Help Raise Money, Save Water: Shower With Some Friends

A British rugby team, introducing a novel way to raise money, has asked its female fans to bid on a chance to shower with its players.

The Furness Rugby Union Club of Barrow said that, as an added attraction, the winning bidder would be allowed to bring a friend to share in the scrub-down.

“We hope the girls will come in their thousands to outbid each other and spend some time with the finest men in the north of England,” club spokesman John Mallinson said.

Sealed bids will be taken to avoid embarrassing would-be bathers.

Trivia time: Since the AFL merged with the NFL before the 1970 season, which is the only NFL team that has not won a division championship?

Say what? Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins told KMPC’s Geoff Witcher and Steve Yeager that when he pitched for the Chicago Cubs in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, two hitters in particular used to give him the most trouble.

One, not surprisingly, was Hall of Fame right fielder Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The other was Don Pavletich, a part-time catcher for the Cincinnati Reds who was perhaps best known as the predecessor to Johnny Bench.

Pavletich’s lifetime batting average was .254.

No sympathy: Jenkins lamented that, as the ace of a thin Cub staff, he usually was matched against the league’s top pitchers, including Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Tom Seaver, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton.

Said Yeager: “Well, you didn’t fare too bad, considering you won 20 games seven times.”

Not to worry: If the U.S. Olympic basketball team doesn’t bring home the gold medal, Sport magazine suggested, “let’s send Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson next time.”

Fellas, let’s go: Will McDonough of the Boston Globe reports that defensive tackle Jerome Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles, who was killed last month in an automobile accident, sat next to defensive end Reggie White in the locker room when White was told that he had been voted to the Pro Bowl.

White, a Baptist minister, told the media that his selection was because of Jesus Christ.

Brown leaned over and asked, “Didn’t we help?”

Outdated thinking: Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner once said: “Home run hitters drive Cadillacs. Singles hitters drive Fords.”

Mouthwatering: General Mills recently introduced Surf’s Up! a chewy fruit snack for those who yearn to add gummy Jet Skis, skateboards, surfboards, sailboats and Frisbees to their diet.

Amy Vansant of Surfer magazine reports that the snacks taste something like “a cross between your favorite fruits and authentic surfboard wax.”

Trivia answer: The New York Jets.

Quotebook: Reggie Jackson: “The will to win is worthless if you don’t get paid for it.”