Second Thoughts

The drive not there for Bird

Former Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, shown here in a November 1991 file photo, said in a phone interview Monday that he cannot compete against former Dream Team teammate Michael Jordan.
Former Boston Celtics great Larry Bird, shown here in a November 1991 file photo, said in a phone interview Monday that he cannot compete against former Dream Team teammate Michael Jordan.

Sorry, Larry Bird fans. The "Hick from French Lick" just doesn't have it anymore.

During a phone interview Monday on The Dan Patrick Show, Bird, the former Boston Celtics star and current director of basketball operations for the Indiana Pacers, made some self-deprecating jokes about his age (58) and weight ("I couldn't fit in any uniform right now") but still managed a bit of trash talk.

Asked about the outcome of a hypothetical one-on-one matchup with Patrick, Bird, who said he's still "in the conversation" for best shooter ever, said, "It's probably 10 to 8 because I've got to sit down and take a break when you've got the ball."

Later, Patrick mentioned that former Chicago Bulls star Michael Jordan, 52, now the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, said he could beat anyone on the current Charlotte roster.

That drew a laugh from Bird. Patrick then asked how Bird would fare against his former Dream Team teammate today, perhaps in a throwback to those old McDonald's commercials.

"I hate to admit this, but he'd kill me," Bird said.

"I'm 40 pounds more than I was when I played. I'm broken down. I really don't care like I used to. I have a fight in me, but it's not the fight that I once had ... but it'd be a pretty close game."

Charles Barkley's got next.

Bet small, win big

According to ESPN.com, a horse bettor won $471,124.50 on a 50-cent bet Saturday.

The winning ticket had Realm (11-1), English Minister (3-1), Site Read (21-1), Hey Bro (24-1) and Saratoga Mischief (6-1) all winning the first five races at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., which they did.

Because there was only one ticket that had all five of these winners, the bettor from New Jersey, who requested anonymity, won the entire pooled payout.

To be fair, the winning ticket cost 50 cents, but the bettor bet a total of $675 on a combination of five horses to win those first five races.

Andy Serling, handicapper for the New York Racing Association, which controls Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks, told ESPN.com that Saturday's single payout was a rare occurrence.

Since the fall of 2013 -- when NYRA tracks started offering the Pick Five -- there has been at least one winner every race day. But Serling said there has been a single winner only a couple of times in nearly two years.

It was the highest payout for a Pick Five, the NYRA said, since Aug. 29 last year at Saratoga, when a single winner took home $595,502.

Burning love

Preseason tours aren't the most fun for teams, but it's always a good idea to at least pretend -- you know, for the fans.

Maybe someone should have told the English Premier League's Manchester City, which visited Hanoi, Vietnam, for a Monday-morning friendly against a Vietnamese all-star team.

Unfortunately for the fans, the Man City players weren't too interested in meeting or greeting, prompting one fan to post a video of the team's with the caption, "Man City's stars remain indifferent to the hearts of Vietnamese fans."

During the video, despite numerous greetings from excited fans, the players just turned away and kept walking.

Granted, neither the fan nor the players he was trying to greet (Spain's David Silva and Brazil's Fernando) spoke English very well. But neither player, nor any of the others whose names were called, so much as waved at the crowd.

The team's apparent disinterest upset another fan to make a 4 1/2-minute video, which culminated with him setting his tickets for the match on fire in protest.

As for the game, Man City beat Vietnam 8-1.

Sports quiz

As players in the NBA, Michael Jordan scored more points (32,292) than Larry Bird (21,791), but Bird had more rebounds (8,974) than Jordan (6,672). Which player had more assists?

Answer

Bird, with 5,695. Jordan had 5,633.

Sports on 07/28/2015

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