Unmasked: Nhl Players' Little Helper

A cold and allergy medicine might get National Hockey League players into trouble at the Winter Olympics, according to Sports Illustrated.

Two NHL trainers estimate that 20 percent of the league's players use Sudafed, an over-the-counter antihistamine. The medicine contains pseudoephedrine, a stimulant banned by the IOC.

"It's the NHL's dirty little secret," Sports Illustrated says in this week's issue, reporting that an unidentified former coach said one of his players took as many as 20 before games.

John Wharton, Detroit Red Wing trainer, is quoted as saying he has seen a player take as many as eight pills and that he has seen four or five abusers during the past seven years.

"There are all kinds of overdose stories, guys not being able to finish the first period because they get the shakes, paranoid or anxiety," Wharton said.

Jari Kurri, Colorado right wing, said: "You take it, you get hyped up. I don't know if the stick work, the dirty hits, are because of that, but I think it's something the league should look into."

Different goose egg

It's not exactly Mike Tyson biting Evander Holyfield, but even he wasn't convicted in court, something that happened to a high-school basketball player in Pennsylvania.

Nicole Naccarato, 17, was convicted this week of biting an opponent, Victoria Martin, during a game Dec. 8. Naccarato, a senior who leads the Monessen Greyhounds in scoring, was fined $300. Martin, who plays for the West Greene Pioneers, said Naccarato grabbed her arm and bit it during a scramble for a loose ball.

"It swelled up right away," she said. "It was like a goose egg."

Sock it to him

Denver quarterback John Elway admits to being superstitious, like many other athletes, but said he is is endeavoring to become less so. "I had so many (superstitions), they became a pain," he said. "I would wear socks on the same feet."

Asked how someone knows which socks belong on which feet, Elway replied, "That's where it really gets hard."

He wrote it

Blackie Sherrod, Dallas Morning News: "Why not hire Oprah Winfrey as next Cowboys coach and solve all the problems? You would set historical precedent in headlines, popularity, race, gender, and even surpass the last coaching hire for inaneness."

He said it

Al Davis, when asked whether his Raiders will play out their lease at Oakland Coliseum: "You want to take the president off the front pages tomorrow, don't you? I'm sure Monica (Lewinsky) wants me to do that."

Compiled by Chuck Ashmun, Seattle Times