Slamming Coach on the Court Gets Him Off It

How do you get even with a coach for perceived abuse? Well, if you are members of the Minico High basketball team of Rupert, Idaho, you go on a dunking binge.

Four players dunked in warmups before a recent game, a technical foul against the team. Coach Blair Garner was ejected because of the technicals.

The boys didn’t fare too well, either. They were thrown off the team and suspended from school for three days.

School officials called their act “premeditated insubordination.”

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Trivia time: Who was the last Dodger to steal 50 bases in a season?

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Cocktail hours: Bob Verdi, a Chicago Tribune columnist who co-wrote the late Harry Caray’s biography, “Holy Cow,” recalled meeting the fun-loving broadcaster after a day game at Chicago’s Comiskey Park.

Said Verdi: “I arrived about 7 p.m., and by 1 a.m. the bartender was still pouring. I hadn’t eaten so much as a cracker.

“Dinner, indeed. Finally, anxious to head for a train in search of home, I surrendered. ‘Harry,’ I said, ‘That’s it. It’s time.’ ‘You’re right!’ he said. ‘Waiter! Menus!’ ”

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Add Caray: Calling a game in which White Sox shortstop Bee Bee Richard had already made a couple of errors, he once reported: “Richard just picked up a hot-dog wrapper at shortstop. It’s the first thing he’s picked up all night.”

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Caray again: He once gave this medical update: “Mike Marshall went back to L.A. to get cocaine in his foot.”

Broadcast partner Steve Stone: “That’s Novocain, Harry.”

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Right on! The thought of an NBA player refusing to report to his new team after a trade irritates San Antonio Spur General Manager-Coach Gregg Popovich.

“It’s beyond my comprehension how somebody can refuse to report for the amount of money that everybody is getting.”

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Cheap shot: From Jay Leno: “What is Japan, 17 hours ahead? That means the Clippers have already lost tomorrow night’s game.”

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FYI: If anyone was noticing, the UCLA-USC women’s basketball game on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion outdrew the men’s game Wednesday at the Sports Arena: 7,258 to 7,167.

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Crossing the line: Karyn Bye, a standout on the U.S. gold-medal hockey team, got into the sport almost by accident when she was 7 years old .

“My brother, Chris, was sick and couldn’t go to practice one day, so my dad came to me and said, ‘Hey, let’s put his equipment on you,’ ” she said. “I put on the helmet and skates and had a great time. No one knew the difference.”

Later, when she registered in the youth hockey program in her hometown of River Falls, Wis., she used the name K.L. Bye so no one would know she was a girl. “Eventually people found out,” she said.

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Looking back: On this day in 1978, Kevin Porter of the New Jersey Nets had 29 assists against Houston, which was a record until Orlando’s Scott Skiles had 30 in 1990.

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Trivia answer: Steve Sax, 56 in 1983.

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And finally: Terry Pluto in the Akron Beacon Journal: “I hate Nike. I hate Reebok. I hate every company that pawns off $100 tennis shoes on the kids of America.

“I hate them for their calculating advertisements. I hate them for all the money they’ve thrown at pro athletes.

“I hate them because they make life miserable for too many parents.

“That is why I feel good this morning. USA Today has reported that shoe sales are down. Way down.”