In This Poll, Bowden Comes Out on Top

The Miami Hurricanes repeatedly have frustrated Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden’s quest for a championship ring. So what was that diamond doing on his right hand?

“I got me one of them rings. I solved that business,” Bowden said. Then Bowden read the inscription: “National champions 1991, ‘92, ‘93, ’94. Love, Mother.”

Trivia time: When was the last time Florida State beat Miami?

Wait a minute!Mark Gastineau, football player turned boxer, has had seven knockouts and will be making his first televised appearance April 3 against veteran Frank Lutz, who is described by promoter Dan Goossen as a man who “will fight and not just fall down.” Writes Greg Logan of Newsday: “That comment says it all about Gastineau’s first seven opponents, only three of whom made it as far as the second round.”

Now it can be told: In his boxing debut, Gastineau knocked out Derrick Dukes in 12 seconds. It later was discovered that Dukes is a professional wrestler.

Last add Gastineau: Trainer Jimmy Glenn says he sees a raw instinct in Gastineau. “He doesn’t know how to box yet. He runs out and tries to kill you. That’s what makes me want to work with him, that desire to destroy someone,” Glenn said.

Dress code?The first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal was Margaret Abbott, who shot a 47 in the ladies nine-hole golf final at the 1900 Games in Paris. Abbott, from Chicago, told relatives that she won the tournament “because all the French girls apparently misunderstood the nature of the game scheduled for that day and turned up to play in high heels and tight skirts.”

Enough already: Ray Frager of the Baltimore Sun on the Olympic cross-country coverage by CBS: “I guess not much goes on at the cross-country venue. Why else would CBS be repeating those pictures of the Moroccan competitor falling all over the place? And the bit with the Scandinavian Terminator has worn pretty thin, too.”

A secure feeling: There are more security personnel than participants at the Winter Olympics. France has assigned 8,000 people to guard the Games, three times the number used in Calgary. There are 2,280 participants.

Never made it: For those who think the Olympics have too many sports already, it could have been worse. Here are some that made it only as far as winter demonstration sports: Dog sled racing, bandy (a form of hockey), winter pentathlon, aand military patrol, which actually tried out four times.

Trivia answer: In 1989 at Tallahassee, Florida State beat Miami, 24-10.

Quotebook: Jose Canseco, talking about his decision not to report voluntarily to spring training next week as requested by the Oakland Athletics: “All they can do is spank me. What are they going to do, bench me?”