Aikman’s Flight Plan Doesn’t Include Team

A group of Cowboy fans, returning to Dallas from the Super Bowl Monday, thought they were seeing things when they checked in at the crowded Atlanta airport for their flight.

Was that really Troy Aikman in the standby line?

Indeed it was.

So why wasn’t the star quarterback on the team charter? The answer was never quite clear.

“If I had known I would be leaving Atlanta today, believe me, I would have been on (the charter),” Aikman told Maryln Schwartz of the Dallas Morning News. “But I have my reasons for taking this plane. I’m just not talking about them.”

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Add Troy: Aikman wasn’t actually traveling standby. He was waiting for most of the passengers to board before taking his seat in first class, according to an airlines clerk.

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Last add Troy: As for Aikman’s flight to Dallas, Schwartz wrote: “People left him alone for the most part, although an enormous amount of coach travelers tried to use the first-class bathroom.”

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Say it ain’t so: The country that claimed the most famous figure skater in history will not have a figure skater in its own Winter Olympics next month. Norway, who gave the world Sonja Henie, says it just doesn’t have anybody.

“It’s a pity,” Arild Gjerde, general secretary of the Norwegian Skating Assn. told the Chicago Tribune. “But we haven’t had qualified figure skaters for this sort of competition since the days of Sonja Henie.”

Norway hasn’t had an Olympic competitor in the sport since 1964 and only six since World War II. Its best finish since Henie was a 22nd by Marit Henie, Sonja’s cousin, in 1948.

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Trivia time: How many Olympic singles titles and world titles did Sonja Henie win?

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Add Henie: Upon retiring from amateur skating in 1936, Henie became a multimillionaire star of films and ice shows and popularized the sport in the United States. She became a U.S. citizen by marriage in 1940 and, until her death in 1969, lived in Holmby Hills.

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First, the movie: Tonya Harding has decided she would love to see herself played by Meg Ryan in the inevitable movie about the attack on rival skater Nancy Kerrigan, a neighbor says.

“I said, ‘No way, she’s too old,’ ” Alan Skarica told the Associated Press of Harding’s casting preference. “And she says, ‘No, no, I like Meg Ryan. I loved her in ‘Sleepless in Seattle.’ ”

Harding, the neighbor added, also has someone in mind to play her best friend, Stephanie Quintero--Jennie Garth of the television show, “Beverly Hills 90210.”

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Then, a boxing career: Sunday, Skarica was with Harding as she clowned with John Quintero, who was holding a big silver balloon and pretending to be former bodyguard Shawn Eckardt while Harding punched the balloon.

“This girl does not hit like a woman; she hits like a man,” Skarica said. “John is a big guy, and she knocks him across the room.”

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Close to the earth: John Madden, recounting some of his cherished memories with CBS, said there was a time he and the crew piled into Pat Summerall’s pickup and went out for Mexican food, with Summerall at the wheel and everybody else--including Madden--riding in the bed.

“Maybe this is what it’s all about,” Madden said, “sitting in the back of Pat Summerall’s pickup truck going to a Mexican restaurant.”

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Close to home: The passing of Jim Callanan on Jan. 21 recalled his appearance as a USC end in a game against College of Pacific in 1943, along with his two brothers, halfbacks Howard and George, a most unusual sibling occurrence at the time.

George threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Howard for the game’s only score as the Trojans won, 6-0.

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Trivia answer: A record three Olympic titles (1928, ’32 and ‘36) and a record 10 consecutive world championships (1927-36).

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Quotebook: Jimmy Connors, playing in the AT&T; Pebble Beach Golf Pro-Am this week: “I’m actually a little nervous, like it’s my first pro tournament. That first swing might be a little scary.”