Becalmed Sailor Takes to Air to Freshen the Winds of Love

Dan Merino of Reno, a crewman aboard Air Stripper in the 37th biennial Transpacific Yacht Race to Hawaii, had planned to go to Maui with his girlfriend, Anna Reveles of Mission Viejo, after he finished in Honolulu.

“We thought we’d finish around Tuesday, spend a couple of days here and then go to Maui on Thursday,” Merino said. “Then we got parked for four days (with little wind) and I knew we weren’t going to make it.”

The boat didn’t finish until Friday. Meanwhile, fearing Reveles might be getting restless, Merino proposed by radio one night.

“She accepted,” he said.

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Looking ahead: Drew Bledsoe, New England’s No. 1 NFL draft pick, talking with Alan Greenberg of the Hartford Courant, had this to say about the values of today’s society:

“My parents are both schoolteachers. I’m a football player, and I make in one year what my dad will make in 50. That’s a little bit overwhelming. I’m prepared for guys who will have some resentment.”

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Trivia time: What do Lionel Butler, Lennox Lewis, Poncho Carter, Tommy Morrison and Riddick Bowe have in common?

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Plain talk: Matt Williams would never make it as a promotion man. The San Francisco Giants’ third baseman had this to say about the game he plays: “Baseball is a great game to play, but to be honest, I could never watch it because it’s too boring.”

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One for the book: Pedaling 2,312 miles in the Tour de France is impressive, but 30-year-old Zhou Changchun rode across China--facing backward.

According to China Sport magazine, he rode more than 2,300 miles from the winter snow in Beijing to the hilly terrain of Hunan Province. He controlled the bike, which had no modifications to the seat or gear mechanism, by angling his body with his hands off the handlebars for much of the time.

Why?

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Louder than ever: Monica Seles, whose hearty grunts have been indefinitely silenced by a knifing, is still holding her own in endorsements. A two-page spread in Tennis magazine features Seles’ latest line of clothing. It’s logo: “Play Louder.”

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Head in the sand: In 1933, National League president John Heydler said: “I do not recall one instance where baseball has allowed either race, creed or color to enter into its selection of players.”

That was 14 years before Jackie Robinson.

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Boring round: Bobby Nichols nearly got golf’s equivalent of the cycle when he shot a par 36 for nine holes that included five pars, a double-bogey, a bogey, a birdie and an eagle.

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Trivia answer: Each holds the title of world heavyweight champion: Butler, International Boxing Organization; Lewis, World Boxing Council; Carter, World Boxing Federation; Morrison, World Boxing Organization, and Bowe, World Boxing Assn. and International Boxing Federation.

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Quotebook: Ernest Hemingway on sports: “There are only three sports--mountain climbing, bullfighting and motor racing--all others being games.”