When Things Get Hot, a Kiss Cools Mood in Heat of Passion

Russell Prowse, an Australian Rules football player who plays for Cardross in the Millawa League, thought a fight was developing during last week’s game in Melbourne against Bambill.

Instead of trading blows, though, Prowse grabbed Scott Cameron of Bambill by the cheeks and kissed him on the lips.

Cameron staggered back in amazement and the potential fight evaporated, but umpire Tony Cox banished Prowse from the field for misconduct.

“We felt sorry for Cameron, as Prowse is not an attractive man,” Cardross President Keith Leach said.

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Trivia time: What was UCLA’s Pacific Coast Conference basketball record when Denny Crum played for John Wooden in 1957-58 and 1958-59?

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Unsolicited advice: Former Dallas Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson says his replacement, Barry Switzer, can do fine.

“He’ll be all right as long as he doesn’t make any suggestions,” Johnson said. “This is a pretty good football machine here and if he just lets the machine run he’ll be all right. This team is still very capable of winning big football games.”

In other words, Barry, just shut up and smile.

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To be, or not to be: Brentson Buckner, a 300-pound defensive tackle and the Pittsburgh Steelers’ second-round draft choice from Clemson, is an avid reader of Shakespeare.

“The thing I like about Shakespeare is that what you see at first glance is not always the true meaning,” Buckner said.

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Looking back: On this day in 1963, Sandy Koufax pitched the second of his four no-hit games as the Dodgers beat the Giants, 8-0.

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Not his Buddy: Norman Braman, the former owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, said he has no regrets about firing Buddy Ryan as coach after the 1990 season.

“Normally, I hate to fire people, but in that case, I enjoyed it,” Braman told Will McDonough of the Boston Globe. “I wanted to do it myself.

“To me and my wife, Buddy was always courteous. But he treated other people in the organization--and great people they are--very poorly. He created conflict.”

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Sounds familiar: One of the nicknames suggested for Toronto’s new NBA team: the Mighty Dunks.”

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Tough standards: In his new book, John Kruk of the Philadelphia Phillies writes of pitcher Curt Schilling:

“He wants to be one of us, but we won’t let him in. Every once in a while we let him sit in on our little debates, but our pitching has been so bad that most of the time we’re guarded now. . . . “

“If we played for 20 years with a guy and he put up numbers like Steve Carlton, then maybe in his 18th or 19th year we might decide he was all right.”

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The Yogi Berra file: “I get up at 6 a.m., no matter what time it is.”

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Trivia answer: The Bruins finished third each year, with a 10-6 record.

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Quotebook: Hal McRae, manager of the Kansas City Royals, on the errors his team is making: “We’re giving away things like we were Democrats.”