Sideline Chatter
Further proof that fame can be fleeting

By Dwight Perry
The Seattle Times

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Van Chancellor, the coach of the gold-medal U.S. women's basketball team, discovered last week that it's just one quick elevator drop from euphoria to humbled.

Five minutes after Chancellor got his ego stroked by a Russian fan who recognized him in an Athens elevator and asked for his autograph, a friend called him on his cellphone. As Chancellor told the Houston Chronicle, the conversation went something like this:

"Hey, Van, this is Mark. Do you want to play golf tomorrow?"

"I'm a little busy."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm in Athens, Greece."

"What are you doing in Athens?"

"I am coaching a little bit."
 
"What in the world are you coaching?"

As Chancellor told the newspaper: "I went from feeling really good to a guy in my hometown not even knowing I was here."

Have a lavalava

Tennessee football player Albert Toeaina hasn't forgotten his Polynesian roots, right down to his "ie lavalava" waist cloth.

"Albert was man enough," roommate Jesse Mahelona told The Associated Press. "He wrapped one of those things around him and walked to class. I was like, 'Whoa.' "

Just guessing here, but Mahelona probably doesn't need to worry about his roomie getting picked on by fellow students. Albert stands 6 feet 6 and weighs 350 pounds.

Slower, Lower, Weaker

Ever wonder what the Olympic Games' gold-medal standings would look like upside down?

Jonathan Crowe of Shawville, Quebec, decided to find out, devoting part of his Web site — www.mcwetboy.net — to a daily chronicling of the last-place finishers in each of the Athens events.

Greece, with 13 last-place showings, finished "atop" his final medals table, with Australia (8) second and the United States (7) and Poland (7) sharing the bronze.

Crowe drew his share of critics for the concept, but give him his due: He invented the one Olympic competition in which a disgruntled runner-up won't be demanding a duplicate gold medal.

Talking the talk

• Mary Carillo, Bravo Olympic host, on the final day of the equestrian competition: "We're all dabbing our eyes a little bit around here ... We can only hope that the rumors of a pro dressage league starting up are true."

• Jim Armstrong of AOL Sports, on Olympic men's basketball. " 'Argentina, Hoops Capital of the World.' Now that's going to take some getting used to. What's next — prohibition in Wisconsin?"

• Bob Costas, NBC Olympic host, on Greco-Roman wrestling: "What's with a sport where the referee wears a jacket and tie? Did this guy get lost on the way to the dog show?"

Starks-raving mad

Ex-NBAer John Starks is reportedly upset that his just-released book — on which he is listed as co-author — has some profanities in it.

"If you didn't actually write your autobiography," wondered Phil Mushnick of the New York Post, "might you have chosen to read it before it was published?"

Maybe Starks was just waiting for the movie version to come out.

Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com