Magic is back
The return of Magic Johnson to the NBA is big news and so is AIDS. My weekly take on America's news, culture and ideas -- from exactly 30 years ago.
Super Bowl leftovers …
In the aftermath of the Super Bowl, on Feb. 11 the LA Times picked up some snippy comments from the Post-Gazette’s Bruce Keidan and my brother John, who was a quotable favorite of the sports guys at the Times. The headline writer wanted to know whom John would have rated higher than Smith and John would have named several who didn’t have the stats but were better runners — that guy named Barry Sanders from Detroit was one. John’s comment rode the LA Times wire service and appeared in dozens of papers around the USA.
![R SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1996 MORNING BRIEFING Bruce Keidan, after seeing Howie Long's performance in the movie "Broken Arrow": "It must be comforting for Burt Reynolds to know he is no longer the worst actor among ex-football players." Add Keidan: "If catching two passes in self -defense makes Larry Brown the Super B Bowl MVP, I'm F. Scott Fitzgerald." Expensive party: That Super Bowl title the Cowboys won is going to cost taxpayers a bit. The tab for Wednesday's downtown Dallas victory parade: $349,500. How risky? The Arizona Republic reports that the helicopter liftoff of singer Diana Ross at the Super Bowl had folks worried. The operation was insured for $400 million, the paper reported, and the wisdom of landing a chopper in a stadium filled with 76,348 people was long debated. Precautions taken: -While Ross sang, a fire truck was in the stadium, with 45 firefighters. -A dozen doctors were on call. -A command post, with nurses in flight suits, was set up OK, so Whom Would He Rate Higher? [ohn Steigerwald, in a recent column for the Pittsburgh Post- -Gazette, nominated the Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith for the "most overrated back in the NFL" award. He pointed out Smith made two magazine covers the week after the Super Bowl, and wrote: "If you hadn't seen the game and you saw the magazines, you might think Smith had something to do with the Cowboys' win. "He didn't. "Take away his 23-yard run in the first quarter, which he made through a [huge] hole, and he had 26 yards on 17 carries. . Oh yeah, he scored two touchdowns, both of which would have e been scored by any back who ever played a down in the NFL." Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for most consecutive games scoring 50 or more points? He's No. 1: The Post -Gazette's at Arizona State's baseball stadium. Next to go? Newsday's Rob Parker, reflecting on sagging attendance at the New York Islanders' Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, writes that the Islanders might be the next pro franchise to bolt. "In the next two or three years," Parker wrote, "the Islanders will, be only one of four teams in the NHL not in either a new or refurbished building." For shame! Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, in an interview with the Miami Herald: "Suzanne Somers should have been thrown in jail for selling Thighmaster. The Thighmaster develops a little muscle on the inner thigh. We've got 630 muscles, and each one needs work." Trivia answer: Wilt Chamberlain, seven in a row, 1961. Quotebook: New York Ranger Luc Robitaille, who owns a piece of a firm that runs a chain of ice rinks around the country: "As an ice facility chain, we're only as strong as our weakest rink." -EARL GUSTKEY](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mL19!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8d71fcc5-2f82-4369-af93-a08e6e743227_858x885.jpeg "R SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1996 MORNING BRIEFING Bruce Keidan, after seeing Howie Long's performance in the movie \"Broken Arrow\": \"It must be comforting for Burt Reynolds to know he is no longer the worst actor among ex-football players.\" Add Keidan: \"If catching two passes in self -defense makes Larry Brown the Super B Bowl MVP, I'm F. Scott Fitzgerald.\" Expensive party: That Super Bowl title the Cowboys won is going to cost taxpayers a bit. The tab for Wednesday's downtown Dallas victory parade: $349,500. How risky? The Arizona Republic reports that the helicopter liftoff of singer Diana Ross at the Super Bowl had folks worried. The operation was insured for $400 million, the paper reported, and the wisdom of landing a chopper in a stadium filled with 76,348 people was long debated. Precautions taken: -While Ross sang, a fire truck was in the stadium, with 45 firefighters. -A dozen doctors were on call. -A command post, with nurses in flight suits, was set up OK, so Whom Would He Rate Higher? [ohn Steigerwald, in a recent column for the Pittsburgh Post- -Gazette, nominated the Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith for the \"most overrated back in the NFL\" award. He pointed out Smith made two magazine covers the week after the Super Bowl, and wrote: \"If you hadn't seen the game and you saw the magazines, you might think Smith had something to do with the Cowboys' win. \"He didn't. \"Take away his 23-yard run in the first quarter, which he made through a [huge] hole, and he had 26 yards on 17 carries. . Oh yeah, he scored two touchdowns, both of which would have e been scored by any back who ever played a down in the NFL.\" Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for most consecutive games scoring 50 or more points? He's No. 1: The Post -Gazette's at Arizona State's baseball stadium. Next to go? Newsday's Rob Parker, reflecting on sagging attendance at the New York Islanders' Nassau Coliseum on Long Island, writes that the Islanders might be the next pro franchise to bolt. \"In the next two or three years,\" Parker wrote, \"the Islanders will, be only one of four teams in the NHL not in either a new or refurbished building.\" For shame! Fitness guru Jack LaLanne, in an interview with the Miami Herald: \"Suzanne Somers should have been thrown in jail for selling Thighmaster. The Thighmaster develops a little muscle on the inner thigh. We've got 630 muscles, and each one needs work.\" Trivia answer: Wilt Chamberlain, seven in a row, 1961. Quotebook: New York Ranger Luc Robitaille, who owns a piece of a firm that runs a chain of ice rinks around the country: \"As an ice facility chain, we're only as strong as our weakest rink.\" -EARL GUSTKEY")