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Monday
Evening QB
SOMETIMES you fish the stream of consciousness and can't even get a nibble. There's no hook, no angle to be found. Dream Team in
town? Gone fishingWhen that happens in this line of work, you have two choices. Hobble out there and go through the motions, or tell the skipper you ain't got your good stuff, but you'd be happy to chart pitches or warm up relievers.
Or you could just write the column, starting it off with a couple of lame analogies to take up some space.
That's the only option this week. There's no begging off.
If you think about, talk about, write about sports in Hawaii for a living and the past week didn't inspire you ... well, maybe it's time to retire and go fishing.
The problem is, where do you begin?
Maybe with the greatest collection of talent to grace the Stan Sheriff Center since the Miss Universe pageant.
If you listen closely to Mike Jarvis, who coached the team of college stars that tried to give the Dream Team a game Saturday, you hear what you probably already know by watching -- that Vince Carter and company (sorry, Larry, Magic, et al) is the best basketball team, ever. At least until Dream Team IV.
That sequel, set for release in 2004, might star a Jason, or two, from Jarvis' team. Williams and Richardson are good enough to dream of becoming Dreamers. These guys were quite a bit better than the Washington Generals.
By the way, anyone who thinks of the NBA as a bunch of selfish thugs might have their mind changed at least a bit by spending just a few minutes around the gentlemen now on their way to Sydney and gold medals.
And talk about putting on a show from beginning to end.
You could have missed the first 39 minutes of Saturday's 40-minute game and still gotten your money's worth, thanks to Carter.
In the last two plays, he hit a 25-footer in a defender's face and rammed home a windmill dunk.
After a similarly spectacular display in the mismatch against Canada on Thursday, Carter grinned and said he was "lucky."
They say the guy doesn't play defense. Well, who cares?
And the NBA pushed him hard last season for Michael Jordan's departed throne. Well, why not?
COACH Rudy Tomjanovich did a good job of trying to act concerned, that the Euros with their multiple picks and sharpshooters could ambush the Dreamers if they aren't careful.
The truth is, Grenada in '83 and Panama in '89 had a better chance against the USA than does Italy or Lithuania, or anybody in '00.
Rudy T. gave it away, though, when he revealed that he didn't know anything about the USA's opponents, including who they are.
If the irresistible force of the triple-digit scoring Team USA didn't grab you, there's an immovable object Team USA still in town.
It's the women's Olympic softball team. Just as dominant, just as golden. But their game is all about defense.
Dot Richardson is the Pete Rose of women's softball. But in her spare time, she heals people as an orthopedic surgeon instead of worrying about the daily double and whining about not being in the Hall of Fame.
Ah, Pete Rose and the Hall of Fame. Always a good topic when you're fresh out of ideas, even though the best athletes in the world are in town.
But who cares. It's all fish wrap tomorrow anyway.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail dreardon@starbulletin.com