What's giving you a rash this week?
The out-of-control arrogance in professional sports today? The latest in labor? The price of a lousy stadium hotdog?
An overpaid player? An underhanded agent? An owner who would sell the carpet from underneath his own mother's feet for the right amount of PSLs and luxury boxes?
Where can you get off your chest something boiling inside your belly?
Right here. Right now. Buckshots, a weekly dish-it-out-and-duck feature, is designed to give you, the subscriber, a chance to take your best shot at Ray Buck, national columnist for SportsLine USA.
Agree or disagree, let 'er rip. Sign your name -- if you dare -- and tell us a little about yourself: age, city, state, occupation/student. Just remember, Buck has the last word.
E-mail your comments to buckshots@sportsline.com
who's to say the new-look Rockets would be able to jell into a cohesive unit?" asks Reg Harrington, a 37-year-old consultant from Littleton, Col.
"First, will Barkley's body hold up for another season? Second, who's going to play point guard for the Rockets? Should Houston get Gary Payton, will he show that he's really a big-time player? I think the guy's a head case. Third, what about the chemistry factor?
"My opinion: Even if Sir Charles shows up in Houston, the Bulls repeat."
BUCKSHOT: But at least maybe we won't know the outcome before the playoffs begin. Plus, the quotes out of the losing locker room will be a lot better.
in the United States," writes Dave Hudson, 47, a Burns Lake, British Columbia, school teacher.
"So his mind is on Brooke Shields. My mind would be there, too, especially if I had $12 million stashed away. I think it's time you let up on the guy! What you should be saying is isn't it terrible he's out! Pete Sampras may be a better tennis player. He may even be a better person ... but let's face it: perfection is boring. Bjorn Borg was boring. John McEnroe was not. Sampras is like Borg. Agassi is a wilder version of McEnroe.
"So now his mind is on his (future) wife -- like many other males since Brooke first appeared in jeans. Tell him to take the time off. Don't come back until you're ready, Andre! You should put your happiness first. But, when you come back, we'll be eagerly waiting!"
BUCKSHOT: OK, Dave, you busted me. You happy now? I'm insanely jealous of Andre Agassi. He's playing like a fat cat making his farewell tour, slowly, methodically, Grand Slam blowout by Grand Slam blowout. My envy, though, doesn't begin and end with Brooke. How about those white-on-white PJs he wore in making a first-round exit at Wimbledon against 281st ranked Doug Flach?
who sit in the bleachers at Camden Yards and boo (the Orioles) every game, and who couldn't run around the bases or even hold a 38-ounce bat if they lives depended on it." unloads Linda Iannone, a 49-year-old catering supervisor who works Orioles games at Camden Yards.
"After the All-Star break, maybe the umpires will get their heads out of the ground and call a good strike zone. Granted, we should be playing better, except everyone forgot to get some pitchers during the winter.
"Please pass this on to Ken Rosenthal: BITE ME!"
BUCKSHOT: Sorry. We tried to contact our man in Birdland, but he was busy taking another bite out of the Orioles.
that he certainly doesn't deserve," writes Johnny Root of Temecula, Calif., who with a little luck and a lot of water, managed to avoid the Southern California brush fires this past week.
"It appears the message Gooden is giving to 'kids who wouldn't read the book' is that the answer to their problems is to blow their damn brains out. Instead of being a role model, he's being a coward."
BUCKSHOT: I commend Doc for apparently sorting out his life -- for now. I'll think less of him if he sells the movie rights to Spike Lee.
"All those in-house cases for student study ... right under their noses!"
BUCKSHOT: Uh, don't even mention noses.
BUCKSHOT: Why did I ever give you a second shot, Texkan?
"However, I think you were too easy on Jamal Mashburn and Kidd. Jimmy Jackson may be a selfish player -- but with the other two guys, who wouldn't be? Kidd shot 38 percent from the field, 68 percent from the line. Jason should spend more time practicing and less time moaning.
"J.J. is truly selfish. I say dump him! Still, I think everyone should take a closer look at the situation because maybe J.J. is right and Mash and Kidd are wrong. Maybe Kidd and Mash are just better friends ... and we're all getting misled."
BUCKSHOT: As a franchise, the Mavs have two close, inseparable friends: Perennial lethargy and recurring self-destruction.
"Deion Sanders is a punk who likes to beat up old security guards at Riverfront Stadium. He sets a bad example for our young people, and I think it's bringing America to its knees.
"What's with Chan Ho Park running his mouth? I've been to Korea many times and his own people would love to have 1/50th of his salary, and they would live like kings. His problem: He should appreciate the fact that his (LA Dodgers) teammates have accepted him.
"In closing, some of my fellow airmen are getting blown to bits in Dhahran to allow these punks to act like fools and live the good life."
BUCKSHOT: The majority of pro athletes have no clue about what it's like to live in the real world, Greg. Yours is even more real than most of ours. Appreciate the sober reminder.
BUCKSHOT: Thanks! But Muster makes a better target than a grass-court tennis player.
are ready to run the gauntlet again.
"Yes, Buffalo looks primed to 'Strive for Five.'"
BUCKSHOT: To put it another way, David, the AFC is very forgiving.
"Last year, they were the beneficiaries of a typical late-season Miami flop and an under-achieving Patriots team that won only six games -- two of which were against the Bills.
"This year, everyone is off the Patriots bandwagon, and that's exactly the way Parcells wants it."
BUCKSHOT: Parcells should really be happy. Pats owner Robert Kraft is also off The Big Tuna's bandwagon.
"Another Lawrence -- Lawrence Taylor -- had many more problems, and of a more severe nature. Taylor flourished through most of his 14 years in the NFL, helping his team become a Super Bowl championship club, and will no-doubt be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I believe the Rams understood that to turn their ship around, they had to gamble on such a player.
"If Lawrence Phillips should happen to rush, oh say, for 1,600 yards this season, will any of you continue to say that the Rams should have passed on him?"
BUCKSHOT: Uh, no.
who should have been chosen to the Dream Team instead of him," writes Scott "Nuke Pooch" Lewis,"There was a ton of pressure on him to pull out, maybe even direct pressure from the Olympic Selection Committee. So what? The Big Dog made the right decision. He likely would have seen very little playing time -- possibly not even in practice -- due to the backlash.
"He did not deserve to go. But the selection committee should be getting railed -- not T.B.D."
BUCKSHOT: It will be a cold day when somebody throws this dog a bone again.
BUCKSHOT: No, but they roll over and play dead.
"Don't we have enough guards? And wouldn't Kemp's attitude been nice to have around?
"Scottie Pippen plays good D but without Michael Jordan to watch his butt, what's (an injured) Pippen going to do? Get him off the team whether he's hurt or not ... and the same for Sir Charles Barkley."
BUCKSHOT: As for Kemp's snug, it smacks of something we haven't been told. Especially when Kemp seems to be the least bothered by it.
complains Roger Jackson a 44-year-old writer living in New York. "The Games were not designed to promote, nor should they promote, nationalism in any form.
"Today it is the shoe companies that muddle the Olympic ideal. But 24 years ago, when nine Israeli athletes were killed in Munich, politics (or patriotism, if you must) was seen at its worst. It was used as an excuse for murder.
"The United States and the former Soviet Union (remember them?) used the Olympics to play the 'my country is better than your country' game. Hitler tried it in the 1930s. If I had my way, all Olympic participants would march into Atlanta under the Olympic banner and compete as individuals.
"That would have made Baron de Cubertin, the founder of the modern Games, very happy indeed."
BUCKSHOT: Thanks for the history lesson, Roger. I salute you.
"However, the work they put in to become the best at their profession is recognized first by the companies that back them, not the U.S. Track & Field Association. Many people refuse to believe that Michael Johnson is working for Nike. He is a marketing representative and is merely showing his corporate logo. The more advertising, the better marketing work he does.
"Of course, he should have allegiances to his country, but Nike puts food on his table and clothes on his back. He goes to work at these meets for Nike. He has all the right in the world to wear the Nike logo, and I support him."
BUCKSHOT: Stars & Swoosh forever? It just doesn't sound right.
"Every pro has a bad day, even the good ones. That's why I think Mike Kahn was far too harsh on Seles in his column. Andre Agassi's ranking should plummet the way he has played this year."
BUCKSHOT: Kahn tells me he was trying to make a positive point about Graf and, inadvertently, may have come down a little too hard on Seles. He gets a second serve.
BUCKSHOT: You'll get over it, Todd. NBA scouts already have.
BUCKSHOT: I'm not really sure, Johnny, but I do think Cigar should be a "spokeshorse" for the government's war on drugs. Ever since he has gotten off grass, he's undefeated.