The Eagle Has His Act Together

The winner was Norway’s Vegard Opaas, but the big story of the World Cup ski jump at Lake Placid, N.Y. was that Britain’s Eddie Edwards didn’t finish last.

Edwards, who became known as Eddie The Eagle at the Calgary Olympics when he finished last in both the 70- and 90-meter jumps, finished 78th in a field of 83 Sunday in the 70-meter jump.

Said The Eagle: “I really kicked some butt today, didn’t I?”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Hall of Fame slugger Ted Williams told the Stuart (Fla.) News: “If Castro hadn’t taken over Cuba, I wouldn’t be in Florida today. I’d be living in Cuba. That’s right. I had a spot picked out at Veradero Beach. I had plans to fish all those miles of bonefish flats.”

From Dan Shaughnessy’s column last week in the Boston Globe: “The Angels made a $4.9 million offer to Bruce Hurst but have virtually no chance of getting the lefty because of the volatile temperament of new manager Doug Rader. Hurst had a hard time working for Don Zimmer, and Rader makes Zimmer look like Bing Crosby in ‘Bells of St. Mary’s’ ”

Claiming that Rader’s heavy-handed handling of pitchers at Texas set back the careers of Tom Henke and Dave Stewart, Shaughnessy said, “California’s crude dude is not the manager for Hurst.”

Trivia Time: What do wide receivers Henry Ellard of the Rams, Stephone Paige of the Kansas City Chiefs and Stephen Baker of the New York Giants have in common? (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: From Hector Camacho, claiming he has a new outlook after taking a year off from boxing: “I can happily say I’ve made a 100 degree turn in my life.”

Is that SSE or SSW?

For What It’s Worth: David Cone of the New York Mets, on the prices in Tokyo where he pitched in the all-star series between the U.S. and Japan: “I went to a steak house one night, and the price for a filet--just the filet--was $150. You learn to eat rice over there in a hurry.”

How long has Dave Butz been playing? The Sporting News put it this way: “His days with the Washington Redskins have spanned two generations. He has played with both linebacker Chris Hanburger (North Carolina, class of ‘64) and running back Kelvin Bryant (North Carolina, class of ‘84).

Trivia Answer: All three went to Fresno State.

Quotebook

Don Criqui, while announcing the New York Giant-Kansas City Chief game, revealing that it was 11 degrees in Buffalo for the Bills-Raiders game: “The Bills are working hard to get the home ice advantage for the playoffs.”