Two days ago I made a reference to Buddy Ryan's "43 defense" with the Chicago Bears in 1985. Several careful and knowledgeable readers wrote to tell me ever so politely that it was the "46 defense". Of course they are right and it was a typographical error on my part. That is exactly the kind of error that gets by a computer spell check program every time. And it goes to prove conclusively that when I graduated from college, I did not major in profreeding. Thanx to all.

It certainly looks like the number "46" is going to be important in today's offering because 46 plaintiffs have hired some lawyers to file suit to reverse the firing of Bob Knight. They claim that the process of his firing violated the Indiana Open Door Law because the Indiana University folks met twice outside the public view to make this decision. The University claims that they did not have a quorum at either meeting and so the sessions were informal and could be kept quiet. If that is OK with the courts, then this law is about as useful as a crutch with a hinge; that is not a loophole in the law; that is a chasm.

Can you imagine the ridiculous situation that would be created if some judge on or about the day before practice was supposed to start decreed that Bob Knight was the coach at IU and the new staff had to vacate the premises? I'd pay money to get a seat in the middle of the campus that day. The IU President thought it best to move his family off campus about two weeks ago; if that happened, he'd need to move to Antarctica to get any peace and quiet.

So let me look and see if there are any hunch bets at any of the local tracks here with the numbers 4 and 6 today. If you believe in omens, you just have to indulge me here. And the results are: none of the local tracks are running today. So there is the best omen of all. I should not waste my time on this silliness.

My friend, Festus, always tells me that horse racing is a dying sport because when I go to the track, I am the only person there not collecting Social Security. Actually, the best reason I can give anyone for going to a racetrack is that you can look at the people there and be certain that none of them ever watch the X-Games on ESPN-2. And isn't that a comforting feeling???

In NBA training camp news, the Knicks have signed a seven foot center to give them an inside presence for rebounding and defense and will evaluate him in camp. Remember, they traded Patrick Ewing because they said he was too slow to keep up with the greyhounds on that team. Who is the new center they are trying out? Felton Spencer. In terms of motion, just think of him as The Human Embolism. In a race between Felton and Gheorge Muresan and Stanley Roberts, no one would win.

Boston sports talk radio evidently has a rumor started/going that when Rick Pitino leaves town during or just after this season is over, Larry Bird will become the new GM and personnel guy for the Celtics. Stranger things have happened.

Around the country, Lorenzo Williams is not a household name. But here in Washington, Lorenzo is a legend among sports junkies. Four years ago, Lorenzo signed a seven year contract with the Wizards to be a 7 foot power-forward and part time center. In those four years, he has played in 41 games; he has certainly lived up to the "part-time" expectations they had for him. He has had so many knee/ankle/foot injuries that he was the Man of the Decade for the local orthopedic surgeons. Camp opened yesterday for the Wizards and just to show that there is cosmic consistency in the universe, Lorenzo was absent because he had "exploratory arthroscopic surgery" on his knee - the same one he had surgery on last year. There are no more exploratory surgeries on this guy; the interior of every joint in his lower extremities has been mapped so well that Exxon can list these maps as an option on its website.

Allen Iverson says that he will be the Sixers' leader this year. He will be the first one to practice and the last to leave. (I figure that will last until the third day of training camp.) He wants his teammates to look to him for leadership on and off the court. He says that he was hurt by the Sixers' attempt to trade him to the Clippers on draft day. He says that he figures he has had something to do with the Sixers getting to the playoffs the last two years and he felt unhappy that they would think of trading him to the worst franchise in the league. Maybe this is a message Allen and some other "chronological adults" in the league should pay attention to. You too can be employed by Donald Sterling and Elgin Baylor.

Mark Chmura's attorney moved to have all charges against his client dismissed and the court said the legal equivalent of "I don't think so." If convicted on all charges, Mark could spend 40 years in the hoosegow. The next move will be to get a change of venue for this trial that involves an alleged enticement of a 17 year old girl to have sex with him and then allegedly forcing that sex upon her. What would be a good venue? How about a place where you can get someone like Woody Allen on the jury? Just a thought.

Joe Theisman has an article on ESPN.com saying that the Rams may go undefeated this year. That is just a tad premature but it does bring up something that I have gotten mighty tired of. I really wish that the 1972 Dolphins would stop feeling that they have to remind everyone that they had an undefeated season then. It has gotten really old. If it was such a big deal, they would not have to call a press conference to announce that they are chilling the champagne or that they enjoyed it after they drank it. If it were a big deal, we'd already know that. Do you think any of them are listening? Of course not. They are driven to do this because it is the only way that most of them get any recognition at any time during the year. Their fifteen minutes was up a long time ago.

There is a great mythology that the Detroit Lions are a powerhouse at home and they don't travel well - particularly to grass fields. Fact is that the Lions have lost 5 of their last 6 games at home.

The San Diego Chargers are last in the AFC in defense and next to last in the AFC in offense. Last Sunday, Junior Seau strained his hamstring in the loss to the Rams and is listed as day-to-day. They play Denver this week and Denver is second in the AFC in offense. If the Chargers have to play without Seau, this could be ugly.

The Washington Post reports that one of the first things that Dick LeBeau did when taking over the Bungles was to remove the "26 speaker boom box that blared in the locker room." Say what you will about his potential as a coach, at least he has established who on that team is the head music critic. Now if the next story is that he is playing Mantovani or Barry Manilow over the system, we will know he is on the verge of losing the team.

The Twins are going to have manager Tom Kelly back for another year. That is an outbreak of common sense on the part of the ownership of the Twins and if common sense could spread among all the owners, you never know what might happen. The Twins' team is overmatched; there is no way around that fact. On day one of spring training, Kelly has to know in his heart that a miracle season would be to break even. And so the owner has acknowledged that and extended his contract.

Rick Ankiel tossed 5 wild pitches in one inning in the NL playoff game yesterday. Hopefully, this is not the onset of "Steve Blass syndrome" where they would need to install a radar on his hat so he can find home plate. Ankiel is too young to have his career over and done with.

As the NHL season is about to begin, commissioner Gary Bettman said in an interview that the league has no plans to add more teams for now. That's a good idea. According to the local ownership, more than 20 of the teams lost money last year and revenues are not expected to grow by more than a few percent league-wide this year. Molson is trying to sell the Montreal Canadians and buyers are not lining up to make bids. Wayne Huizenga has been trying to sell the Florida Pantloads for several years now and he may have to put it up for auction on e-Bay to get rid of it. Expansion is not the answer; contraction is more like the answer.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...