BUCKSHOTS

Who's giving you a rash this week? Overpaid player? Underhanded agent? Obnoxious team owner? Some other sports wretch? Well, take your best shot. Sign your name, if you dare.

Just remember, Ray Buck, SportsLine USA national columnist, has the last word. E-mail your comments to: buckshots@sportsline.com


Buckshots is rested, reloaded and ready

March 5, 1997

By Ray Buck
SportsLine USA National Columnist


E-mails over cocktails ... we're open again for business!

I've gotten your e-mails. I've felt your pain. Buckshots went AWOL. But I can explain.

First Shaquille O'Neal of all, Shaq has asked for a little help on his free-throw shooting while he convalesces with a knee sprain. Don't get me wrong, CBS SportsLine loves the idea of Shaq World on our web site ... but this guy is high maintenance when he has too much time on his hands.

Secondly, I was busy cloning a sheep. Maybe you read about it.

Thirdly, and lastly, Buckshots was put on the back burner in order to give you -- our valued readers -- some time to reload and fire. We want only pithy, to-the-point comments.

We'll use the best every week or so. Promise.

Thanks for your patient, but now just seems to be the right time to restart Buckshots. Actually, the threats started getting to us.

"HEY BUCK! YOU WANT I should come down there and show you how to get rid of that very irritating Buckshot page?" writes Johnny Root, a trucking entrepreneur from Temecula, Calif., who was a regular contributor before the blackout.

"Whoever decided not to continue Buckshots was definitely suffering from severe brain damage. In my humble opinion, it's the best page on CBS SportsLine ... except for your regular columns. How about running a survey? Thanks for listening."

BUCKSHOT: We ran a survey, Johnny, and found that most of us here do have brain damage. Thanks for the suggestion.

"I AGREE, TO A POINT, with your analysis of Will McDonough's article in the Boston Globe," says Rich Hileman. "I feel that he was trying to cover his rear end by saying, 'Hey, they lied to me, too.'

"What he really should've said was, 'Gee, I can't believe that I believed what an NFL owner or coach had to tell me about the internal affairs of his club.' After all of the 'votes of confidence' from owners and all of the 'I'd bench anyone if I felt it was justified' from coaches, why would Will think that he could be spared from the non-truths?"

"On the other hand, it was an interesting insight into the inner workings of the situation. (Yet) I found it disturbing to see how both field and office management used the press to further their ends. According to McDonough, he brought the two sides together ... why was a reporter, no offense intended, trying to interfere with the politics of an NFL team?"

BUCKSHOT: McDonough knows better. A journalist -- not even a multimedia icon -- should allow himself to become part of the story ... except for the by-line.

"TONYA WILL DO ANYTHING to keep her name in front of the American public," e-mails kleymann@flash.net. "Remember awhile back when she wanted to skate so bad she would do it for ANY country?

"I think they (anyone that can) should put Tonya and O.J. somewhere together."

BUCKSHOT: Why not, both are accustomed to skating.

"WHEN IS DAVID STERN going to wake-up?" asks Greg Gudson, a 38-year-old Air Force Senior Master Sergeant stationed in Okinawa, Japan. "Rodbum is just that -- A BUM!!!

"The NBA doesn't need him; he needs the NBA as his stage to act like an ass. There are probably young people at the high school level acting like him because he gets away with being disrespectful. So why can't they? It's time to pack Rodbum up and move him and his carnival of stupidity out of the NBA.

"We don't need the Fresh Prince of Punk anymore."

BUCKSHOT: Riddick Bowe didn't last nine days in the Marine Corps. Think maybe Rodman might impress you as an Air Force man? Easy, Sarge. Just kidding.

"DENNIS RODMAN IS A disgrace to all sports," writes The Deanman. "He is has the mind of a dog. It's a shame he was ever born. If he were to die tomorrow, I would not mind. In fact, I think I would throw a party."

BUCKSHOT: Invite Madonna. She hates him, too.

"THROW THE BUM OUT of the league," e-mails lars@on-it.net. "Send him to Europe."

BUCKSHOT: You mean alive? You're so much kinder.

"STERN WANTS LIMELITE (sic) -- not Rodman," comes this e-mail from rlb@mtco.com.

BUCKSHOT: Agree. I don't think Stern wants Rodman, either.

"I'M PROBABLY THE ONLY person who thinks Dennis Rodman should not be suspended for kicking a cameraman who should be working in Hollywood," opines Izora. "Fined and sued, yes ... but an 11-game suspension? Gimme a break!

"Does anyone remember when Charles Barkley spit on a fan in the stands? That wasn't a 11-game suspension. Was Dennis Rodman's crime worse than the Charles Barkley's spitting exhibition? I think not!!

"This is a personal attack by David Stern because he doesn't like the way Dennis leads his life off the court. As for the clowns that think Dennis Rodman should be off the Chicago Bulls team they need to realize that they have the hardest working NBA player in the game today."

BUCKSHOT: Keep in mind, Izora, every time somebody takes one in the groin, Dennis sells another couple of thousand books.

"PLEASE SEND RODMAN'S address," writes 62-year-old Sylvia G. Jackson, a.k.a. "Mama Guru," who lives in Mississippi. "We need his help here with obstreperous kids.

"A group of senior citizens -- we're all fans of Dennis -- want him to talk to these kids. E-mail me with that address, Mr. Buck.

"P.S. -- I am new at 62 on the computer . . . how am I doing?

BUCKSHOT: You're doing a lot better than Dennis at 35-going-on-two. You can reach him c/o The Chicago Bulls, United Center, 1901 West Madison Street, Chicago, Ill. 60612-2459, uh, when he's not suspended.


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