They Couldn’t Keep Their Spirits High

It didn’t make a lot of headlines, but the Boston Bruins managed to cause a ripple last week when they sent two players to their Maine affiliate in the American Hockey League.

The players the Bruins demoted were named Beers and Winnes. News reports indicated neither got angry, that Beers and Winnes went down easily.

Stick ‘em up, eh? Doug Gilmour of the Calgary Flames has agreed to take on the cameo role of Jesse James in Don Murray’s miniseries “Paso Robles,” which will be filmed next summer.

Trivia time: What two players played on both the NBA’s winningest and losingest teams?

Bare your sole: According to USA Today, Julie Lewis of Lake Oswego, Ore., uses disposable diapers and coffee filters to make the walking shoe she designs. Called DejaShoe, it sells for $36.

He’s probably next: Mike Littwin of the Baltimore Sun, on the finger-pointing among the 7-8 and out-of-the-playoffs New York Giants: “I’m just surprised nobody blamed Ted Kennedy.”

Nice trade: In 1978, the San Diego Clippers traded their 1984 first-round pick to the Philadelphia 76ers for World B. Free. With that pick, the 76ers drafted Charles Barkley.

Scandal: Who was the biggest loser as a result of the 1976 Olympic victories by the East German swim team, now tainted by revelations that they were steroid-aided?

It is probably Shirley Babashoff of the United States, who won two silver medals at Montreal, but could would have won five gold medals and changed her life. Babashoff is a letter carrier in Orange County.

Five-leaf clover? The New York Jets are somehow alive in the playoff race with a 7-8 record. Despite two consecutive defeats, they still will get the last wild-card spot if they beat 8-7 Miami next weekend.

“We’ve used all four leaves on our clover and now we’re on the stem,” tackle Irv Eatman said.

Zzzzzzz: How to move your lips and say nothing, a coaching art performed by Washington’s Joe Gibbs after the Redskins blew out the New York Giants, 34-17: “I’m really proud of our guys. . . . We’ve got tremendous respect for the Giants, and I’m proud we played good football and went after it.”

Trivia answer: Leroy Ellis and John Q. Trapp on the 1971-72 Lakers and the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers.

Quotebook: Tom Witosky, sportswriter for the Des Moines Register, whose story critical of the University of Iowa upset his grandmother: “I asked her, ‘Grandma, do you still love me?’ And she said: ‘Of course I do--just not as much.’ ”