Just Another Workday at Bottom of the World

Have a tough time getting started in the morning? Perhaps a glimpse at life on the Trans-Antarctica Expedition will help. Team member Geoff Somers described the ritual:

“All the inside of the tent is covered in ice. Your sleeping bag is hard and stiff with ice. And you’re stiff, your back aches. You crawl out into these freezing temperatures and you feel absolutely horrible.

“The first thing you do is light the stove. Touch the (propane) bottle and it’s minus 50 (degrees). You’ve got to pump the stove, holding it with your bare fingers when it’s minus 50. Then you get out the matches, and as soon as you open the box, ice forms on the matches.

“You eventually get the stove going and pick up your pot, but you can’t get the top off because it’s frozen on. All the clothes that are hanging up in the tent to dry are frozen stiff. All you want to do is stay in your bag. But you have no choice. It’s like going to work every day.”

Trivia time: On Feb. 7, 1969, who became the first female jockey to race at a U.S. pari-mutuel track?

Role reversal: Who will be the villain if there is a lockout at baseball’s spring training sites? Sports agent Tom Reich told Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Press:

“I think this is one time the media and the public will perceive the owners--who have already been found guilty of collusion, which probably cost the players in the neighborhood of $250 million in salaries between 1985 and 1989--as the heavy.

“If they go through with the lockout, I think they will not get the benefit of the doubt from the public, which always tends to blame players for being greedy in these strikes. The players are essentially looking to protect the status quo.”

Add baseball: Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer on first baseman Will Clark’s four-year, $15-million contract with the San Francisco Giants: “Have you ever been to Key Biscayne? Do you know the bridge you cross to get there cost $7 million? Who do you think got the better deal, San Francisco or Key Biscayne?”

Down to business: Charles Barkley on the Philadelphia 76ers’ recent success: “I don’t care how many points I score. I don’t care how many rebounds I get. I don’t care how many assists I get. I’ve had all that individual stuff and it’s nice, but I’m at the point where I only want one thing--to win. If I don’t score another point the rest of the season and we win the championship, I’ll be the happiest person on earth.”

Inquiring mind: Hall of Fame defensive lineman Art Donovan in “Fatso,” by Bob Drury, on broadcasters:

“Only a few of those guys tell the truth. John Madden is one. Paul Maguire is another. Just once I’d like to hear an announcer say that so-and-so is a damn good quarterback who also has a nasty habit of kicking his wife.”

Trivia answer: Diane Crump rode to a 10th-place finish at Hialeah in Florida.

Quotebook: Rick Horrow, president of the Senior Professional Baseball Assn., on the fact that 80% of those who attended games were repeat visitors: “We need to capture the fresh senior baseball fan.”