Rock on News Utah Jazz

Poor reception Andrei Kirilenko is a famous international roundball star. Isn't he? The league announced last week that Kobe Bryant sells more NBA jerseys in Europe than any other player.

But Spain's Pau Gasol is No. 3. Other foreign-born players who are top sellers include Tony Parker (6), Andrea Bargnani (8) Jose Calderon (9), Dirk Nowitzki (11), Rudy Fernandez (12) and Marco Belinelli (13). But no A.K. Which probably says more about the current state of the Jazz than it does Kirilenko. And more about the availability of cable TV in Russia than anything. Touchless hello The Jazz fired off a memo, last week, denying the NBA had issued an anti-handshake directive, aimed at avoiding an H1N1 flu outbreak. "Players and coaches have been asked to greet each other via more sanitary means of contact, like fist pounding, or maybe chest bumps," said the Boston Herald. According to the Jazz , it was an erroneous story. Which would be a good thing. Last thing the NBA needs is Shaquille O'Neal booty bumping with Big Baby Davis before tipoff. Let it be Craig Ehlo, who was defending Michael Jordan on a shot that beat Cleveland in the 1989 playoffs, says ex-Jazzman Bryon Russell should let his issues with Jordan slide. Jordan, whose basket against Russell beat the Jazz in the 1998 NBA Finals, mentioned Russell in his Hall of Fame induction speech. Russell responded by saying he was ready to go again. Ehlo told Fanhouse.com: "I would tell Bryon, 'Just let it go,' It happened, and it's a great memory. But you don't want him to go out and embarrass you, and let it happen twice." None of which would be as embarrassing as the time Russell predicted he would be the Jazz's star after Karl Malone and John Stockton retired. Fool's gold Not only did Chicago fail to get the 2016 Olympic bid, it was eliminated on the first vote. Strange, considering Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey made appearances on behalf of the U.S. So how come the bid failed? Maybe Oprah just assumed, like her book club, anything she endorsed would automatically turn to gold. Super-size me Baltimore Ravens offensive tackle Jared Gaithers got a scare, Sunday, when he injured his neck in a collision while playing against New England. The 6-foot-9, 340-pound Gaithers was taken to Massachusetts General for an MRI, but was unable to get one because he was too big for the machine. Not to worry. Engineers are confident they can rig the big screen at Cowboys Stadium for the job. EMAIL: rock@desnews.com