Next Time He Might Pay Attention to Details

Jockey Sylvester Carmouche, accused of using heavy fog to help him to a fraudulent victory at Delta Downs Jan. 11, overlooked some details in his scheme, according to testimony before the Louisiana Racing Commission.

Carmouche is accused of reining in 23-1 shot Landing Officer soon after the race started. He allegedly let the other eight horses pass by, then waited for the field to come back around before taking off again, reaching the wire first by 24 lengths. Landing Officer was disqualified and placed last.

Carmouche has insisted that Landing Officer broke from the gate wide and was alone on the outside of the muddy track. Videotape of the race was called inconclusive.

However, the testimony of James Broussard, a track veterinarian, appeared to lift the fog. Broussard said that Landing Officer wasn’t muddy or breathing hard after the race.

“The horse was clean. The leggings were clean and the respiration was nearly normal,” Broussard said.

If found guilty, Carmouche could be banned from racing.

Trivia time: What team had the longest losing streak in NHL history?

On a tear: The book “Damned Yankees,” by Bill Madden and Moss Klein and due out in April, recounts how Reggie Jackson and George Frazier dined in the English Room of Milwaukee’s Pfister Hotel in 1981, where male diners were required to wear jackets. Jackson was wearing a sweater.

Jackson was asked to put on one of the coats kept by the restaurant for such situations.

“No problem,” Jackson said, and grabbed a coat at least two sizes too small. He slipped it on, stretched his arms and ripped the seam in back. Then he walked to his table, drawing amazed looks from other patrons.

After dinner, Jackson rose, stretched and tore off both sleeves. He handed the headwaiter the coat, in three pieces.

“Thanks for the jacket,” he said, and left.

Taking nothing for granted: La Salle’s Lionel Simmons, on reaching 3,000 points: “You look at yourself, at the position you’re in and you just don’t think of being on that level--you’re amazed. I guess all athletes dream of it happening to them, but it doesn’t for most. And for me, I’m just--it’s amazing.”

Add college basketball: You have to like Slippery Rock’s promotion of Flyin’ Myron Brown, a 6-foot-3 guard who is averaging 23.3 points. The school calls Brown the Michael Jordan of Division II basketball.

Trivia answer: The Washington Capitals lost 17 consecutive games from Feb. 18 to March 26, 1975.

Quotebook: Former North Carolina State star David Thompson, asked why he declined to appear during halftime of a Wolfpack basketball game after returning to the campus for the first time in 10 years: “If I heard even one person boo, it might make me cry.”