Some Sports Aren’t Pulling Their Weight

Would you believe tractor pulls are more popular in this country than NHL hockey? How about roller derby over World Cup soccer? Or high school football over NBA basketball?

Says who?

Says the Sports Marketing Group of Dallas. Using a private research company, SMG has come out with its version of the most popular 114 sports in America.

The top 20 were the NFL, college football, Winter Olympics, Summer Olympics, major league baseball, high school football, the NBA, women’s figure skating, pairs figure skating, pairs ice dancing, men’s figure skating, professional boxing, swimming, college basketball, Alpine ski racing, thoroughbred horse racing, women’s gymnastics, college baseball, minor league baseball and high school basketball.

Men’s gymnastics was 21st. The NHL, the fourth major professional sport and usually a sellout in Los Angeles for the Kings, was 40th in the survey, and the PGA was 43rd, both behind tractor pulls, which was 31st.

International ice hockey was 50th, World Cup soccer 75th, velodrome bike racing 100th, and the bottom five were tour bike racing, biathlon, curling, cricket and squash.

Some “sports,” more entertaining than competitive in nature, are on the list because of their television exposure. They include: No. 30, professional wrestling; No. 58, roller derby, and No. 102, American Gladiators.

The survey is the result of about 2,060 in-home interviews across the nation. The firm went for a representative sample of the total population, not merely avowed sports fans. Participants in the survey were asked to give positive, negative or neutral opinions on 114 specific sports “of a spectatorship and viewership nature and the frequency of their participation in 71 sports.” The margin of error of the survey was plus or minus 1.5%.

A winner again: At 41, former major league pitcher John (the Count) Montefusco is a rookie again, in a world far removed from the ballpark.

Montefusco, now a harness driver, was seventh in his first three races at Monticello (N.Y.) Raceway on Sunday before guiding Angel Before Me to victory in the ninth race. He made his debut Oct. 16, finishing eighth and sixth in his two races at Freehold (N.J.) Raceway one day after receiving his provisional license from the U.S. Trotting Assn.

“What a pleasure to finally be in a position to see no horses in front of you,” Montefusco said. “It was a great thrill. I love this sport.

“I knew it would just be a matter of time. And I’ll win a lot more before it’s all over.”

Trivia time: Who kicked pro football’s only perfect punt?

Ouch: Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun, for one, does not miss Bo Jackson this football season.

“Shed no tears for the apparent end of Bo Jackson’s football career because of a hip injury,” Stellino wrote. “Jackson had $4 million in disability insurance and he’ll do what he does best--collect money. . . . What his football stints did was help him do more commercials.”

Trivia answer: Steve O’Neal. In 1969, as a rookie with the New York Jets, he booted a 98-yard punt that rolled to a stop at the Denver Bronco one-yard line after sailing 77 yards, according to the NFL Alumni newsletter.

Quotebook: Brian Baldinger, center for the Indianapolis Colts (0-8) on the play of the offensive line: “It’s inexcusable. . . . I’m not naming names, but we’ve got guys lost in space.”