Greg Drinnan

TAKING NOTE

Jordan offered baseball contract

Atlanta wins . . . John Elway retires and replaces Dan Dierdorf on ABC-TV's Monday Night Football . . . Y'er welcome . . . For the record: The pregame show on Fox-TV begins at 10 a.m., kickoff is set for 5:18 p.m., and the football hoopla should end on Fox at around 9:30 p.m. . . . All of which will be worth about $155 million US in advertising sales to Fox . . . "Before, people thought so little of us, they came to the (Georgia) Dome and bought hot dogs to go," offers Falcons cornerback Ray Buchanan . . . Buchanan has a pet Rottweiler . . . Its name is Tyson . . . Denver Broncos tight end Shannon Sharpe, a native of Georgia, says: "I never liked the Falcons. If they didn't have Dan Reeves, I still wouldn't like the Falcons. What didn't I like about them? They lost all the time. If you showed up and had a pair of cleats on when they were in Fulton County (Stadium), they'd put you in the ballgame, they were so bad. For $20 you could sit in the luxury box with the owner." . . . More from Sharpe, this time on the Dallas Cowboys: "They WERE considered America's Team. Now they're considered America's Most Wanted Team. We're considered America's Team. We are right now, after we unseated Green Bay. The champ has to be considered America's Team." . . . The San Diego Padres are trying to unload reliever Randy Myers. He may end up in Seattle, along with one other player and a bunch of cash, for third baseman Russ Davis and reliever Bobby Ayala. And wouldn't you love to see Mariners manager Lou Piniella perform with Myers on the mound and the game on the line.

One part of Fox's Super Bowl pregame show has Terry Bradshaw chatting with former linebacker Thomas (Hollywood) Henderson. It was Henderson who once said Bradshaw couldn't spell cat if you spotted him the c and the t . . . Attention baseball poolsters: St. Louis pitchers Donovan Osborne and Darren Oliver are heading into the final season of their contracts . . . The Milwaukee Brewers are hoping to get 100 games behind the plate out of Dave Nilsson . . . Is there a hockey play-by-play man out there who sounds as though he's having more fun than Rob Carnie, the voice of the Moose Jaw Warriors on CHAB? . . . Watch for rappers Ice Cube and Mack 10 on the S.B. pregame show . . . Hey, when you've got seven hours to fill, you use rappers . . . Three of Canada's top rodeo stars are on the shelf. Denny Hay, the saddle bronc king, and bull-rider Kelly Armstrong have had knee surgery. Austin Beasley, another bull rider, broke his riding arm and has a concussion. Hay likely won't be back until June. Armstrong is expected to miss the entire season . . . Country singer Julian Austin ended up with broken ribs and a punctured lung after he got on -- and off -- a bull at Armstrong's riding school in Olds, Alta. Armstrong told the Edmonton Journal's Curtis Stock that Austin "was probably just doing it to say he did it. He did it and he'll have the scars to prove it." . . . Watch for a new look on Headline Sports starting Monday. And there'll be a new name, too. After Monday, the network will be known as The Score.

Left-winger Geoff Courtnall of the St. Louis Blues is struggling with post-concussion syndrome. He was originally injured on Dec. 5. He has tried riding an exercise bike but dizziness and headaches forced him to stop. He has also visited an acupuncturist . . . After Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA, the Schaumburg Flyers of baseball's Northern League sent him a formal offer sheet. Schaumburg is a suburb of Chicago . . . The Flyers and their fans shouldn't hold their breath . . . It was during the World Series when New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, loving the way David Wells was pitching, said: "I've even started to like that Mettalic (sic) band." . . . Steinbrenner later received a case of CDs from Mettalica . . . Marc Crawford surfaces in Vancouver and you wonder whatever happened to Ted Nolan? . . . David Duval has already won $1 million US on the PGA Tour and January isn't over yet. And didn't he take off one week and go skiing? . . . NBAer Steve Kerr was caught somewhat by surprise when the U of Arizona decided to retire his jersey. "If anyone would have told me my uniform would someday be hanging from the rafters," Kerr said, "I'd be kind of frightened because I'd figure my body would still be in it." . . . The New York Mets want to sign right-hander Orel Hershiser but will first have to move a salary or two . . . Excuse me, Dick Pound, it's about that $1-million bribe you turned down . . . Did you tell your wife about it before or after you rejected the offer?

Ron Meyer, who had a stint as a CFL head coach with the late, great Las Vegas Posse, now is with CNN/SI. He picked the Falcons over the Vikings and says Atlanta wins tomorrow, 31-17. As for CNN/SI's 60-minute pregame show, Meyer says: "We'll give you in one hour what Fox does in seven." . . . Meyer's show is on tomorrow at 9 a.m. . . . Does anything feel better than a drink of cold water? . . . The Licey team that reached the final of baseball's Dominican Winter League includes four pitching Perez brothers -- Carlos, Dario, Vladimir and Yorkis . . . Whatever happened to the Prairie League, of which Vladimir was once a part? . . . The most-intriguing part of the S.B. pregame show may be Cris Collinsworth's interview with Stanley Wilson. It was Wilson, you'll recall, who got into cocaine the night before the 1989 Super Bowl and couldn't play the next day for the Cincinnati Bengals . . . That, in fact, was the end of Wilson's NFL career . . . Outfielder Tim Raines will be the only member of the 1998 World Series champions not to report to camp with the Yankees. He has signed with the Oakland A's . . . If you watch the All-Madden All-Millennium Team portion of the Super Bowl pregame show -- the segment should start around 11:30 a.m. -- you'll see Madden talk with the legendary Vince Lombardi . . . Yes, Lombardi is dead. But it's amazing what television can do these days.

Wayne Gretzky, who turned 38 on Tuesday, showed his detractors -- hello, Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated -- a thing or two with his performance in the NHL all-star game . . . Now if the New York Rangers could only find a couple of snipers to play alongside The (Still) Great One . . . Quarterback Chris Simms, son of former NFL thrower Phil Simms, has changed his mind. A New Jersey high schooler, Chris gave a verbal committment to Tennessee but now has decided he'll go to Texas . . . Former major leaguer Jack Clark, who ended his drag-racing career a couple of years back, has returned to baseball. He'll manage the Frontier League's River City Rascals . . . From Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune: "Going into Wednesday night's game in Edmonton, the Blackhawks had scored seven goals in their last three games, or one more than Pavel Bure, the superstar they didn't acquire because they believe that cheap and lame is the wave of the NHL's future." . . . Big Daddy may be on his way back to Toronto. Yes, the Blue Jays may bring Cecil Fielder to training camp . . . A couple of years back the Florida Marlins thought (hoped?) their third baseman of the future would be Josh Booty, a hotshot college quarterback who was their first draft pick. He was placed on the Calgary Cannons' retired list the other day and is returning to Louisiana State, where he'll resume his quarterbacking career . . . Someone asked Larry Bird if Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of all time. Bird replied: "He's in the top two."

(Taking Note appears Saturdays.)

From page C3 of The Leader-Post, Saturday, January 30, 1999