The paper described it as "a mansion carved out of 60-plus acres in rural western New Jersey. A master bedroom with two walk-in closets, each big enough in which have dinner. A giant home theater. A bar nicer than any neighborhood joint. Two swimming pools, one inside, one outside. A lacrosse field, a tennis court, a golf hole, a barn filled with a vintage car collection, a skeet range, a soda machine that dispenses cans of beer, a white Bentley for tooling around town and best of all, an indoor basketball court designed to replicate half of the gym floor at St. John's University."

Basically, it was Xanadu. Only extravagant.

Great expectations

Moses White, a senior point guard for play-in team Florida A&M, was asked this week by the Lexington Herald-Leader on his thoughts on facing Kentucky in the first round.

"I know that nobody thinks we can win this game," White said. "I plan on going all out and leaving everything on the floor, because it could be my last. If I'm going out, though, I want to go out with a bang."

Final score: Kentucky 96, Florida A&M 76. BANG!

Slingin' Sammy

The Fort-Worth Star-Telegram visited former Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh on his Texas ranch this week, the week of his 90th birthday. The paper ran the following quote from its conversations with the Lonestar State icon:

"If I had a wish, I'd wish for a damn good horse to ride all the time. I like a quiet horse under me."

They just don't make men like that any more.

Soiled reputation

Upon his signing with the Philadelphia Eagles, Terrell Owens addressed the media for the first time this week in the city of Brotherly Love, opening a press conference with, "This is a fresh beginning for me. I have a clean rap sheet right now, so to speak."

Ah yes, the clean rap sheet. Is that even possible?

What are the odds?

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported this week that Vermont was a 2-billion-to-one longshot to win the NCAA Tournament. And the Catamounts are a 15 seed. What do you suppose the odds were on FAMU?

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E-mail rernst@enquirer.com