He Helped Win War but Lost Some Ground

Don Shula recently moved one victory closer to George Halas’ pro football record of 324 coaching victories--and the NFL season hasn’t even started.

Joe Harrigan, curator at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, uncovered a mistake in the victories credited to Halas in 1942. NFL statistics gave the Chicago Bears coach six victories that season before he went into the U.S. Navy during World War II. Harrigan says it should be only five.

“It is pretty clear from my research that Halas was in the military service before the sixth game of that season,” he said.

Shula, the Miami Dolphins coach, has 306 victories.

Favorite teams: A survey by Sport magazine shows that the Dodgers are the team most major league players would like to join. Asked which organization, other than their own, they would favor, 22% named the Dodgers. Surprisingly, the second choice was the expansion Florida Marlins, who have yet to play a game. They were named by 18%, followed by the Chicago Cubs, 17%.

More or less clothes: At the Australian Olympic trials, high jumper Alison Inverarity wore a two-piece, bare-midriff suit and caused a commotion.

“An old lady told Alison she should be wearing one-piece,” Australian track official John Daley told Martin Nesirky of Reuters. “I suppose it was bit cheeky really, but Alison asked which piece she should remove.”

Trivia time: Who was the first black U.S. athlete to win a gold medal in the Olympics?

Now you know: Ever wonder what all the fuss is about in athletic shoe promotions? The reason is that last year U.S. manufacturers sold some 388 million pairs--which relates to $12.1 billion in estimated retail sales.

Harper’s magazine reports that it would take a Nike worker in Indonesia 44,492 years to earn Michael Jordan’s endorsement fee.

More on shoes: Scott Fortune, the man who replaced volleyball legend Karch Kiraly as captain and outside hitter on the U.S. Olympic team, told Bruce Jenkins of the San Francisco Chronicle: “There are times when I feel like I’m wearing a size-5 shoe, and I’m being asked to fill Karch’s size-13.”

Better with age: Jerry Barber, 76, equaled or bettered his age all four days of the U.S. Senior Open. The Griffith Park professional has shot his age or less 17 times this year on the senior tour.

In a hurry: More than 25% of Rickey Henderson’s stolen bases have come in the first inning.

Is it bumpy?The cart path along the 17th hole at Kingsmill Golf Club in Williamsburg, Va., is said to be the oldest road in the United States.

Trivia answer: De Hart Hubbard in the long jump at Paris in 1924.

Quotebook: Senior pro golfer Dale Douglass, on what he does between tournaments: “I’d hate to say I’m one-dimensional, but when I’m not on tour, I rest up for the tour.”