Detroit Free Press

"Kansas, she said, is the name of the star . . . " The Munchkins

MUIRFIELD, Scotland -- "Maybe you can help me with directions," I said, unfolding a map as I stepped to the counter. "I'm trying to get to the golf, the British Open, and I can't seem to . . . "I looked up.I was talking to a 12-year-old."You . . . don't drive, I take it?""Afreeed noot," he said.I have this problem whenever I go to Scotland. Actually, I have three problems whenever I go to Scotland. I keep getting in the wrong side of the car. I keep driving on the wrong side of the road. And I can't understand a thing they say.

CHICAGO -- Long after he fired the shot that sank Detroit Saturday afternoon, Michael Jordan sat by his locker, glanced around the empty room and contemplated the enemy."They don't have that go-to guy right now," he said of the Pistons, a team his Bulls suddenly lead, 2-1, in the Eastern Conference finals. "It used to be Adrian Dantley. We could never stop him. If they needed a basket at the end, they could go to him in isolation and he'd get a shot or a foul."I was real happy when they traded Dantley for Mark Aguirre. It's a lot easier for us now."

TROON, Scotland -- He is everything that's great about American golf and everything that's wrong with it. Lee Trevino is a natural competitor and a more natural entertainer, a man who can bang a few heads together and say, "Hey, guys, why so serious? This is sports. Enjoy it!"That's the great part. The problem is, there are so few like him. He is almost 50, in a young man's game. By rights, there should be a host of less-wrinkled Americans with bigger followings.

EAST LANSING -- Well, now, wasn't that a nifty little college football game? A bit of this, a bit of that, another this, then another that, then some more of this and a little bit more of . . . What happened? What didn't happen? Notre Dame came to Michigan State, and MSU won, 20-15. That is the Reader's Digest version. The real story is longer than a Howard Cosell commencement address, and about as easy to follow.

Chuck Daly stood at center court, the applause wild, the spotlight caressing him. He held the microphone. He grinned. For a minute I thought he would break into a snappy rendition of "Mack The Knife." Ah-one, ah-two, ah-three . . . Show biz.