Those Rugged Bay Area Guys Can’t Play in Good Weather

Columnist Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle blamed the absence of foul weather for the 49ers’ 30-20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Sunday’s NFC championship game.

“In the end, Mother Nature was a fraud, or a Cowboy fan, or both,” Ostler wrote. “All show and no blow. She talked a big game, then wimped out.

“She threatened the Cowboys with earthquakes at their hotel, mudslides in their huddle and small-craft warnings at midfield.

“Then she fell on her face, and so did the 49ers.”

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for most blocked shots in a season?

Wrong track: It was Nostalgia Night recently at Philadelphia’s Spectrum, where the 76ers played the Golden State Warriors. The teams wore uniforms from the 1966-67 season, when the Warriors and 76ers played for the NBA championship.

Sarunas Marciulionis, who was growing up in Lithuania at the time, was asked what he thought about the Warriors’ uniforms. “They have a roller coaster on the back,” he said.

No, Sarunas, they’re called cable cars.

Bring flowers: Florida State will resume its regular-season football series with Nebraska in 1999. “That will be the first time they’ve been to Tallahassee,” said Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, who is 63, “and I hope they come out to the cemetery to see how I look.”

Failure formula: Forward Mark Aguirre of the Detroit Pistons, asked if he felt sorry for the plight of his former team, the hapless Dallas Mavericks:

“Why should I feel sorry for them? They’ve made just awful decisions. They had about a four-year stretch where they didn’t do anything right.”

Forty fantasy: Fans can test their 40-yard speed against the Raiders’ Alexander Wright during the NFL Experience Jan. 28-31 at the Rose Bowl.

It’s doubtful, though, that fans, competing in heat races at the football theme park, will come close to Wright’s reported time of 4.14 seconds. If that time is accurate, which is doubtful, Wright is not only the NFL’s fastest man, but the fastest man in the world .

Fun game: Raymond Floyd, after falling out of contention in the 1992 British Open, noted: “They call it golf because all of the other four-letter words were taken.”

Salty remark: Said 49er center Jesse Sapolu, while talking about the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback situation with a reporter from the Star Tribune of Minneapolis:

“You guys shouldn’t have gotten rid of Wade Wilson to begin with. He looks a whole lot better than Saltsberry and the other guy.”

“Saltsberry” is former USC quarterback Sean Salisbury. The “other guy” is presumably quarterback Rich Gannon.”

Minor detail: In a magazine advertisement promoting a brand of beach volleyball, Karch Kiraly is pictured with the caption: “From Barcelona to the Beach.”

Neat, except that Kiraly didn’t compete in the 1992 Olympic Games at Barcelona.

Trivia answer: Mark Eaton of the Utah Jazz with 456 in 1984-85.

Quotebook: George Steinbrenner, on returning to active ownership of the New York Yankees: “I have always cared about the fans, even if they booed the hell out of me.”