Kevin McHale is out of the Basketball business for now, he said this morning, so he's offering no opinion on the hiring of his Minnesota Timberwolves coaching successor (and former Los Angeles Lakers playing rival) Kurt Rambis.
"I'm just 'Joe Citizen' now," McHale said. "I don't want to comment." McHale also declined comment about a 1-percent ownership in the Timberwolves that owner Glen Taylor has been said to offer him as a severance deal. That would have a value of about $3 million.
McHale did say he's been talking with several networks about a TV analyst job. A month ago, word was that he and Charles Barkley would team up on TNT for the coming season.
"We'll see," he said.
-- Ireland's Rory McIlroy is 5 feet 9, 165 pounds, and averaged almost 320 yards driving in last week's Bridgestone tournament in Akron, Ohio. How does he hit it so far?
"Timing and years of repetition, practice and experimenting," said McIlroy, 20, who is in Minnesota for the PGA Championship this week at Hazeltine National in Chaska.
Concerning Tiger Woods, and his victory over fellow countryman Padraig Harrington in Akron, McIlroy said, "His drive to win and his ambition is incredible. We were in the locker room and having little bets on how he would play those last three holes, in 2 under, whatever.
"He's probably going to be the greatest golfer who ever lived."
-- The guy to watch on the driving range during the PGA Championship, though, is Alvaro Quiros. The lean 6-3 Spaniard carries drives almost 300 yards in the air.
"He's physically strong, makes a good turn and moves his hands through fast," Hazeltine teaching professional Mike Barge said.
-- Professionals at the Hazeltine practice range have their choice from among nine different brands of new golf balls.
-- Jock Olson, the former Interlachen Country Club professional who studied journalism at Southern Illinois, is an on-course correspondent at the PGA Championship for PGA.com .
