Cooke and Pully
The passing of Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke doesn’t seem like a local story until you remember that Blackhawks General Manager Bob Pulford played and coached for him with the Los Angeles Kings in the late ’60s and early ’70s.
Of the many stories Pulford will tell you about Cooke, this is the one that ticks him off the most: Cooke believed in the marquee value of players — he brought Wilt and Kareem to the Lakers, remember — and so Cooke wanted to bring young Detroit superstar Marcel Dionne to the Kings. The Kings had a good, young team built in Pulford’s image. That is to say, without stars. So Pulford was against it.
“He was talking to (the Red Wings),” Pulford said, “and I gave Cooke a list and told him, `Don’t trade these five players.”‘
And Pulford left the Forum. But on his way home, a thought struck him. He pulled off the freeway and called Cooke. Too late.
Cooke had cut a deal, getting Dionne for Kings captain Terry Harper and tough guy Danny Maloney, two guys on Pulford’s list.
“Cooke said, ‘You told me not to trade those five guys, and I didn’t trade all five of those guys,”‘ Pulford said.
And that deal was one of the reasons Pulford moved to Chicago in 1977.
Seeing things
Next time the Blackhawks yap about the officiating, remind them that their team president sent high-powered glasses to the commissioner so Gary Bettman could see how the team was getting hosed.
Extra points
Glad to see the White Sox play a 5-3 game, because after 8-7 and 15-12 losses, I thought Carlos Huerta was going to get cut again.
There’s a catch
It would be worth panicking about the Sox’s defensive gaffes if it weren’t so early, but just the same, I suggest a modest goal would be to catch the ball at least as well as that Jeff Maier kid.
O-fer
From Cubs manager Jim Riggleman: “I can’t say it’s a shock being 0-6. When you face Florida and Atlanta pitchers like we’ve done, 0-6 is possible for a lot of teams.”
So, with Florida and Atlanta playing five games at Wrigley this week, I guess 0-11 won’t be a shock either.
On the clock
Thank goodness for daylight-saving time. Otherwise, the Cubs would’ve lost their first game Sunday before noon Central time.
Say what?
The Cubs had committed four errors behind starter Terry Mulholland–not counting a run-scoring gaffe by Rey Sanchez–when new WGN-TV announcer Josh Lewin referred to the team’s defense as “somewhat suspect.”
Yeah, and the Heaven’s Gate cult was “somewhat” insane.
Central issue
Sure, 0-6 is bad. But hey, the Cubs are keeping pace with defending NL Central champ St. Louis the way management said it wanted to, right?
The name game
With the way Shawn Kemp has acted lately, he oughta just condense his name to “Shemp.” Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.
Quotable
Boston Red Sox manager Jimy Williams, on where his hometown of Arroyo Grande, Calif., is located: “It’s about three miles past `Resume Speed.’ “
