Clinton Gains on Road to White House

Democratic presidential nominee Bill Clinton may not remind anyone of Bruce Jenner, but he apparently was quite a runner at one time.

According to Runner’s World magazine, Clinton, 45, began jogging during his undergraduate days at Georgetown, continued to run while in law school at Yale and was pounding out 15 to 20 miles a week when he was first elected governor of Arkansas at 32.

The road to the White House hasn’t done his physique any favors, however.

“I’ve gained about 20 pounds,” Clinton told Runner’s World. “But if I can get back up to 15 or 20 miles a week, I can get my weight down to normal.”

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Add Clinton: Of course, the governor can’t exactly lace up the old running shoes and blend in with the folks on the trail these days.

Of Clinton’s jog during a recent campaign appearance in Seattle, Ron Judd of the Seattle Times wrote: “What’s brilliant white, sort of flabby, surrounded by armed guards and recently spotted along the shore at Myrtle Edwards Park?

“Not a fugitive beluga whale from the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Just Gov. Bill Clinton.”

Ouch.

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Trivia time: What is the Cheese League?

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Spittin’ image: What big league manager is Tom Hanks imitating in “A League of Their Own?” According to Alan Solomon of the Chicago Tribune, Hanks is just about a dead ringer for Don Zimmer, now a coach with the Boston Red Sox. “Sometimes it’s real, real close,” Solomon said of the resemblance. “Except Zimmer is no drunk.”

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And your name was?: Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner finds it interesting that Stanford football Coach Bill Walsh would hire an offensive coordinator, Terry Shea.

Of Shea, formerly head coach at San Jose State, Ratto writes: “Truly, while he may be the offensive coordinator, ain’t nobody gonna tell Bill Walsh what to do on third-and-seven with three minutes to go.”

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Dream on: Major league baseball players in the Olympics? If called, reports Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, several major league stars would serve, even though the Olympics take place during the baseball season.

“I think it would be fun, even though I don’t look for it to happen,” Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens said. “If the opportunity was there, though, I think you would find a lot of players who would want to go and play for their country. The clubs might balk. But what are they going to do? Void your contract?”

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Add dream: Consider, Ringolsby writes, Clemens on the mound, with Dennis Eckersley and Lee Smith in the bullpen. Consider a lineup that includes Fred McGriff, Barry Bonds, Will Clark and Barry Larkin. “It would be,” Ringolsby writes, “the ultimate rotisserie league team.”

Would the United States dominate?

“I think a baseball Dream Team would win,” Manager Hal McRae of the Kansas City Royals told Ringolsby. “But I don’t know how much anybody would enjoy it. It’s not like watching basketball, where the individual efforts, no matter how lopsided the score, can dazzle people.”

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Hot town, cold showers: In a dispatch from Barcelona, George Rodrigue of the Dallas Morning News reported that the level of lust in the Olympic Village was relatively low. Reasons cited: the threat of AIDS, the maturity of many of the competitors and the stifling heat.

“When you have to run around in this heat for hours, you do not want to come back here and chase women,” David Luckes, a 23-year-old British field hockey player, told Rodrigue.

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Trivia answer: NFL teams that hold their training camps in Wisconsin. Current members are the Green Bay Packers, the New Orleans Saints, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Chicago Bears.

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Quotebook: Quotebook: Minnesota football Coach Jim Wacker, on why he made speed a priority in recruiting: “I’m a better coach with fast guys.”