They’re Not Hooked by New Potion

Worm-derived potions are seemingly the rage in China--witness the world track records the Chinese women are breaking. So Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press wondered how long before the NFL’s Lions partake.

“Are you nuts?” safety Bennie Blades said. “I can’t even drink tequila knowing there’s a worm in the bottom of the bottle.”

Quarterback Andre Ware also shuns worms. He said his meal the night before a game is a McChicken sandwich, fries, Sprite and pie.

Very nutritious.

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Add worms: How bad is it for the Atlanta Falcons, who have an 0-4 record after losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night, 45-17?

“I’ve been through some bad stretches here, and we’re at the absolute bottom right now,” safety Scott Case said. “We’re even lower than the worms.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the Pacific 10 record for most pass receptions in a game?

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Throwing in the towel: The San Francisco 49ers have a 2-2 record in a 16-game NFL season, but Glenn Dickey of the San Francisco Chronicle is virtually writing the team off.

“It’s going to take a great effort by 49er coaches and players to make this a playoff team,” Dickey wrote.

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Clip and save: ESPN analyst Beano Cook, commenting on Joe Paterno and the Big Ten during last Saturday night’s game between Penn State and Rutgers:

“Paterno can coach until he’s 100 years old and beat those other guys. The Big Ten has mediocre coaches.”

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FYI: Buffalo has lost the last three Super Bowl games, but the AFC team has an 11-2 record against NFC teams in the regular season since 1990.

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With everything: California linebacker Jerrott Willard is nicknamed “Deluxe.” That’s not surprising since he is the grandson of Carl Karcher, founder of the Carl’s Jr. fast-food chain.

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Brrr: From Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe: “The seventh game of the 1994 World Series is scheduled for Oct 30. Can you imagine a seventh game in Montreal with the roof off, which it will be next season?”

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Not so fast: When the European team led the Americans on the first day of Ryder Cup competition, 4-3, Ian Woosnam of Wales said, “Once we are in front we shall be hard to stop.”

But not too hard; the Americans eventually won, 15-13.

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New career: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “So Jerry Glanville got a vote of confidence at Atlanta? Say goodby, Jerry. (Still think Glanville will be prize property in broadcast booth, surpassing even John Madden.)

“Madden, by the way, has the San Antonio populace up in arms, for expressing, on teevee, his ignorance of the Alamo.”

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Trivia answer: Ron Fair of Arizona State, with 19 against Washington State in 1989.

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Quotebook: Bill Russell, asked how he would have fared against Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “Young man, you have the question backward.”