News for PVII
Trivia Q&A: Highest-paid rookies play basketball
Q. What is the minimum salary for a one-year contract for a player in
pro baseball, basketball, football and hockey?
_D.D., North Richland Hills, Texas
A. According to representatives of each league, the minimum salaries
are the following:
Major League Baseball: $170,000 for 1998 and $200,000 in 1999, 2000 and
possibly 2001, depending on whether the league's basic agreement is
extended to cover the third year.
National Basketball Association: Minimum salaries, one of the items
under negotiation during the 1998-99 lockout, were $242,000 for rookies
and $272,250 for everyone else during the previous season.
National Football League: $158,000 in 1998 and $175,000 in 1999. This
minimum applies only to rookies. In 1999, players with one year of
experience must earn at least $198,000, two years $238,000, three years
$275,000, four years $300,000 and five or more years $325,000.
National Hockey League: $150,000 for 1998-99.
Q. On the TV program ''JAG,'' times such as ''2040 Zulu'' and ''2310
Zulu'' are shown. What does Zulu signify?
_J.A.T., Worcester, Mass.
A. Zulu time is a reference to the time at 0 degrees longitude, the
prime meridian that crosses Greenwich, England. Zulu refers to the word
for the letter ''Z'' in the phonetic alphabet.
Once called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), the time at the prime meridian
is now referred to as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). UTC represents
the mean solar time at the meridian, which is kept by the Bureau
International des Poids et Mesures in France.
Zulu time is five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and four hours
ahead of Eastern Daylight Time.
Q. I have a question about the gold stripe on some of the pro football
games. Can that only be seen by the TV audience, or is it visible to
the players?
_L.F., Arlington, Texas
A. The onfield stripe, which has appeared this month on telecasts of
some NFL playoff games and the Fiesta Bowl, is visible only to TV
viewers.
The stripe marks the line a team must cross to get a first down on
offense. Players and officials can pass in front of it as if it were
painted on the field.
During NFL playoff games on CBS, the effect was created by Princeton
Video Image. Several companies provide similar technology for other
events. Video insertion also has been used to place advertising and
other information during Major League Baseball games, soccer and auto
racing.
Q. What actor played the part of the drunk Santa Claus in ''Miracle on
34th Street,'' and what else did he appear in?
_B.L.A., Fort Worth, Texas
A: That uncredited role was portrayed by Percy Helton, according to the
Internet Movie Database at
imdb.com
Helton, who died in 1971 at age 77, appeared in 70 movies and more than
20 TV shows during his seven-decade acting career.
Some other Helton performances that show up on TV today are on ''Butch
Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' as Sweetface, ''Beverly Hillbillies'' as
Homer Cratchit, ''Jailhouse Rock'' as Sam Brewster, and several
appearances on ''Gunsmoke.''
Q/ Where can I write to Danielle Steel?
_M.C., Fort Worth, Texas
A. Write to Steel at Box 1637, Murray Hill Station, New York, NY 10156,
or send e-mail through her official Web site, www.daniellesteel.com.
Steel, the author of more than 65 novels, has sold more than 370
million books and occupied a spot on The New York Times' bestseller
list for a record 390 weeks.
In November, Steel's new novel, ''Mirror Image,'' was published. Last
year, she also wrote a nonfiction book, ''His Bright Light: The Story
of Nick Traina,'' about the 1997 suicide of her oldest son at age 19.
Q. What mailing address can I use to contact Kirk Kerkorian?
_I.S., Fort Worth, Texas
A. Kerkorian, a financier and philanthropist who owns the MGM Grand
Hotel and a majority share of MGM Studios, has several business
addresses. Employees at each company asked that they not be published
for the purpose of contacting him.
''That's not something we do,'' said a Kerkorian representative at
Tracinda Corp., his Las Vegas-based company that owns the MGM
properties. Tracinda does not publish its address or phone number.
Kerkorian, 82, never grants interviews and is described by colleagues
as extremely shy. He is worth $5.7 billion, according to Forbes
magazine, and has donated an estimated $500 million to charities
related to education, health care and other efforts.
The son of an Armenian immigrant farmer, Kerkorian also supports
Armenian causes with efforts such as donating $25 million for airlifts
of medicine and equipment.
(Rogers Cadenhead writes a trivia column for the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram. He can be reached at the Star-Telegram, Box 1870, Fort
Worth, Texas 76101; or by e-mail at trivia(at)prefect.com.)
(c) 1999, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Visit the Star-Telegram on the World Wide Web: www.star-telegram.com.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
AP-NY-01-28-99 0543EST< -0-
By Rogers Cadenhead
Knight Ridder Newspapers |
