Your Best Bet Is to Sit Still and Say as Little as Possible

If you are planning on attending the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the organizing committee has issued a list of do’s and don’ts when interacting with foreign visitors.

Among the no-nos:

“The crossing of legs, over the knee, exposing the sole of a shoe to a member of Arabic culture. . . .

“The usage of jargon, colloquialism and idiomatic expressions with guests who speak English as a second language. . . .

“Pointing with fingers at objects or people. Pointing to be done with an open hand.”

And don’t refer to guests from other countries as foreigners. They are “international visitors.”

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Trivia time: What is the given name of Ki-Jana Carter, Penn State’s All-American running back?

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Foul weather: Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre, born and raised in southern Mississippi, is fast becoming one of the best cold-weather quarterbacks.

“In games in which the temperature is 32 degrees or less at kickoff or in which it is raining and less than 45 degrees, Favre is 10-1,” says Bob Glauber of Newsday.

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Merry Christmas: It has been a good December for Eric Oliver, Army’s senior linebacker. First, Army defeated Navy, then Oliver became one of 15 National Scholar-Athletes and was named a Rhodes Scholar.

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Changing sports: Buffalo Bill quarterback Frank Reich is among 395 golfers granted reinstatement as amateurs by the U.S. Golf Assn. this year.

Reich, who has been on Super Bowl teams the last four seasons, doesn’t have that concern this season. The Bills were eliminated last week, so he’ll get a chance to concentrate on golf much earlier than usual. The Bills’ last game is today against the Indianapolis Colts.

Reich made his professional golf debut in the CGA Isuzu Classic in 1991.

“I walked away with $1,500,” Reich said. “Now, I want to play in amateur competition, especially my club championship.”

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Tough game: A teen-age soccer player in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is suing the county school board, claiming he was kicked in a tournament during which the opponent’s coach reportedly yelled, “Waste him! Waste him! Waste him!”

Gary Beharrie of Piper High suffered torn ligaments in his leg during a game against Deerfield Beach two years ago. In a civil lawsuit, Beharrie alleges the kick came on the orders of Deerfield Coach Phil Drosdick. He is seeking more than $100,000 from the county school board.

Witnesses said Sebastian Tenutta kicked Beharrie from behind. Tenutta settled out of court for $25,000.

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Close to zip: Ross Atkins of the Christian Science Monitor writes that the Akron Zips nearly lived down to their nickname this football season. They won only one game under former Notre Dame coach Gerry Faust, who has retired, and that against winless Ohio University in the season finale.

Zips, by the way, doesn’t refer to zero but is short for Zipper, a brand of overshoes once made by the B.F. Goodrich Co. in Akron.

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Trivia answer: Kenneth Leonard Carter.

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Quotebook: Baltimore Oriole owner Peter Angelos: “I looked in the phone book for replacement players and I couldn’t find anything.”