He Told New Boss to Start Bossing

Jim Finks, general manager of the New Orleans Saints and the man some owners would have as next commissioner of the National Football League, has been characterized as likable but direct.

Finks was general manager of the Chicago Bears when owner George Halas died. The chairman of the board was Ed McCaskey, Halas’ son-in-law. According to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel, the two had a meeting a few days after the funeral and the conversation went like this:

McCaskey: “What are we going to do now?�

Finks: “You’re an owner. Own.�

Add Bears: Said punter Maury Buford after being reacquired by the Bears when he was released by the Green Bay Packers: “To quote a saying from my all-time favorite TV show, ‘Andy Griffith,’ I’m as happy as a gopher in soft dirt to be back with the Bears and be able to see these guys again.�

Trivia time: Who was the first commissioner of the National Football League?

You figure it: According to Jayson Stark of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore reliever Kevin Hickey switched from No. 23 to No. 45 after the All-Star break.

“It’s closer to my age,� he explained.

Not quite. Hickey is 33. So 23 is closer.

“It is?� Hickey said. “Maybe that’s why I got an F in math.�

Bengal blues: How bad is it for the Detroit Tigers? “I doubt even my mother is still reading the box scores,� Manager Sparky Anderson says.

Add Sparky: Some observers believe he’s lost some of his ebullience since taking an enforced rest, but Tiger General Manager Bill Lajoie said we might be seeing the real Sparky.

Recalling when he and Anderson roomed together in the Venezuela winter league in the 1960s, Lajoie told the New York Times: “Back then, Sparky was a quiet man. Over the course of time, with all the winning, he developed a style that wasn’t really him. I don’t want this to come out wrong, but what I mean is with all his success and attention, he developed as an actor to fit the times. He went along with all the hype. Now, I think you’re seeing Sparky closer to what he used to be.�

Holding out: Patrick Reusse of the Star Tribune in Minneapolis concedes that Bo Jackson has become a force in baseball but says of his footballing, “Take away one spectacular game on national television and Jackson has been a complete flop with the Raiders. Jackson has shown the same tendency with the Raiders that he had at Auburn. When the going is particularly tough, when a team is geared to pound him, Bo will develop a convenient muscle pull.�

Identity crisis: David Raymond, who plays the Phillie Phanatic at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, told the Philadelphia Inquirer that when Steve Sax was with the Dodgers they became such good friends that Sax would call him by his real name.

“Steve would come up to me and say, ‘Hey, Dave, what’s going on? How’s the family?’ � said Raymond. “Then one time I came up to him in street clothes and he didn’t know who the hell I was.�

Trivia answer: Jim Thorpe.

Quotebook: Manager Roger Craig of the San Francisco Giants on first baseman Will Clark: “I once was careful about comparing him to Stan Musial. I’m not anymore.�