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Rain or shine Anderson ready to play

Tim Parsons and Steve Yingling

Dick Anderson was on the driving range less than five minutes when rain started falling and he was told by an official to move inside. Tahoe’s unpredictable weather was hardly a surprise to the former champion.

At a June 1995 media day at Edgewood Anderson played 18 holes in a blizzard. “I’ve done well here,” said Anderson, who is second to Rick Rhoden in the most money won at Tahoe ($295,158). “Hopefully I can play smooth. Last week (at the John Elway Classic) I had a bad first round and a good second round.”

Anderson shot a 2-over par at the Caesars Pro-Am before attempting to take some practice swings on the driving range.



“There are five to 10 players who can win here,” Anderson said. “Shane Rawley, Al Del Greco, Jack Wagner, Danny Quinn, Mike Schmidt and Rick Rhoden are all playing really well.”

Anderson, who has played in every Celebrity Golf Championship, recalled the first year in 1990 when Mark Rypien won.



“Three- or 4-over won it and the course was shorter then,” he said. “We’ve all just gotten a lot better.”

Nealon stands up against Sir Charles

The competition could be fierce on the opposite side of the scoreboard, too. Comedian Kevin Nealon, who lives in Stateline, is pitted against Charles Barkley in a proposition bet at the sports books.

“I am going to beat Barkley,” Nealon vowed. “I’ve been studying tapes of him, observing behavior patterns, watching his temper.”

The former 10-year cast member of “Saturday Night Live” explained his game plan: “Conservative strategy and aggressive execution.”

A year ago Nealon beat one player, Chris Webber, who broke Jesse Ventura’s tournament-worst record with a 163-over par 379.

“I am disappointed Webber won’t be playing,” Nealon said. “He was kind of a buffer for me. I proved to be a little better.”

If anyone is a threat to Webber’s infamous record, it could be Judd Nelson. Nelson shot a 67-over-par 139 during the first round at John Elway’s tournament last weekend.

Chandler comfortable with Vick waiting in the wings

As a quarterback who has a history of being underappreciated, Chris Chandler is handling the Atlanta Falcons’ newest acquisition with class and composure.

Chandler led the Falcons to the Super Bowl in 1999, but the Falcons used the top pick in the NFL draft on exciting Virginia Tech quarterback Michael Vick.

“Michael is a really good kid and I only have three or four years left max,” Chandler said Wednesday. “Dan (Reeves) called me the day of the draft and said, “Listen, we’re doing this for a move down the road and couldn’t pass it up. You’re our guy.’

“It’s just going to be a situation where as long as I can play, I’ll still be there.”

Chandler is excited about the possibility of improving upon last year’s losing season.

“I’m definitely looking forward to this season coming up. It’s going to be a good one,” he said. “We have Tony Martin back and I feel real confident just having him back out there at receiver and we’ve had a really good off-season program as far as the team goes.”

The 1997 and ’98 Pro Bowl quarterback also likes his chances of topping last year’s 15th-place showing in the celebrity championship. Chandler will have brother-in-law Billy Brodie carrying his bag this week after allowing a nongolfing friend on his bag in previous tournaments.

“We’ve always had a lot more fun than maybe we should have, but that’s not to try and make an excuse because I still tried real hard,” Chandler said. “I think having Billy will possibly help me when I come up to a dilemma of what should I do. He’ll give me maybe a different thought than I might have and maybe take a double (bogey) out of play and just make it a bogey.”


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