AP/BILL KOSTROUN Nets point guard Devin Harris had 41 points and 13 assists against his former Dallas Mavericks teammates on Dec. 19 in New Jersey.

Cuban gets last laugh, reason to cry

Last week in New Jersey, point guard Devin Harris got some revenge against the Dallas Mavericks, the team that traded him last season for Jason Kidd. Harris scored 41 points with 13 assists in the Nets' 121-97 victory.

When Harris was taken out of the game, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, sitting near the Dallas bench, heard a chant from Nets fans, "Thank you Cub-an," wrote Jan Hubbard of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"That was really funny," Cuban said later. "I thought it was hysterical."

Harris, 25, has career-best averages of 24 points and 6.8 assists a game, while Kidd, 35, is scoring a career-low 9.1 points a game with 8.3 assists.

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Slow long

Pro Football Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh, renowned as a fast driver, made one last trip through Rotan, Texas, on Monday - his saddle-draped pine casket in the back of a horse-drawn wagon leading the funeral procession toward Belvieu Cemetery.

Noted his son Todd, 67, a state district judge from Billings, Mont., at the memorial service: "Today will be the slowest my father ever went through this town."

Piling on

From Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:

"Q: Why does Browns wideout Braylon Edwards, who leads the NFL in botched receptions, plan to spend New Year's Eve in New York?

"A: He wants to drop the ball in Times Square, too."

Quick quotes

San Francisco Chronicle

columnist Scott Ostler on the New York Yankees signing pitcher CC Sabathia to a seven-year, $161-million contract: "In other news, the Yankees signed Prince and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to provide live pregame music in the clubhouse."

Comedian and syndicated columnist Argus Hamilton: "Last week when the Iraqi journalist threw two shoes at President Bush, Terrell Owens complained that he was wide open on both plays."

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard, to MLB.com, on meeting Donald Trump at a taping of Costas Now for HBO: "It was different to be in his presence. I think when [he] was breathing, a thousand bucks came out."

Chicago Bears receivers coach Darryl Drake, to the Chicago Sun-Times, on the Bears' 10 dropped passes in the past three games: "Some of it is just not making the catch."

Golfer Boo Weekley, to The Associated Press, on why hunting is slightly ahead of fishing on his list of pastimes: "I just love the smell of gunpowder."

Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun, on the Raptors' 91-83 loss to the 2-24 Oklahoma

Thunder: "If this isn't rock bottom, it's going to take a visit to the D-League to beat it."

"Mean Gene" Okerlund, the former pro wrestling announcer, telling the St. Paul (Minn) Pioneer Press about retirement in Florida: "It was 88 degrees here today. I spent 40 years in Minnesota - 38 of them staring out the window."

St. John's (Minn.) football coach John Gagliardi, 82, to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, on job security: "The monks give me a lifetime contract because they figure I can't last much longer. But there's a clause in there that if we start losing games, they can give me the last sacraments and declare me dead."

Quote of the day

"It's been a nightmare. It's totally embarrassing."

Running back Kevin Smith on the Detroit Lions' 0-15 record