She Can Beat Mary, Decker and Slaney

Ruth Wysocki, who is entered in the mile at the Sunkist indoor track meet Feb. 20 at the Sports Arena, has never been a fan of Mary Decker Slaney.

Asked once if Slaney were beatable, she snapped: “I’ve beaten Mary under three different names--my maiden (Ruth Kleinsasser), my first husband (Ruth Caldwell) and as Ruth Wysocki.”

Number please: The Orange County Register refused to use Roman numerals, referring to last Sunday’s game as “Super Bowl 27.”

Among the reporters covering the game for the Register was Art Thompson III.

Trivia time: What Southland high school gymnasium, still in use, was featured in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” the 1946 movie starring James Stewart?

Now we tell you: Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News, before the Super Bowl: “Broadcast commentator Hank Stram . . . has a statistical formula that correctly forecast all 12 teams to make the (NFL) playoffs. It also has enabled him to pick 13 of the last 15 Super Bowls. His numbers this week have Dallas an easy winner.”

Don’t cry for her: Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina would like to start a second career as a singer when her tennis career is finished.

“I really enjoy being up on stage,” said Sabatini, who made her second public singing appearance during the Australian Open.

Bruins, take heart: Said sophomore guard Danny Hurley of Seton Hall, younger brother of Duke’s Bobby, after being booed during a recent game at the Meadowlands: “I don’t want to play anymore in this arena. . . . It’s hard to play well when you don’t feel good about yourself, and that’s the way things are right now.

“Other guys on the team seem to turn the ball over more than I do, and I never hear anybody calling for their head. I know (fans will) read this and they’ll say, ‘Who’s this kid to criticize?’

“But it’s not like they can say anything else to me I haven’t heard them say already.”

Growing old: Robert Parish, 39, of the Boston Celtics, after sitting out the second quarter of a recent game: “Obviously, it was just a coach’s decision. I was itching over there. It was making me feel a little bit ancient, if you know what I mean.”

Itchy finger: Owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, who doesn’t wear the ring he received as a co-captain of Arkansas’ national championship team of 1964 because jewelry irritates his skin, says he will wear a Super Bowl ring.

“I plan on going to the doctor to find out what I have to do to correct the problem,” he said.

For what it’s worth: Nolan Ryan, who celebrated his 46th birthday on Sunday, is only five months younger than President Clinton.

Trivia answer: The swim-gym at Beverly Hills High.

Quotebook: Bruce Smith of the Buffalo Bills, on running back Emmitt Smith of the Dallas Cowboys: “Emmitt Smith causes problems for a football team like that guy in Iraq--what’s his name? Saddam Hussein?--causes for the rest of the world.”