[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9860-9861]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 INDIANA PACERS HEAD TO THE NBA FINALS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Burton) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, for the first time in history of 
the NBA, the Indiana Pacers are going to be playing in the finals 
starting tonight. They are the Eastern Division champions and we are 
just so pleased in Indiana that that happened. The Indiana Pacers. 
Remember, they played the New York Knicks. They said it was the hicks 
versus the Knicks.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. I yield to the gentleman from Wisconsin.
  Mr. OBEY. Mr. Speaker, is that the team where the best player is 
still the guy on the bench doing the coaching?
  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Larry Bird was a great player, but he is also 
a great coach.

[[Page 9861]]

  Mr. Speaker, let me get back to the focus of my short message 
tonight. That is that the Indiana Pacers for the first time in history 
are going to be playing in the finals of the NBA. They are going to be 
playing the overwhelming favorite, the Los Angeles Lakers and Shaquille 
O'Neil, that titan of a man who is so tough to defend.
  But I want to tell a little story. I had an opportunity to talk to 
Jack Nicholson, the outstanding movie star, about another issue on the 
phone. He has won several Academy Awards. Mr. Nicholson, the first time 
I called him was at a Lakers game and I mentioned it to him. He said, 
``Yes, I go to all the Lakers games.'' And I said, ``You know, Mr. 
Nicholson, it is a shame that the Los Angeles Lakers are going to be 
playing the Indiana Pacers, because we are going to beat their tail.'' 
And here is what he said: ``Not in your life, Dan.''
  I do not know if that imitation was very good. ``Not in your life, 
son.''
  So all I want to say tonight to Mr. Nicholson, if he happens to be 
watching in California, Mr. Speaker, is, ``You do not know anything 
about Hoosier pride, because we are going to win. We are going to win. 
We are going to kick the tail of the Los Angeles Lakers.'' Go Pacers.

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