Well, at Least He Had Support in Time of Need

On this day in 1956, Jungle Jim Loscutoff of the Boston Celtics committed what was probably the most embarrassing foul in NBA history.

According to the Sports Hall of Shame calendar, Loscutoff was caught holding George Yardley’s shorts--with the Ft. Wayne Piston forward no longer in them. Loscutoff grabbed the seat of Yardley’s uniform, and when Yardley spun to get away, the shorts tore off.

“He was standing there in his jock, and both of us were standing there with our mouths open,” Loscutoff recalled.

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Trivia time: How many Pacific 10 teams have made it to the Rose Bowl after starting the season 0-2?

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Let’s wait: Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post, on Dehere, the 2-year-old favorite in the Juvenile in Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita: “Dehere’s possibilities seem limitless. His career is an empty canvas, allowing his admirers to imagine just how great and exciting he may be.”

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For the record: Millard Baker, slated to be one of UC Santa Barbara’s starting forwards, is Dusty Baker’s brother, not the Giant manager’s son, as reported in Thursday’s Morning Briefing.

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Makes you wonder: Denver Post columnist Todd Phipers says he can understand why athletes sometimes are short with reporters after hearing this question asked of White Sox third baseman Robin Ventura, who had missed a game because his wife was giving birth to a daughter:

“Is this something you planned for this time of year or did you not expect to be in the playoffs?”

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Seasonal sport: When Michael Jordan announced his retirement, he said one of the things he was planning to do in his spare time was mow the lawn. In an interview at a book signing, Jordan said he had been learning to vacuum the floor and do the dishes.

But when someone asked him whether he had mowed the lawn yet, he flashed his famous smile.

“It’s winter,” Jordan said. “The grass hasn’t grown much.”

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Congratulations: Head-butting has become football’s latest response to a good play. Sometimes the celebrators get carried away.

After tackling the Chargers’ Ronnie Harmon, Pittsburgh cornerback D.J. Johnson took butts from teammates Greg Lloyd and Donald Evans, who knocked the 185-pound Johnson woozy. Johnson had to be helped from the field.

“It’s one thing to miss a play from getting hit, but you don’t want it to be because of your own man,” Johnson said.

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Keep on coming: Another Kinerism from Met broadcaster Ralph Kiner: “We’ll be back with a recrap right after this message.”

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The X-quotient: In writing about tennis star Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the Good Doctor in Inside Sports says: “Arantxa plans to run a rantxch in New Metxico and raise a buntch of horses and pigs.”

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Bigger and bigger: Twenty-five years ago, Ohio State was the national football champion. Compared to the Buckeyes of today, that 1968 team was pretty small. The players averaged 220 pounds in the offensive line and 210 on the defensive unit. This year’s numbers are 283 and 251.

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Trivia answer: Three, UCLA in the 1942 season, California in 1958 and Washington in 1963.

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Quotebook: Golfer Dave Stockton, on making a living playing in 54-hole senior tour events: “If you only had to work three days a week, how hard can it be? What’s there not to like?”