European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday August 20,1988 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary Gretzky will bring la. Out of ice age listen would Caruso want to spend his Ca reer singing Gilbert and Sullivan in Leeds would Rembrandt want to paint barns is Nijinsky going to dance on Street Corners in Pocatello no. If you know anything about show business you know you be got to bring the act to Broadway. No matter How Good you Are in Bridgeport it s still Bridgeport. What made anybody think the greatest hockey player who Ever lived was going to stay up there by the North pole forever i mean did Jack Nicklaus stay at Scioto putting for quarters with school chums it must have killed Wayne Gretzky to walk Down a Street in . Or new York and not have 12 people in the entire City recognize him on sight or have any Clear idea what he did for a living. It must have been galling to go to a cocktail party and have people looking Over his shoulder to see if they can spot any celebrities while they murmur of and Are you in pictures too or. Grobsky or Grinsky now that he s married an actress you can bet me she does t want to be sitting up there 2,000 Miles from the sound stages and the Power lunches. I mean you can be a hockey player in Edmonton but you can t be an actress. Trust me. At times like these i m always reminded of the line in the play Magdalena where the parisian general is transferred to the Jungles of Colombia in South America and he tries to convince his mistress that Shell love it in the Moonlight Down there. Well be great lovers he cries. Bah she says. In Paris great lovers. In the Jungle two  is it the greatest most cynical Sale in sports history Well it s close. In 1919, a show Biz entrepreneur named Harry Frazee owned the Boston red sox but his heart was on Broadway. Among other things he wanted to bankroll a musical called no no  to get Cash he sold the greatest player in All the annals of baseball babe Ruth himself. He got $100,000 Cash and a $350,000 loan on his Ballpark. The sports world was stunned. The Park Bench lawyers were out in Force with their dark warnings of antitrust. But it was the greatest single move baseball Ever made unless you count Walter o Malley s mov ing to California. Could Ruth have become babe Ruth a uni Versal Symbol for domination of a profession if he had stayed in Boston highly unlikely. In that Day and age if you did t do it in new York you might As Well not have done it. Press Box denizens recall one night in a world series when an Oakland outfielder Joe Rudi made a catch that was right out of Lourdes if he does that in new York they write songs about it pronounced writer Jack Lang. Here it s just f-7. " in 1969, in concert with the complicated and extra Legal draft Laws of the sport Kareem Abdul Jabbar undoubtedly the greatest single player in the annals of basketball found himself playing the game in Milwaukee. Now Milwaukee in t Edmonton. They have Summers there. It May be a Fine place to raise a family. But it Ain t 42nd Street. Sunset and Vine. Jabbar played the Good Soldier schweik for six years. Then he told the team and the league that was enough. He would play either in new York or los Angeles. The tryout was Over. The show was ready for the big top. Even ricocheting Between Philadelphia and san Francisco was t enough for Wilt Chamberlain Al though neither of those metropolises is exactly bucolic. Wilt wanted out and mane Vered his Way to los  Kent Cooke was an owner who very Well understood the nature of the sports business which was after All show business. It needed  went out and got Jabbar and Chamberlain and later magic Johnson for his basketball  is no hard evidence he twisted the league s  but it is evident the league was More than glad to see a contender in the . Market annually. Any game needs . And new  m. Cohan once said that once you get West of the Hudson River everything is , that s no longer so True. But superstars need  have always Felt Henry Aaron would have been a Mega Star if he d done what he did in new York. Tycobb s and Roger Hornsby s feats did t go unnoticed All those years Over .400 but they would have been ticker tape Parade starters in the big Apple. Ted Williams might have had leagues named after him if he starred in Yankee stadium All those years. Musial became Stan the Man in new York. I think Gretzky had All the Nice game ens that he wanted. He wants to play the Palace. I think Bruce Mcnall is in the Jack Kent Cooke Mold. Hollywood was built on the Star system. So was professional , the league should be Happy. I Don t know whether Edmonton owner Peter Pollington was an other Harry Frazee who needed the Quick Money or whether he know he could t keep Gretzky in the closet. Either Way you hang the Mona Lisa in the louvre not some curio shop in downtown Lyon. Gretzky will fill the seats. If he can fill the nets too hell be the biggest bargain since babe Ruth. The game needs Glamour More than goals. He s already pulled the hat trick. He s put hockey on Page 1. In los Angeles. In  Angeles times Don t close the door on the fridge the associated press Don t write off the fridge yet. William the refrigerator Perry shipped off to the Pritikin weight loss Center after ballooning to 380 pounds May be Back in a Chicago bears uniform by the season opener on sept. 4. In fact says bears coach Mike Ditka Perry could even play in the aug. 26 exhibition game against the los Angeles raiders. He works out every Day weights and running. He s in pretty darn Good shape Ditka said. His weight is Down considerably but whether it s Down As far As we said it should be we re not sure yet. Perry a defensive tackle who played As 308 pounds As a Rookie in 1985 and became a National curiosity for his goal line running blocking and pass catching has fallen off in the past two years As his weight soared. When he reported to training above Ditka s prescribed weight of 325 pounds he was sent off to lose weight. San Francisco offensive tackle Bubba Paris has also taken the treatment at the Pritikin Center and returned to the team this week. As for Perry Ditka said he is making Progress and added we ought to know something at the end of the  it s Tough to make changes when you re 24 years old and you be done things for about 14 years of your life a certain Way Ditka said. Now you have to put on the brakes and say i can t go that Way anymore " duper near Dan Bakst the agent for Miami dolphins holdout Mark duper said thurs Day the team agreed to 90 percent of his latest contract proposal and an agreement could be reached Friday on a four year Deal for $2.7-$2.8 million. I think there s a Good possibility nil Roundup Bakst said. It looks very favourable if i can just keep Mark Calm Between now and Friday  Bakst hoped to close the Deal in a meeting at Joe Robbie stadium with Charley Winner the dolphins director of pro personnel prior to Friday s exhibition game Between Miami and Denver. Duper a three time pro bowl Selec Tion at wide receiver would report to training Camp either saturday or Mon Day. Bakst said duper remains displeased about the lengthy negotiations which have caused him to miss five weeks of training Camp and might require a conciliatory gesture from dolphins owner Joe Robbie. He s really not Happy but he s sign ing Bakst said. What i May require As part of the Deal is for Joe to come Over and shake his hand to let him know he s still  agent wars the agent for flamboyant Seattle line Backer Brian Bosworth says he thinks the sea Hawks holdout linebacker Fredd Young is suffering from a bruised ego because of Bosworth s multimillion Dol Lar contract. But Gary Wichard said he does t think Bosworth dislikes Young in con Trast with earlier comments by Young s agent who said Young and Bosworth dislike each other. Bosworth signed a contract before his Rookie season last year for $11 million Over 10 years. Young had earlier signed a four year contract that reportedly Calls for him to earn a base salary of $350,000 this season. Young a four time pro Bowler is holding out this year. His agent Jeff Dankworth said on wednesday Young thinks Bosworth is a Jerk and the feeling obviously is my  Young agent Jeff Dankworth said earlier. I think that Brian thinks Fredd s a Heck of a football player Wichard said. But he added i think. It s obvious from the Day Brian came in Fredd s self esteem or whatever is a Little bit dam  injuries starting inside linebacker Tim Green and offensive tackle Mike Kenn will miss Atlanta s exhibition game against Tampa Bay saturday. Green suffered a sprained neck in practice. Kenn is still not recovered from a broken sinus Bone sustained earlier in Camp. All pro guard Bill Fralic who has not practice All week due to Back spasms was listed As questionable for saturday s game As was starting defensive Back Tim Gordon who has a pulled hamstring the bucs meanwhile will be without starting defensive end Ron Holmes and backup tailback Kerry Goode won t play. Holmes has a sprained shoulder and Goode the bucs pre season Leader with 62 Yards Rushing and their Only touch Down has bruised ribs. Axing and innings Tampa Bay signed wide receiver Greg Harris a Rookie from Troy state recently waived by the new York giants. Harris had been the giants Lith round draft Choice. Zeke Gadson a linebacker from Pitt was claimed on waivers by the Houston oilers. Gadson was Buffalo s fifth round draft pick this year. The Dallas cowboys waived end Randy Watts and kicker Jess Atkinson As Well As eight other players. Watts 6-6, 305 pounds was a Star on Dallas re placement team last year. Atkinson who also played for the patriots giants and cardinals was claimed on waivers by the cowboys after being released earlier this month by Washington. Detroit Cut cornerback Earl Johnson and defensive end George Mcduffie. Wide receiver Mike Lanese who re turned from England last month As a Rhodes scholar has been Cut by the Cleveland Browns. Lanese hindered Early in training Camp by a pulled hamstring muscle did not play in Cleveland s 23-3 Victory Over the Tampa Bay buccaneers last saturday night. Even though i did t make it with the Browns it was a Good experience and a lot of fun said Lanese. I always heard the Browns Are a class organization and they did t disappoint me. This is a team i believe can go to the super  Victory needed Tampa Bay coach Ray Perkins says the team needs a taste of Success in sat urday night s preseason game at Atlanta. You can say that about any team that has t won its first two games Perkins said. You d like to win this game a lot More so than the first two. Still it s not an All telling thing. They know that. The main thing is not to get discouraged. I Don t know if i be Ever been discouraged. But yes i be been  the bucs have been outscored 43-10 in Home exhibition losses to Indianapolis and Cleveland. An sports television baseball Oakland at Boston or Houston at Pittsburgh 8 . Saturday. Olympic trials wide world of sports olympic trials 2 . Sunday. Football Washington redskins at . Raiders 4 . Sunday. Radio baseball Oakland at Boston 8 12 . Saturday Houston at Pittsburgh 1 . Sunday