Sports Watch
I mean, how can anyone root for the Orioles after the disgusting act by Roberto Alomar? Spitting in the face of an umpire? What a girlie-man thing to do.
We might have forgiven Alomar if he had taken a swing at umpire John Hirschbeck after getting called out on strikes. Even Hirschbeck might have turned the other cheek. But spitting in someone's face is the ultimate dis.
What's probably more insulting is that a spit in the face is only worth five games.
It wasn't one of baseball's finest moments and it was an action that Alomar won't ever live down.
Yet, all he'll get will be a five-game slap on the wrist - next year! A spill-over suspension! What good is a player suspension if the suspension can't be enforced right now. And the players' union sent the wrong message by going to bat for Alomar.
It's about as absurd as the union insisting that the players who walked out during the baseball strike be credited for playing games nobody played.
Maybe the pressure got to Alomar. Remember all the talk earlier in the season about the Oriole second baseman possibly being the first player to hit .400 since Ted Williams did it in '41?
Well, Alomar didn't even come close to the "Splendid Splinter" as he wound up hitting .328, which was ninth best in the American League. But Alomar now has a new nickname: the "Splendid Spitter."
Anyway, if I were Alomar, I wouldn't take any pitches around the plate from now on. American League pitchers must be smiling all the way to the mound.
Actually, Alomar's action is symptomatic of our times. There are too many spoiled athletes and a growing disrespect for authority. It doesn't help with our soft-on-crime way of handling miscreants.
Take Florida State, for example. The Seminoles were given a one-year probation by the NCAA for failing to monitor sports agents on campus. But they didn't lose any scholarships and remained eligible for television and bowl appearances.
That'll teach 'em.
And, Michael Irvin's back just in time for the Dallas Cowboys. I'm sure he learned his lesson, too.
Anyway, it's time to enjoy the baseball playoffs.
My vote for baseball's manager of the year goes to Joe Torre of the New York Yankees. Anyone who can put up with George Steinbrenner and still win deserves some kind of award.
MEANWHILE, the University of Hawaii Rainbows are back in action this Saturday night at Aloha Stadium against
Colorado State. I'm told, the 'Bows have put in an offense for this game . . .
The new Big 12 conference got all the publicity, but the Western Athletic Conference is 6-5 against that other expanded league . . .
And just imagine. Oklahoma would be 0-3 in the WAC, having lost to Texas Christian, Tulsa and San Diego State . . .
You know you're in trouble if your free safety leads the team in tackles. Eddie Klaneski set a UH record with 23 tackles in the loss at Fresno State. In Colorado State's 65-9 loss to Nebraska, Rams free safety Kevin McDougal logged 22 stops . . .
It would just be Hawaii's luck if San Diego State's George Jones, who's serving a game-to-game suspension for a questionable purchase of an automobile, is cleared to play against the Rainbows next Friday night at Jack Murphy Stadium. As if the Aztecs, who should be favored by at least 40 points, need any more help offensively. Jones last year broke Marshall Faulk's single-season rushing record . . .
And, finally, a big hurrah and a Good Guy Award to Frank Fasi for donating $50,000 to the UH football program . . .