseball as any of those guys did. He was big. He hits at a time when cable TV was taking off, and representing one of the biggest shoe companies [Nike] in the world.

"I know when we went on the road, we were constantly sold out, and people wanted to see Junior. The other thing I found out later when I started working at ESPN, the most popular logo was the Mariners logo, the team that drew the best on the road was Seattle. It was no coincidence."

The images will flood back this weekend: Griffey and his dad, Ken Sr., hitting homers in the same inning in 1990; Griffey going deep in eight straight games in 1993, tying a major-league record; Griffey, ecstatic under a dog pile in '95, having scored the run that ousted the Yankees from the playoffs.

Seemingly, nobody ever had more fun doing it. There was the time in spring training when Griffey, having lost a steak-dinner bet to manager Lou Piniella, arranged to have a cow delivered to Piniella's office. And the day that Piniella engaged in one of his signature dirt-kicking, spit-flying rages at an umpire, while a TV camera caught Griffey on the bench, breaking up.

Then there are the memories of those around Griffey regularly. Charlton remembers how they'd get to the clubhouse early, 1 p.m. or so for a night game, order pizza or takeout from Benihana and play cards.

"That's when you got to see the real 'Kid,' " Charlton says.

Similarly, Reynolds says, Griffey learned he could find privacy in public by going out with teammates after games, when most of the city slept.

"We used to go to midnight movies, or go bowling after games," Reynolds says. "It'd be, 'What's playing at Factoria Mall? See you there at midnight.' "

For a superstar, Griffey was inclusive with his teammates. One of his best friends, ex-outfielder Jay Buhner, remembers an off day in Oakland when Griffey organized a couple of vans to take a large group of Mariners to play 36 holes at the famed Pebble Beach golf course.

"He paid for the whole thing," Buhner says, "but he didn't want anybody to know that."

Niehaus calls Griffey "the greatest athlete I've ever had a chance to describe." He also remembers a side of Griffey that he says engendered a "love-hate relationship" between them.

Niehaus recalls a night at old Tiger Stadium in Detroit, with its spacious center field, when Griffey, running all out, had a ball glance off his glove.

"Junior usually makes that catch," Niehaus said over the air.

The next night, outside the clubhouse in New York, Niehaus heard Griffey's voice.

"Hey, Niehaus," Griffey called out. "My people tell me you said I should have caught that ball last night."

"First of all," Niehaus said, "your people don't have very good ears. I said, 'You usually make that catch.' "

Griffey responded sheepishly: "Yeah, I usually do, don't I?"

The parting came early in 2000 when Griffey was dealt to the Reds, who sent back Mike Cameron and others.

"It happens," said ex-Mariners manager Piniella last week in Chicago, where he now manages the Cubs. "It happens in sports; it doesn't happen only in Seattle. He's a kid the city should welcome back with open arms."

The thought may go unspoken this weekend but it will be entertained nonetheless: Could Griffey have remained a Mariner and retired as one?

"I don't think he's ever fully recovered from leaving Seattle," Reynolds says. "I think his heart has always been there."

Scully is Next Level….Morgan Is Not….Phil Mushnick
Vin Scully will turn 80 in November and has agreed to return to the Dodgers' booth next season, which will be his 59th with the team. This is what Scully did during last Friday night's telecast:

Angels-Dodgers were in the top of the ninth, the Dodgers up, 2-1, when Vladimir Guerrero came to bat against closer Takashi Saito. Scully said this promised to be a fun and significant match-up, the kind that speaks for itself. Thus, Scully said he wouldn't intrude; he'd just allow the audience to watch.

And over the next five pitches - and until the moment Guerrero's fly ball was caught - Scully didn't say another word. Beautiful. (And thanks to reader Bill Chase of Albany for the heads-up.)

*

ESPN's Joe Morgan, who has to know better, is another guy who believes in the Baseball Fairy. After the Mets' Jose Reyes was caught trying to steal second Sunday against the Yanks, Morgan and Jon Miller began a too-long discussion about whether Reyes should've tried to steal.

Next, when Paul Lo Duca grounded to short, Morgan declared the conversation was now irrelevant because, "That would've been a double play, anyway."

Huh? Even with the circumstances having completely changed, starting with Chien-Ming Wang pitching from the windup instead of the stretch, Morgan told us the exact same thing would have happened, that Lo Duca's groundout to short was pre-destined.

Morgan's affirmatively spoken and sagaciously stated nonsense would drive Macadamia nuts. Sunday, after it was noted that Alex Rodriguez was a shortstop who was moved to third because of Derek Jeter, Morgan compared that to when Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Duke Snider all played center in New York.

Wha? Miller softly hinted to Morgan that his analogy was off, seeing how those three, unlike Rodriguez and Jeter, never played on the same team.

Homer Explosion:
Anyway, Sosa is one of only five men to make 600. But that will soon expand to six. Ken Griffey Jr. is at 582.

Meanwhile, the road to 500 looks like an exit ramp off Santa Monica Freeway.

Frank Thomas is at 497. Alex Rodriguez is right behind, at 491. Manny Ramirez and Jim Thome are within striking distance, at 481. They used to bat in the same lineup in Cleveland. Gary Sheffield is drawing closer, at 472.

It's a population explosion for the sluggers inner sanctum.

In the first 127 years of professional baseball, only 14 men made it to 500 home runs.

By the end of this season, or early in the next, 11 more may have made it in the past 12-plus years. The 500 Club membership roll is growing faster than AARP.

Terry Pluto: Now hear this, noise not needed
By Terry Pluto
CLEVELAND - I'm writing this at Jacobs Field. It's the third inning of Tuesday's Tribe game against the Philadelphia Phillies. The press-box windows are open; it's 75 degrees.

I'm actually having a conversation with the person next to me -- in this case, it's Beacon Journal baseball writer Sheldon Ocker.

It's doesn't matter what we're talking about....

OK, I'll tell you....

Sheldon said he was on an airplane, ``and a guy comes up to me with a bag of rolls and he wants me to hold them. He's a big guy, really big, and he has this other bag. He hands me the rolls, then he reaches up to put this other bag in the luggage compartment. And his pants fall down! I mean, right there on the plane, there's this guy with his pants around his ankles.''

Granted, it's one of those stories where you had to be there....

But the point is, I could hear it. I actually could talk to someone at a ballgame! I mean, he could finish a sentence without the scoreboard bellowing: ``EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS! EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS!''

You hear that at an NBA game, and you want to scream: ``EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP! EVERYBODY JUST SHUT UP!''

I followed the Cavaliers from Washington to New Jersey to Detroit to San Antonio during the playoffs. I haven't been able to talk to anyone -- and hear anything -- in any arena for two months. I had to SCREAM at people next to me.

As I wrote this, I heard the rumble of the crowd, and, off in the distance, a guy yelling, ``BEER MAN HERE!'' Slider was waddling around, giving away a pizza. Most people ignored him. Most people just sat and talked and munched popcorn and sipped soft drinks. Or they chomped down a hot dog.

They actually... relaxed!

In some NBA arenas, you feel like you are trapped in a garbage can, and there are three guys pounding on it with baseball bats: Boom... BOOM... BOOM!!!

They ought to use some of the music banging away at NBA arenas for torture techniques. By the third quarter, the hardest-core terrorist would be blabbing, willing to say anything to make it stop. He'd be begging, ``Oh, no, not EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS one more time!''

Just before I wrote this, the Indians' scoreboard launched some fireworks. Sirens blared. Fans stood and stomped.

That's because something happened: Ryan Garko hit a home run.

At Quicken Loans Arena and some other NBA venues, the scoreboard breathes fire during the introductions. There are explosions that rock the walls. A guy races to midcourt and starts shouting... then he raises his voice to a screech... the scoreboard howls at you.

It's like being trapped in a video game designed to make you go deaf or turn your mind to mush.

EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS!

They play it at Jacobs Field, too. Most fans just shrug and clap their hands when they feel like it, like when something happens. That's what is good about this place. You are not assaulted with all the noise.

``We know that our fans come to the game to talk not just to the person next to them, but maybe someone they just met sitting in front or in back,'' said Tribe Vice President Bob DiBiasio. ``Our approach is different than basketball. It's the pace of play, it's outdoors, it's slower. We keep the volume lower so our fans can talk if they want.''

In the NBA, silence is the enemy. Silence is scary. Silence is feared.

EVERYBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS!

ARRGGHH!

Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert has done some terrific things at Quicken Loans Arena, from the new floor to the new seats to the new scoreboard. He's put more than $10 million into the facility. The video presentation of the players getting ready for the game, along with highlights during the game on the huge video screen are excellent.

There are nice touches like face painting and shooting baskets for kids. He gives away a lot of stuff during games like Nerf balls, T-shirts and food.

It's just too bad you can't talk to the person next to you about it.

Peace
TB