A ‘90s kind of guy

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 9:43 a.m.

The questions came fast and furious, except they weren't the ones St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire is accustomed to answering.

"What type of pitch did you smack over left-center?" was replaced by, "Whose tuxedo are you wearing tonight?"

McGwire admitted he didn't know the answer.

"This is amazing," McGwire said. "So I know how these actors and actresses feel like after the Oscars. It's pretty wild.

"Someone did ask me (who designed my clothes). I don't know. I'm not into clothes. It was something with a name on it."

McGwire and dozens of other world-class athletes traded in their athletic gear for evening wear Monday night to attend the eighth annual ESPY Awards at the MGM Grand Garden.

McGwire, who broke Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1998, won the ESPY for the Baseball Player of the Decade.

But as expected, Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, grabbed the spotlight.

Jordan, a previous winner of nine ESPYs, made his first appearance at the show. He won the pro basketball Player of the Decade and the Male Athlete of the Decade.

His Airness was the only athlete to receive two of the inaugural ESPY "Decade Awards" and was a prominent member of the Chicago Bulls team that won the award for Team of the Decade.

Las Vegan Andre Agassi picked up the ESPY for the men's tennis Performer of the Year for 1999; however, his nemesis, Pete Sampras, won for Tennis Player of the Decade.

Tennis great Steffi Graf earned the Female Athlete of the Decade, but was not present to accept the award.

Other "Decade Award" winners were: current Los Angeles Lakers and former Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson, NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, college teams Florida State football and Tennessee women's basketball (tie), hockey's Mario Lemieux, boxer Evander Holyfield, football's Jerry Rice and Olympians Michael Johnson and Bonnie Blair.

As the newly appointed president of basketball operations for the struggling Washington Wizards (15-34), Jordan fielded some offbeat questions about his team, including one about the dress code he recently implemented.

"A coat and jacket on the plane, it's simple," Jordan answered. "It's just like a business."

The toughest part?

"Finding five players that can play."

Although Jordan has been seen at practices schooling the Wizards on how the game should be played and said he enjoys playing and has an itch to be out on the floor, he said he has no intention of coming out of retirement.

Jordan and hockey great Wayne Gretzky retired in 1999 and both were honored for their illustrious careers Monday night.

Tiger Woods, the PGA Tour's hottest player, earned the Golfer of the Decade and Men's Golfer of 1999 awards.

Last August, Woods began the second-longest winning streak in golf history, tying Ben Hogan's 1948 mark of six victories. The streak was snapped Sunday at the Buick Invitational. Woods was five wins shy of Byron Nelson's record 11 set in 1945.

Despite the galleries that have ballooned and the increased media coverage during the streak, Woods said that the last few months have been tame compared to what he endured his second year on the tour.

"Nowhere near as bad as it was in '97 after I won the Masters and then won the Byron Nelson after taking a month off," he said. "It was pretty hectic at Colonial that next weekend.

"Maybe it's because I'm a little bit older and (have) a little more experience and I've gone through it before. I guess I just understand what some of the pitfalls are, as well as some of the (other) things. I just think I'm accustomed to it more."

He says he hopes he'll still be competing two or three decades from now.

"I love playing this game of golf," he said. "Every time I tee it up to win it and hope that I do.

"Hopefully over the course of my career I can look back and say I have no regrets and I'll be very happy."