Son's now rasslin' with success

Brian Pfohl is one basketball player who doesn't have to go to Vlade Divac Flopping School.

Fakery ought to be in his genes.

Pfohl, a 6-foot-8, 230-pound junior forward at Pace Academy in Atlanta, is the son of Larry Pfohl — better known as Lex Luger, the WWA rassler.

"I've never been a big (wrestling) fan," Brian told the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. "I used to watch him on TV just to give him some feedback."

Now it's the younger Pfohl, who averaged about 20 points and 13 rebounds this season, who's drawing attention.

"I really just enjoy going to the games and watching Brian perform," said his rassler father. "I'm not one of those pushy parents. I just want him to do good in school."

And maybe learn the rasslin' theatrics of throwing a punch. In November, Brian got mad on the court and took a swing at a backstop behind a basket, breaking his wrist and sidelining him for two weeks. He did, however, score 32 points in a game before doctors discovered the severity of the injury.

Said Brian: "My dad just said I was crazy for punching the wall."

Hut one, hut two

Bad news for the Washington football team, which opens at defending national champion Ohio State on Aug. 30, and it concerns OSU signal-caller Craig Krenzel, the molecular-genetics major.

"The Buckeyes are set at quarterback next season," reports Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle. "As his senior project, Krenzel cloned himself."

Having a shoe sail

Keith Olbermann of ABC Radio estimates that those 33,000 Air Jordan sneakers, which fell overboard off a container ship and are washing up on the shores of the western United States, represent a total loss of about $1,000,050 — "$1 million in merchandise and nearly 50 bucks in materials and labor."

One blue Angel

Not all Angels are meant for the heavens.

Take, for example, Anaheim right fielder Tim Salmon, who cashed in on his World Series notoriety to hitch a ride in an F/A-18 Hornet fighter jet as part of the Blue Angels' VIP Passenger program.

"It was unbelievable, in between the times I was throwing up," Salmon told the Los Angeles Times. "It was the best experience in my life, but it was so disappointing because I couldn't handle the maneuvers.

"I didn't eat the whole day because I didn't want to throw up, but I couldn't handle the nausea. I was just dry-heaving."

Failing the screen test

Indiana Pacer Ron Artest's latest suspension, according to the New York Post, is because he grabbed a framed picture and smashed it against a locker-room wall after Tuesday's loss to the Washington Wizards.

Why a wall hanging would enrage him is a mystery, but best guess is that Artest simply mistook the picture for a television screen.