Soccer debate going around in circles

Jim Litke of the Associated Press doubts that soccer will catch on as a popular sport in the United States. “Five weeks before the World Cup arrives on these shores, there is little to

suggest that the same game Americans ranked behind log rolling in a survey last year has a better foothold now than it did then,” he wrote. Scott LeTellier, chief operating officer for World

Cup USA 1994, has a different opinion. “Soccer is definitely being talked about in circles where it was not being talked about before,” he said. Said Litke, “We think otherwise,

unfortunately, judging by the circles we run in.” Trivia time: What is the NBA playoff record for most points scored in the fourth quarter? Fun City: Fernando Vina, a Met rookie who grew up

in Sacramento, is shocked by the cost of living in New York. “I got a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx for $1,100 a month,” he said. “If they didn’t have a good spread (of food) in the

clubhouse, I wouldn’t survive.” Don’t feel too sorry for him. The major league minimum salary is $109,000 per year. Do you understand?Detroit Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson empathizes with

Tony La Russa, manager of the floundering Oakland Athletics. “I know what the guy in the other dugout is feeling because I’ve been there myself,” Anderson told Tom Gage of the Detroit News.

“My God, what an awful feeling it is. I understand that. But understanding is something you’ll never truly understand.” Forget it: Art Spander of the San Francisco Examiner on Charles

Barkley scoring 56 points against Golden State in an NBA first-round playoff game: “Trying to guard him one on one is as hopeless as trying to eat soup with a fork.” Call of the wild: Tony

Kornheiser of the Washington Post on the upsurge in NBA trash talk: “You don’t hear woofin’ like this at the Iditarod.” Put-down: Scott Ostler in Sport magazine on rules of superstardom: “Be

magnanimous. In interviews--and even in timeout huddles--refer to your teammates as ‘my supporting cast,’ just in case some of them don’t realize how insignificant they really are.” Sort of

spooky: Raymond Floyd describing the “zone” he gets into on a golf course: “I feel like I’m going half speed. I’m not hitting the ground very hard when I walk. I’m aware there are people

around but I don’t see them. “I might talk to the player I’m walking with, but I don’t know it. I’m alone and at ease.” Depressing division: Bob Kravitz of the Rocky Mountain News: “If the

Dallas Mavericks played in the American League West, they’d be in second place.” Trivia answer: The Lakers scored 51 points against Detroit on March 31, 1962. Quotebook: Mike Tyson, asked by

Larry King where he planned on living when he is released from prison next year: “On the outskirts of Ohio.” MORE TO READ