Kevin Garnett: Not The Only A-Hole In Sports This Week

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The best trash-talk story I know about is one Reggie Miller shared with ESPN The Magazine some years ago. Dan Patrick asked Miller, a notorious jabbermouth, for the best gem directed at him, rather than by him.

Miller told a great story about Larry Bird, in his prime, at Boston Garden, on Christmas Day. As if the cards weren't totally stacked in No. 33's favor, add to the equation that Miller was a rookie on the Indiana Pacers' bench late in a blowout. Bird caught a pass in the corner in front of the Pacers' bench, launched a three without hesitation, then, with his crooked fingers still in the air, turned to Miller, looked him in the eye and politely wished, "Merry Christmas, bitch." The ball swished through the net a second or two later.

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Q&A: Cincinnati Sports Media React To T.O. Signing

By JOHN P. WISE
One Great Season

The deal that sends 36-year-old problem child Terrell Owens to Cincinnati is a terrible one. The No. 1 question on the minds of many is whether he and attention whore Chad Ochocinco can co-exist in harmony.

There's a reason why great players play for five teams in their careers. They eventually wear out their welcome. Sure Bengals owner Mike Brown smartly signed T.O. to just a one-year contract, but Owens was a problem in San Francisco, Dallas and Philadelphia, football-savvy cities where there wasn't an equally attention-starved teammate, an Ochocinco, in the same, small locker room.

Remember when Cedric Benson scored a touchdown against the Bears last year, and tried to rub it in the faces of his former team? Ochocinco, of all people, was the first to hustle over and advise him not to do that dance.

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