"He was talking about how he has a tape on all the hitters...I asked him if he had my big blast against him. It went about 330 feet and barely cleared the fence."-Kevin Millar, talking about Curt Schilling. Schilling answered Millar's question a little later. When Millar stepped in against him for batting practice, Schilling whistled his first pitch of the day just behind Millar's neck. "My heart dropped," said catcher Jason Varitek. "It scared the crap out me."
"Rashad is the big story of the game...he continues to play like one of the best players in the league, and I think he's one of the best players in college basketball. He's made some big time shots for us all year."-Roy Williams, on Rashad McCants' 30-point performance last night against Clemson.
"Get out of my locker."-Barry Bonds, when asked about a report that he had received steroids and human growth hormone from a nutritional supplements lab implicated in a drug-distribution ring.
April 1, 1996, Riverfront Stadium, umpire John McSherry calls time from behind the plate and collapses on the field with a massive heart attack and dies. The popular McSherry, a veteran of 21 seasons, had been suffering from a series of medical problems, aggravated by his weight of 328 pounds. The game, just seven pitches old between the Reds and Expos, was called.
"Snow this morning and now this. I don't believe it. I feel cheated. This isn't supposed to happen to us, not in Cincinnati. This is our history, our tradition, our team. Nobody feels worse than me."-Marge Schott, owner of the Cincinnati Reds, who died yesterday. Schott, who later apologized, said it with flowers instead. But the Dayton Daily News reported that the flowers she sent were given to her by a television station covering the Reds.
Start the clock, free agency begins today
Pro Football Weekly lists some of the top free agents available and where they might end up. On that list are five cornerbacks (Antoine Winfield, Ahmed Plummer, Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor and Shawn Springs), and the Steelers are not mentioned once as having interest in any of them. Of course that doesn't mean the Steelers don't have interest in them; but if they don't land a CB in free agency and then take a QB and RB in the first two rounds, they are headed down the same road they've traveled the last three seasons (this road is at the intersection of defensive pass interference and missed tackles).
But their is good news. The Post-Gazette reports that the Steelers have signed backup fullback Matt Cushing. Maybe he can play cornerback too.
