Win Streak Doesn’t Keep Them From Feeling Jumpy

Leave it to the Harlem Globetrotters to soar to new heights.

Two members of the traveling basketball show recently dunked on an 11-foot 10-inch basket, breaking the Guinness Book of World Records mark by two inches.

Michael “Wild Thing” Wilson and Fred “Preacher” Smith put on their record-breaking performances at the Warner Bros. Movie World theme park in Bottrop, Germany.

“This world record is just the beginning,” said Mannie Jackson, owner of the Globetrotters. “We’re getting very close to putting the rim on top of the regulation backboard. We intend to have our players attempt 12-6 before the end of this tour.”

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Add record: To put their leaps in perspective, the winning height in the pole vault in the 1924 Olympics was 12 feet 11 1/2 inches.

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Trivia time: How many inside-the-park home runs have been hit in Dodger Stadium by opposing players?

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Identity crisis: USA Today reports that the Oakland Raiders, the NFL’s most penalized team the last three years, are trying to change their image. In a disciplinary measure, new Coach Joe Bugel has imposed a no-swearing rule.

Former Raider Matt Millen calls the ruling “an oxymoron,” adding, “If cursing is the first rule, the second rule has to be no breathing, because they are both the same in Raiderland.”

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Same old story: Michael Jordan acknowledged that winning another NBA championship will be harder this season but anticipates that the Chicago Bulls will prevail again.

“Mentally, we’re so much stronger than other teams,” he told the Chicago Sun-Times. “We know what it takes to win.”

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In 1998 maybe? Ron Reid in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “The [Chicago] Bears need only two victories this season--and that may be asking a lot--to become the first NFL franchise to reach 600.”

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Finding a way: Phil Rosenthal in the Chicago Sun-Times: “The Atlanta Falcons’ guide points out that kicker Morten Andersen has been to several Super Bowls. None as a player, of course. Seven as a Danish TV analyst.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, Noureddine Morceli of Algeria broke the world record in the mile by almost two seconds with a time of 3 minutes 44.39 seconds in Rieti, Italy.

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Trivia answer: Three--Bobby Wine of the Montreal Expos on April 30, 1970, Carlos Garcia of the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 16, 1993, and Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres on June 26, 1997.

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And finally: Are you tired of using up six hours playing a round of golf? Then take heed of an unusual tournament played recently at the Morgan Run course in Rancho Santa Fe.

It was called “xtreme golf” and the winner was Dave Azhavorian, a 10-kilometer runner, who covered the 6,200-yard layout in 38 minutes 11 seconds while shooting a 2-over-par 74!