Carolina Man Has a Certain Air About Him

Be like Mike? Some people think Lee Kealon is Mike.

The bald, 6-foot-6-inch resident of Wilmington, N.C., turns heads on city streets, draws autograph-seekers on the golf course and, when spotted in his BMW, has to speed away from fooled fans of former Chicago Bull star Michael Jordan.

Last week, his looks even fooled a Wilmington television station. It mistakenly used a photograph of Kealon in a newscast about Jordan’s retirement.

The similarities between the two Wilmington natives don’t stop at their hometown. They’re the same height, have the same prodigious hands, and wear size 14 shoes.

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Trivia time: Who holds the Super Bowl record for longest kickoff return?

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Unlikely liaison: Art Spander in the Oakland Tribune: “The 49ers are bringing back Bill Walsh and bringing in Terry Donahue, moves that strike you as wonderfully schizophrenic, with one man trying to find the magic of 1981, and the other attempting to find out something about pro football.

“What we have here is a strange pairing of the ultimate Genius, Walsh, and the ultimate Gutty Little Bruin, Donahue.”

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The limo league: The news conference for new baseball Hall of Famers George Brett, Nolan Ryan and Robin Yount was in the same New York hotel where NBA players were scheduled to meet when the league reached an agreement with the players’ union. After watching the basketball players, even backup guards, arrive in stretch limos, Brett asked: “Doesn’t anyone in that league take a cab?”

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Notorious six: Barry Horn in the Dallas Morning News: “Found: The second of six voters who didn’t vote for Nolan Ryan in the baseball Hall of Fame balloting.

“Ray Finnochiaro, former Phillies beat writer for the Wilmington [Del.] News-Journal, has stepped forward. Philadelphia Daily News columnist Bill Conlin was the first to admit he left Ryan off the ballot.

“Tough crowd at the Philly chapter of the Baseball Writers Assn. of America.”

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Here’s the door, Gary: Skip Bayless of the Chicago Tribune says good riddance to Northwestern’s Gary Barnett, who accepted the football coaching job at Colorado:

“No more lying to reporters about his ‘lifetime commitment.’ No more ducking responsibility for his program’s gambling scandal. No more deluding himself about how his Wildcats will rise again.

“No more indiscreet networking--even groveling--for every better-than- Northwestern job that came open.”

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Trivia answer: Desmond Howard of the Green Bay Packers, 99 yards for a touchdown against the New England Patriots in 1997.

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And finally: Adrian Wojnarowski of the Bergen County (N.J.) Record, on the New York Knicks acquiring Latrell Sprewell:

“[He] will march into Madison Square Garden professing he’s a changed man, promising his devotion to bring New York a championship. Underneath the banners belonging to Frazier, Reed, Holzman and Bradley, the Knicks will sell us on a lost soul deserving of a second chance.

“It’ll be a dark day on a hallowed court, where a proud heritage gets sold out for a thug player.”