Where there’s Smokey . . . The...

Where there’s Smokey . . . The theme of Sierra Madre’s entry in the Tournament of Roses Parade will be: “Fifty Years of Fire Prevention.”

It was chosen last March, long before the fires that threatened the San Gabriel Valley city.

The float will feature a 17-foot-tall likeness of the world’s most famous firefighting mascot, who is celebrating his 50th birthday.

Fifty years old, and people still don’t get his name right.

As a Sierra Madre float team member reminded us: “The (U.S.) Forest Service calls him Smokey Bear, not Smokey the Bear.”

Whatever he’s called, we hope he’s not made of dry chaparral.

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Trojans, smojans: Responding to our item about USC changing its nickname from the Methodists to the Trojans after the turn of the century, Minnie Crutcher, a 1927 grad of UC Berkeley, wrote:

“In the ‘20s, USC may have been known to an L.A. Times sportswriter as the home of the Trojans, but at the ‘Lair of the Bear’ in Berkeley, we know not the eponym. In my day, USC was known as ‘that Methodist streetcar college,’ and UCLA was ‘our Southern Branch.’

“Of course, that was in the days of (Cal’s) Wonder Team. We now have to rely on our preponderance of Nobel laureates to maintain our superiority.”

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A sport where neither USC nor Cal excel: “We’re No. 1 in North America,” exulted Cal Poly Pomona spokesman Norm Schneider after his school edged out all U.S. entries in the 1993 World Solar Challenge race in Australia.

Pomona’s Intrepid, which finished eighth overall, completed the 1,882-mile race in about 5 1/2 days, requiring neither the Auto Club nor a fill-up at a gas station. Of course, this is summer in Australia, a solar racer’s favorite time of year. Honda Corp.’s Dream car came in first, averaging 52 m.p.h.

Kangaroos and wallabies were no problem to the racers, but a minor twister did blow away one of Pomona’s ice chests.

Cal State L.A.’s Solar Eagle II finished fourth among U.S. entries (and 13th overall). A Cal State spokeswoman said: “One evening our team had to camp out near several dead carcasses of kangaroos. They didn’t think it was a good omen.”

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Dumb Journalist Tricks: So there we were, delivering a speech to a group of about 250 assistant principals of L.A. schools, when we launched into one of our favorite “Dumb Criminal Tricks” stories. This one concerned the police pursuit of a dangerous, escaped prisoner who was hiding in an apartment swimming pool wearing only jockey shorts. But in recounting the story, we inadvertently said “dangerous, escaped principal . . . “

The administrators laughed. They forgave. They didn’t make us stay after school.

miscelLAny:

Callers to the American Civil Liberties Union headquarters in Southern California hear a recorded message that begins: “If you’re calling from a court, please dial zero now. . . . “ And from jail?

Cal Poly Pomona