A big deal for Shaquille...Cauthen comes a cropper...News flash: Boz says he's human

Signed
By the Orlando Magic, No. 1 draft pick Shaquille O'Neal, to a seven-year deal worth a reported $40 million. Magic owner Richard DeVos, president of Amway, will have to push a lot of detergent to pay the 7'1" Shaq an NBA rookie-record $3.5 million next season.

Set Down
For 10 days by the British Jockey Club, rider Steve Cauthen, after he was cited twice for improperly whipping his mount. Cauthen protested the decision. "I have never been known as a flogger of horses," he whinnied. "I tend to flick horses with the whip. I don't pulverize them."

Chilled
Contract talks between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Scotty Bowman, who stepped in for the late Bob Johnson last season and guided the Penguins to their second consecutive Stanley Cup. "I'll be back," Bowman half joked in June, "if I can get one of those Pat Riley-Chuck Daly contracts." That didn't happen, and Bowman said last week he was stepping down as coach and returning to his old job as the Penguins' super-scout. No successor had been named at week's end, leading to speculation that, if the 58-year-old Bowman is offered the $350,000 one-year deal he reportedly wants, he just might change his mind.

Robbed
At gunpoint, basketball Hall of Famer Jerry West, as he walked through a parking lot outside the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, Calif. West, the general manager of the Lakers, was accosted by two teenagers who demanded his wallet and his 1985 NBA championship ring. West complied, and his assailants fled. "I really wasn't scared," West said after the early morning incident. "But it was pretty weird. I'd rather not talk about it."

Zapped
By Augusta (Ga.) Pirate second baseman Ramon Zapata, three Asheville (N.C.) Tourists, in what is believed to be the first unassisted triple play in the 33-year history of the Class A South Atlantic League. With runners on first and second and a full count, Zapata caught Todd Hobson's liner, stepped on second to nail Craig Curtis, tagged the onrushing Henri Centeno and trotted nonchalantly to the dugout. "He slapped a few high fives and asked me for a piece of gum," said Augusta trainer Rod Lich. In the majors, the last such play occurred in 1968.

Rolled
The Atlanta Thunder, to its second consecutive World TeamTennis championship. Led by Martina Navratilova, who played singles and mixed doubles, the Thunder won every set and trounced the Newport Beach Dukes 30-17. Navratilova was presented with the league's MVP award by founder Billie Jean King.

Incarcerated
Brian Bosworth, the washed-up linebacker turned Grade B movie actor, after pleading guilty to a drunken driving charge in Seattle. The Boz, uncharacteristically repentant, spent a day in the slammer, paid a $500 fine and agreed to perform 50 hours of community service. "I'm a human being," he said. "I made a mistake."

PHOTO

JOE BURBANK/ORLAND SENTINEL

Shaq looked radiant on his Magical signing day.