If you don't believe NBA referees actually give star players the benefit of calls, maybe you'd believe Hall of Famer Kevin McHale.

Now a TNT studio analyst, McHale recounted this story from his first NBA game:

"I go up to do what I think is a good block, and they blow the whistle," McHale said. "They yell, 'Foul on No. 32.'

"I said, '32? You mean 33? Larry (Bird) is the one who fouled him.'

"He said, 'You want Larry to have three or you to have one?'

"I said, 'My foul!'"

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Sometimes adults say and write the darnedest things:

R.J. Currie, Calgary blogger: (on Vikings coach Brad Childress dressing as a female flight attendant on a team flight) "Brett Favre couldn't decide whether to make a pass."

Bob Molinaro, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot: (on a Virginia election) "Going strictly on first impressions, a Fredericksburg woman and former U.Va. swimmer who is running for the U.S. House of Representatives might be just what the country needs. Her name is Krystal Ball."

Steve Schrader of the Detroit Free Press: (on NASCAR penalties for driver A.J. Allmendinger after he was charged with DUI) "He can't draft the Budweiser and Miller Lite cars."

Bob Stoops, Oklahoma football coach: (relating his postgame chat with K-State's Brandon Banks, who had 351 all-purpose yards, including a 98-yard kickoff return TD, against OU last week) "I put my arm around him and said, 'You're a senior, aren't you?' And he said, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'I'm glad. I'm tired of watching you return kicks.'"

Shane Proctor, professional bull rider: (on being charged by a bull while posing naked, except for boots and a strategically placed cowboy hat, for an ESPN the Magazine photo spread) "I dropped hat and ran up on the fence. He was about to horn up on my business."