Mike Empey is a 6-foot-7, 300-pound All-America candidate who plays left tackle for the Brigham Young University offense. His waist size is 42, which is quite svelte for someone of Empey's size and 14 percent body fat. But it wasn't always that way. Fourteen years ago, when Empey was 11-years-old and a fifth grader growing up in Pocatello, Idaho, his waist size was also 42.
"I'm a lot taller now than I was then," Empey explains good-naturedly, although he does admit that there was a down side to being the only kid in his class who could wear his dad's pants to school and, if he rolled them up, they didn't look like his dad's pants.Empey says he's happy if he can be a role model for chubby fifth graders.
"I'd like to think kids could look at my example and see that there is hope," he says. "But I wouldn't want to give off the impression that you don't have to work at it. You've got to work hard. I had to work very hard. But the thing is, if you do, it can really pay off when nature takes over and helps you out a little bit."
BRADLEY'S "WAIT": In the most recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Shawn Bradley's battle for the bulge is chronicled by writer Rick Reilly, who notes that the 7-foot-6 Philadelphia 76er rookie has been dutifully eating his 7,000 calories a day and so far hasn't gained a pound.
"He began the program at 245 pounds, and he now weighs . . . 245 pounds, well below the average for those Americans in the all-important 7'-7'6" category," writes Reilly.
However, Reilly reports that Bradley's resting pulse rate has decreased from 80 to 60 and his strength has greatly increased during his Rocky-style conditioning summer in Philadelphia (from which Bradley took a break this past weekend to marry Annette Evertsen, a nanny he met in Philadelphia).
"This year, I'm not going to be anything like what I'll be next year," Bradley told Reilly. "My goal is just to get better throughout the year. I basically would just like to survive the year. I know there will be some people who will think I'm wonderful and some people who will think I'm the biggest idiot in the world."
Not, however, 300-pound Orlando Magic center Shaquille O'Neal. "Shaq," says Reilly, "will mistake him for a breadstick."
REALITY CHECKS: Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller has a good deal of empathy for Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who finally buckled under to Emmitt Smith's demands and paid him the $4-plus million per year Smith said he needed to continue to run the football for the Cowboys. Like Jones, Miller isn't in favor of the escalating salaries in professional sports, even if he understands the reality of them.
"It offends the heck out of me what's going on," Miller says. "It does not make sense. But if we want to be in the market, we have to pay these prices. It's as simple as that. These guys aren't going to take less."
Miller says it shifts the financial load onto everyone, from the owner, who ends up paying millions more than he wants, on down to the fans, who end up paying higher ticket prices.
"The owner has to be the prudent realist in all of it, even when he doesn't want to be," he says. "I have to be honest. Sometimes the responsibility of it all gets a little heavy."
HERGET II: Earlier this season, after BYU had squeaked out consecutive close wins over New Mexico and Hawaii thanks to failed field goals that just missed or collided with the left goalpost upright, Cougar linebacker Todd Herget said the Cougars weren't necessarily running out of luck. "We still have the crossbar and the right upright," he said.
After Saturday's BYU victory over Air Force was helped when a 32-yard Air Force field-goal attempt in the second quarter was partially blocked by Chad Lewis and hit the crossbar, Herget dutifully amended his quote.
"So we've still got the right upright," he said. "But we are running out of possibilities."
T-SHIRT OF THE WEEK: On sale in the University of Washington's Husky Stadium: "Pac-9 - If You Can't Beat `Em, Disqualify 'Em."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Florida State football coach Bobby Bowden on the kinder and gentler coaching style being demanded in the '90s: "Don't touch 'em, don't cuss 'em - that's our motto."