The Vince Carter-bashers should have a field day with this. Randy Moss, the best wide receiver in pro football, is going to play some minor league basketball.

Moss has only committed to one game with the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the USBL, but the hyperventilating has begun. The same crowd that believes a game-day ritual shouldn't include anything more complicated than PlayStation can't imagine why an athlete who is world-class in one sport would risk his future to dabble in another. They have other questions; we have answers.

	Randy Moss intends to show off his vertical jump in the USBL.

Q: How will Moss maintain his focus on football?

A: By using a calendar. NFL training camps don't open for several months. But Moss should go ahead and circle the date immediately – just in case.

Q: Won't playing a second sport wear him out?

A: Moss' coach is former NBA star Darryl Dawkins. His nickname as a player was "Chocolate Thunder," probably because "Five-Course-Meal-And-Dessert Thunder" was unwieldy. Any running Moss does in practice will be considered gravy.

Q: Be serious.

A: Moss is 24. He played serious summer league basketball last offseason. He participated in the Vikings' minicamp and a development camp in the past few weeks. Moss is as finely conditioned as the law allows. And he already knows how to pack for short trips.

Q: Why bother?

A: Bo knew. Deion still does.

Some guys just have enough talent, time, energy and ego to find out how good they really are. Jim Thorpe starred at football and baseball and had enough left to wow them in the Olympics at the turn of the last century. Babe Didrikson owned the track and nearly annexed women's golf a few decades later. Deion Sanders was playing with Atlanta's NFL Falcons and major league baseball's Braves in 1992, when he pulled off a 20-hour, 2,000-mile, two-city, baseball-football-baseball tripleheader.

He needed a handful of expensive vehicles – limousines, chartered jets and a helicopter – but it was fun, something pro sports is supposed to be about. So naturally, he was roasted for being reckless, a self-promoter and even worse, for causing a distraction.

But tracking Sanders' progress was nearly as interesting as the games, in the same way Michael Jordan striking out was more entertaining than watching lots of major leaguers hit home runs.

In Moss' case, the only people whose votes count are already in his pocket. Minnesota owner Red McCombs gave his informal blessing some time ago. Coach Dennis Green went to watch Moss play hoops in Los Angeles last year. If Moss lasts, Green will take in a ValleyDawgs game this summer.

"I think it will be interesting," Green said.

The NFL is packed with guys who think they could play in the NBA, and vice versa. Most of them get over it.

"A lot of them had to make that decision years ago," Green said. "Randy made it, and he's done extremely well playing football."

Still, it was a tougher decision for Moss than most. On his way to 6-foot-4, he became a two-time West Virginia high school basketball player of the year – and Sacramento Kings guard Jason Williams was a teammate. Some scouting services rated him behind only a kid from Chicago named Kevin Garnett.

So when Moss let Green know he was stressing basketball in his summer workouts, the coach hardly blinked. He didn't worry about ankle injuries or what life would be like without a player who collected 43 touchdowns and three Pro Bowl visits in three seasons. He wondered whether Moss could dominate a court the way he does a football field.

	“	You're talking about athletes who are continuously challenging themselves who don't mind marching to a different beat. ”
		— Dennis Green, Vikings coach

"You're talking about athletes who are continuously challenging themselves," Green said, "who don't mind marching to a different beat."

So far Moss has let everybody else discuss why. He is in contract talks and previously told the Vikings he wants to be the highest-paid player in the league. Green has no idea whether his star is looking for leverage and he cares even less.

"I'm not going to speak for Randy Moss," he said. "He does a great job speaking for himself."

That might not be until Thursday, when Moss makes his debut and then decides what's next. The ValleyDawgs expect he'll be availabile on a game-by-game basis.

"He's very much into it," team spokesman Joe Heyer said. "But he doesn't want to commit himself to the season and then disappoint everyone by not showing up."

Basketball may not be the buzz Moss is looking for. What's cool is that, like Carter attending his graduation the morning of a big game, he isn't too scared of failing to find out. That must drive the sports scolds crazy.

Jim Litke is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke@ap.org.