When He Reached the Finish, He Vowed That He Was Finished

At year’s end, when all the annual awards are given out, Brian O’Donoghue ought to receive one for “stick-to-itiveness.”

O’Donoghue, who left his job as a reporter with the Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News to become a musher in the Iditarod sled dog race, crossed the finish line in Nome 10 days after Rick Swenson won the 1,163-mile dash from Anchorage. O’Donoghue and his 13 huskies were on the trail 22 days 5 hours 55 minutes.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime adventure, with an emphasis on once ,” he said. “It was a war with nature when wind chills hit 70 (degrees) below zero . . . but I was determined.”

Trivia time: Who is the tallest pitcher to throw a no-hit game in the major leagues?

Final Four fact: Before Nevada Las Vegas’ 30-point rout of Duke in last year’s NCAA championship game, the previous five finals were decided by a total of 11 points.

Flag waving: Evander Holyfield was watching the Mike Tyson-Razor Ruddock fight card on TV and noticed that promoter Don King popped into the ring waving miniature flags before each fight--Panamanian for Roberto Duran, Jamaican for Simon Brown, Mexican for Julio Cesar Chavez, American for Tyson.

When Ruddock rocked Tyson at the end of the sixth round, Holyfield cracked: “Uh oh, I’ll bet King’s scrambling to find a Canadian flag now.”

High balling: The Ryan Express may soon be a road as well as a fastball. The Texas Senate voted, 28-3, to name state highway 288 from the Brazoria County line to Freeport--past Nolan Ryan’s home in Alvin--the Nolan Ryan Expressway.

“This is the only one people drive 92 m.p.h. on,” Sen. Buster Brown said.

Add roads: Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut asked the City-County Council to permanently rename one block of Georgia Street, which ends in front of the Hoosier Dome, site of this week’s NCAA basketball semifinals and final, “Final Four Road.”

Shouldn’t ask: Dick Van Arsdale was playing with the Phoenix Suns in 1969 when his coach, Johnny Kerr, told him that the team might make a trade with the Cincinnati Royals for Van Arsdale’s twin brother, Tom.

“Terrific,” Dick said. “Who are you thinking of giving up for him?,” he asked.

“You.”

Friendly purchase: Former Texas football coach Darrell Royal purchased the Pedernales Country Club in Austin, Tex.--the one Willie Nelson had to give up for an IRS debt--for $117,500 after a bank auction failed to attract the $500,000 minimum bid.

“I’m going to sell it back to Willie any time he wants it,” Royal said of the combination golf course and recording studio property. Royal said as far as he is concerned, nothing changed around the place except the name on the deed.

Trivia answer: Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners, at 6 feet 10.

Quotebook: Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, on his greatest All-Star game thrill: “When Mickey Mantle bunted with the wind blowing out in Crosley Field.”