In Norway, Dry Humor Is the Safest

By THOMAS BONK

Jan. 2, 1994 12 AM PT

Notice to sports reporters: Ski Racing magazine reported “Helpful Hints for Credentialed Media” for next month’s Winter Olympics, which included this tidbit: “Don’t ever drink and drive in Norway. The police set up occasional checkpoints on the major highways and the percentage of alcohol to be legally declared intoxicated is much lower in Norway than it is in the U.S. A few beers will put you over the hump into dangerous ground.”

That said, a Reuters story announced that Norway will open a second state-run alcohol shop in Lillehammer during the 1994 Winter Games to quench the thirsts of an estimated 100,000 visitors a day.

Currently, the Olympic town has only one liquor store for its population of 24,000. Norway’s alcohol consumption is among the lowest in the Western world, partly because of sky-high prices.

Add Lillehammer: Reuters also reported that restaurants (many to serve liquor) have recently cropped up in sites as unlikely as an empty swimming pool, a greenhouse and a plumber’s shop.

It remains to be seen what prices will do for food consumption, but the same “Helpful Hints” tells starving journalists that “it’s not unusual to spend $70 for a dinner.”

Breakfast should be popular, however. It’s free for those staying in media housing.

Trivia time: What is the only team not to win a division championship since the AFL-NFL merger?

Hair today: The San Antonio Spurs, well, they just haven’t been themselves since Dennis Rodman dyed his hair red from blond. Coach John Lucas said he knows only one way to end the team’s struggles.

“Dennis has to go back to blond,” Lucas said. “We haven’t been worth a damn with him as a redhead.”

It suits him: When the Mavericks broke their 20-game losing streak by defeating the Timberwolves, Dallas Coach Quinn Buckner wore the same gray wool suit he wore when his team beat Minnesota for its only other victory this season.

Looking back: In the famed 1967 Ice Bowl game between Green Bay and Dallas for the NFL championship, the Cowboys led, 17-14, early in the fourth quarter on a 50-yard pass play from a Dallas halfback to Lance Rentzel.

The halfback was Dan Reeves, now the coach of the New York Giants. The Packers won, 21-17, in the closing minutes.

Look out below: Illinois has banned cheerleader-tossing in high schools, the first state to do so. Tosses have been a staple of cheerleaders’ routines for years.

“Over the years, I’ve seen a number of kids hit the floor,” said Fred Curtis, principal of Belleville East High School. “I’ve never seen anyone we’ve had to haul off, but we had some really close calls.”

Clank: Any Knick fan who expected Greg Anthony to be a good shooter simply hadn’t been paying attention. Anthony shot 45.2% in three years at Nevada Las Vegas and, after being drafted by New York, shot only 42.4% in the summer league before his first season in 1991-92.

Lip Service: Wall Street financier Tony Taylor and actor Joe Sirola are teaming up to produce a documentary about Leo Durocher. It’s titled (what else): “Nice Guys Finish Last.”

Trivia answer: The New York Jets.

Quotebook: Chicago Bull guard B.J. Armstrong, on the retired Michael Jordan: “He didn’t win three titles by himself.”