His Interest in Women Has Bulked Up

Writing in Sport magazine, Scott Ostler suggests that the phenomenal performances being turned in recently by Chinese female athletes could be a boon for women’s sports as a whole.

“I think it is sad for all of us that probably the most famous female athletes on earth are the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders,” Ostler writes.

“That is why I applaud the mind-blowing breakthrough of the Chinese women, assuming they are tried and found innocent of charges that they are ingesting steroids in quantities that would cause Michael Jackson to sound like Johnny Cash.

“Rather than scaring off the competition, maybe the Chinese women, with their stupendous running, can lift up the entire level of female athleticism.

“And attract some attention.

“I admit I have no great desire to attend the women’s basketball Final Four. But if these Chinese women compete anywhere near my neighborhood, I’m there.

“I will even try eating worms and caterpillar fungus. It might improve my jogging, and for sure it will improve my flossing.”

Trivia time: Denver quarterback John Elway has thrown 19 touchdown passes this season. How many times has he thrown for 20 touchdowns in his 11-year professional career?

Joe vs. Steve: Bill Walsh, current Stanford and former San Francisco 49er coach, was asked recently to compare Joe Montana and Steve Young, each of whom he coached.

“They think completely different, their approach is completely different,” Walsh said. “See, while Joe thinks, ‘Who can I get the ball to to win this thing?’ Steve thinks, ‘What can I do to win this thing?’

“See, Joe concentrates on using all of his weapons while Steve thinks of himself as the primary weapon. Big difference.

“Joe’s the type of quarterback you want to just let go, give him the freedom to do whatever he deems best. But Steve, you want to corral him, reel him in, not allow him to ad lib as you would Joe.”

Off the board: After a recent victory, Coach George Karl of the Seattle SuperSonics was asked what had happened to his bandaged right hand.

“The blackboard,” Karl said, describing his halftime experience. “I’ve done it before, but this one hurt immediately. Blackboards used to have space in between. Now it’s just a wall.”

Whatever became of . . . ? Greg Bunch, star of the 1977-78 Cal State Fullerton basketball team that advanced to the West Regional final before losing to Arkansas, was recently promoted to a new position at ESPN.

Bunch is now the director of the western region for ESPN, where he is responsible for managing the network’s affiliate sales and marketing efforts.

That’s why: So why doesn’t Yankee majority owner George Steinbrenner want to move the team out of the Bronx to New Jersey?

“I don’t like being a villain,” he told New York Newsday.

Trivia answer: Once. He threw 22 touchdown passes in 1985. He also threw 23 interceptions that season.

Quotebook: Former heavyweight champion George Foreman: “Boxing is sort of like jazz. The better it is, the less amount of people can appreciate it.”