After a Bad Start, It Didn’t Get Better

It’s been a tough week for Morning Briefing.

It started when a number of readers, pointing out that there are seven continents, including Australia and Antarctica, said Morning Briefing should apologize for making fun of the woman who, when told that the five rings in the Olympic flag represent the five continents, said, “Which five continents?”

Then, there was a call from a woman who objected to the item on Linda Fratianne undergoing cosmetic nose surgery before the 1980 Winter Games.

“Why pick on Linda?” she said. “They’ve all had cosmetic surgery. There’s one skater at Calgary who has been done over from head to toe.”

Then, a fellow wrote that the name of Sonja Henie’s third husband was misspelled.

Finally, somebody called to say the record listed for the fastest speed ever achieved on skis was wrong. “Some guy went 135 m.p.h. this year to break it,” he said. “I saw it on ESPN.”

OK, sorry. Win a few, lose a few. Apologies are offered all around, especially to the good folks in Antarctica.

Add Henie: It was noted that one her rivals in the 1936 Olympics, Vera Hruba of Czechoslovakia, later starred in a number of B movies as Vera Hruba Ralston.

Wrote Bob Stanford of North Hollywood: “Vera Hruba Ralston not only starred in numerous B movies for Republic Pictures, she married the owner and ended up owning the company!”

Here’s an item from the Boston Globe that should brighten the day of Al Davis: “Bo Jackson worked out with his Auburn baseball coach Hal Baird after the NFL season. Baird says Bo is no better than he was a year ago at this time. ‘He has a real need for concentrated instruction,’ says Baird.”

More from the Globe: “The Cleveland Indians agreed to give pitcher Bob James a two-day tryout. The first day consisted of a physical, and James registered a whopping 28% body fat. He didn’t show up to throw on the second day and his hotel room was empty except for empty pizza boxes and cans.”

Trivia Time: What do Byron Scott of the Lakers, Tom Chambers of the Seattle SuperSonics, Terry Cummings of the Milwaukee Bucks and Adrian Dantley of the Detroit Pistons have in common? (Answer below.)

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Mike Aldrete of the San Francisco Giants, playing in the National Pro-Am at Cypress Point, hit a shot into the dining area near the 18th green.

“Can I come in?” Aldrete asked of the diners. “I’ve got an American Express card.”

“Sure,” a diner said, “as long as you’re playing through.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Chick Hearn of the Lakers as they struggled in the fourth quarter at Atlanta: “They’re too tired to play an overtime.”

From the Sporting News: “If history repeats itself, the Minnesota Vikings will represent the NFC in Super Bowl XXIII. The last four Super Bowl winners--Washington, the New York Giants, Chicago and San Francisco--won the Super Bowl after losing the conference championship game the previous season.”

Trivia Answer: All four were No. 1 draft choices of the Clippers.

Quotebook

Gil Brandt, Dallas Cowboys vice president, on the use of computers in drafting: “I’ll say one thing for them--they never try to sell you their brother-in-law as a prospect.”