COACHES' CORNER.

TOM FITZGERALD (S.F Chronicle), on Bobby Valentine paying $2,000 to buy back the uniform he wore as a Dodger rookie in 1969: "Wow, $2,000 to buy back your old clothes.

BILL SCHEFT (ESPN), on Kobe Bryant's rejection of a place on the U.S. Olympic basketball team going to Sydney: "He'd be away for two weeks and couldn't find a sitter for his fiancee."

NICK BOLLETTIERI, a famous builder of tennis champions, on his latest prodigy: "He is a tremendous worker--the kind of kid who gets up at six in the morning no matter what time it is."

DAN DUVA, boxing promoter, on Mike Tyson hooking up again with the notorious Don King: "People forget that Mike went to prison, not Princeton, for three years."

STU GRIMSON, Chicago Blackhawks, on why he keeps a color photo of himself above his locker: "That's so when I forget how to spell my name, I can still find my clothes."

ARA PARSEGHIAN, the philosopher, "If what you did yesterday still looks big to you today you haven't done much today."

RALPH KINER, strictly the home-runner hitter, on why he never choked up on the bat: "Cadillacs are down there at the end of the bat."

BOBBY COX, Atlanta Brave manager, after being congratulated for the way he dealt with the John Rocker controversy John Smoltz's season-ending injury and Andres Galarraga's return from cancer: "I got a lot of training when I was with the Yankees, especially the year pitchers Mike Kekich and Fritz Peterson switched wives."

CHRIS LAWLOR (USA Today), on why Steve Young, who gave the invocation at the GOP convention, wouldn't be a good running mate for George W. Bush. "He might pass for Bush, but he'd never run."

JIM TAYLOR, what it was like playing for Vince Lombardi: "He's the only coach 1 ever had who, when he said, 'Sit down,' you never even bothered looking for a chair."

WHITEY FORD, the Yankees' Hall of Fame pitcher: "They always told me that money talks, but the only thing it ever said to me was 'Goodbye.'"

LEE TREVINO, life on the golf tour: "My wife doesn't really care what I do when I'm away so long as I'm not enjoying it."

TERRY BEADSHAW, on why the best way to make the Football Hall of Fame is by winning Super Bowls: "It's always the rings. I won four in Pittsburgh and the fans first cry every Sunday was 'Win one for the thumb!'"

ED SHIFFER (Pro Football Weekly), on the proposed Pro Athletic Golf League: "What a thrill it would be to spend an afternoon watching Marino and Elway square off on the 18th tee, locked atop the leader board at 16 over."

JOHNNY SAIN, of Spain, Spain and Pray for Rain fame: "Too many pitchers are so busy learning the tricks of the trade that they never learn the trade."

NANCY LOPEZ, on the difference between golf and football: "In golf you have to stand still to make your shots. In football, you stand still--and you can expect to be killed."

LARRY WALKER, Colorado outfielder, on why he wears a bulletproof vest on his civilian "ride-alongs" with the police in his spare time: "You never know when a serial killer may decide to pop by for a visit."

DICK SCHAAP'S tribute to John Heisman, football coach and Shakespearean actor: "He is the only man I know who played both Hamlet and Harvard."

BABE RUTH, after being introduced to Marshall Foch, the hero of World War I, and carefully checking his huge array of medals: "My God, what happened?"