After She Was Left in the Dust, It Was Trojans Who Got Dusted

It was the end of the third quarter of Saturday’s USC-Stanford game at the Coliseum. Traveler, the horse that serves as the Trojan mascot, was circling the running track, a rider aboard, when the animal inadvertently ran into a Stanford cheerleader, knocking her down.

Traveler galloped on with another Cardinal cheerleader in furious pursuit, gesturing angrily.

Meanwhile, the cheerleader who had been struck was being attended by Coliseum personnel. As she was brought to her feet, still dazed, a USC booster yelled from the stands, “Why don’t you toughen up?”

Add Traveler: The fallen cheerleader did prove to be pretty tough. Debbie Bain, a member of the Stanford Dollies, was back on her feet rooting her team on to its 24-21 victory a few plays later.

Money-back guarantee: Many athletes are refusing to sign autographs unless they think the recipient is sincere about holding onto them.

In Golf Digest, Lee Trevino relates an incident that occurred in a coffee shop. A woman asked him to sign a napkin, but Trevino refused, telling her he knew she wouldn’t keep it.

“So she pulled out a $5 bill,” Trevino recalled, “and handed it over. I wrote a nice, personal, little note in the margin and signed it. She thanked me profusely. ‘I’ll treasure this the rest of my life,’ she said.

“A half-hour later, paying my tab with a 20, I got that five back in change.”

Trivia time: This season, Cal Ripken became the fourth shortstop in major league history to hit 30 or more home runs in a season. Naming one of the others is pretty easy. But only a true trivia expert could name all three.

Say what? Newsday’s Steve Jacobson reports that the First Covenant Church of Minneapolis has the following sign: “Go Twins! We are praying for you & fans, umpires, media, vendors.”

Change sites? No dice: When promoters couldn’t agree on a new date for the Evander Holyfield-Mike Tyson heavyweight title fight at Las Vegas’ Caesars Palace, another option came up.

There were discussions with Rich Rose, sports director for Caesars World, about the possibility of shifting the fight indoors to nearby Thomas and Mack Arena. Rose, whose company paid $11 million to hold the fight at Caesars Palace, quashed that idea.

As Seth Abraham, president of pay-per-view service TVKO, told the Baltimore Sun: “That’s a long way for the dice to travel. The dice would get cold. They’re paying $11 million. Why should they share the gamblers with the other casinos?”

Trivia answer: Ernie Banks is the obvious one. He did it in 1955 and from ’57 to ’60. The others were Rico Petrocelli in 1969 and Vern Stephens in 1949-50.

Quotebook: Said Minnesota Twins’ Manager Tom Kelly of the Braves: “They are the first team to go from last to first since . . . us.”