21.   And then there was only the brief NBA training camp, and two exhibition games, before Nowitzki was tossed to Scottie, Charles, Karl, etc.

22.   And then there was that little problem in spring training, when Strawberry took a swing and a miss on the final exhibition game at Anaheim Stadium.

23.   And there are no Birds or Sampsons with the Clippers, who are on the road for four exhibition games before moving their training to UC Irvine.

24.   And tonight at the Forum, he will make his first Los Angeles-area appearance as a King, in an exhibition game against the Colorado Avalanche.

25.   And Warner was terrible in his first exhibition game, against the St. Louis Stampede in St. Louis, throwing two interceptions in the first half.

26.   Any concern Pierce would be a step behind or off the mark in the exhibition game was quickly put to rest.

27.   And why would you play Bruce Armstrong except in the final exhibition game?

28.   Anticipation is running high for the NFL season, and rightly so, but is there a fast-forward key for the exhibition games?

29.   Any hermit wandering in, not knowing that the major-leaguers were on strike, would have thought it was the sixth or seventh inning of a normal exhibition game.