Ronnie Gallagher’s sports notes ‘n’ quotes

So, you think football players DeVonte Peterson and Radell Lockhart were the only Catawba College athletes going pro?

Think again.

Ned Gusic, a 6-foot-6 guard from Croatia, is close to signing a six-figure contract with a Division I team in Germany.

Gusic went home to Croatia recently and caught some ribbing from all of those players he once played with on the Croation National Junior team. They chided him for, of all things, going to college instead of staying home and playing for money.

So Gusic, who wasn’t too happy with their attitudes, joined them in a pickup game.

“They couldn’t stop me,” he said. “I scored 35 points.”

Gusic has until May 25 to sign with the German team. But his agent, former Wake Forest star Delaney Rudd, has told him of a more lucrative offer in Turkey. First, he will attend a camp in Hungary for selected players.

Of the things Gusic will miss from this area?

Waiting tables at McCabe’s Restaurant in Kannapolis.

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The pro report: Peterson, who signed a two-year deal with Buffalo and Lockhart, who signed a one-year deal with Jacksonville, have reported to their camps, each with very different agendas.

Peterson has been running. And running. And running. The Bills want to see what type of condition their rookies are in.

Lockhart went straight into drills, wearing helmets.

“That’s Tom Coughlin, their coach, an ol’ ex-marine,” said Catawba coach David Bennett.

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Lean on her: Chamique Holdsclaw averaged 17.5 points a game for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics last season and made the All-Star game. She also gained 20 pounds and many were disappointed in her game.

She recently reported to training camp lean and fit, 18 pounds lighter, saying she’d called her grandmother in the off-season and been given a lecture.

One excerpt: “I hope you’re working hard because I don’t want to see you with that butt during the season.”

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The Chicago Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti, on Cub fans who don’t regard Sammy Sosa the way they do Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks:

“Somehow, Sosa’s detractors think he isn’t so valuable because the Cubs lose with him. It’s birdbrain logic, a loser’s mentality.”

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Is there anything not covered by a web site?

SportsLetter, published by the Amateur Athletic Foundation, points out that there are two sites covering long-snapping, the fine art of centering a football to a punter or kick holder.

And yes, there are even camps for long-snappers.

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You know women’s boxing has arrived when its participants are trash-talking.

Mia St. John has this zinger in the June issue of Razor magazine:

“Let’s look at Christy Martin — she looks like she sits around eating Twinkies and Ho Hos all day.”

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Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe spotted this item in the newspaper’s lonely hearts classified section: “Sarcastic SWM, 30, looking for someone who doesn’t take life or herself too seriously. Must like dancing all night, sleeping late, dining out and must be a Red Sox fan. Yankee fans, don’t waste your time.”

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Trent Dilfer has a Super Bowl ring but he doesn’t have a football job.

On the other hand, who needs one if you can shoot consecutive golf rounds of 68-62?

That’s what Dilfer did in the recent Stan Humphries Celebrity Classic at Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

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And finally. ...

I think Kelly Everhart’s boy is going to be a talker.

I called the house of the North Rowan athletics director the other day and you could hear the six-week old gurgling and making all kind of googly noises.

Everhart, who also serves as North’s boys basketball coach, watched Spencer come into the world April 8 at 7 pounds, 1 ounce.

How did Everhart and wife Carol come up with the name “Spencer?” Did it have to do with loyalties to the town where they live?

“We wanted an exit on I-85 named after him,” Carol laughed.

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The Associated Press contributed to this article.