This Million-Dollar Catch Not All It’s Cracked Up to Be

The crew of a fishing boat near Boca Raton, Fla., made a surprising catch recently--three bales containing almost 200 pounds of cocaine, with an estimated value of more than $1 million.

While waiting for the Coast Guard, one angler tried to fish but had no luck even though the bales had attracted a lot of fish.

“The fish must have been paranoid,” he told the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel. “I think they were wired from all that cocaine.”

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Trivia time: What NFL rule change was made in 1945 in regard to a dress code?

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Still talking: Dick Vitale, ESPN basketball commentator after breaking his wrist swinging a golf club:

“As long as they don’t put a cast on my tongue, I’m OK.”

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Phantom fans: Even though the baseball strike is still on, somebody stole home at Boston’s Fenway Park.

The Red Sox and Boston police are trying to find out who dug up and made off with the heavy rubber plate.

Someone also climbed to the top of a flagpole and stole three flags from outside the stadium, left empty by the players’ strike.

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Brutality: Jose Canseco, who once took out his anger on his wife by ramming her BMW with his Porsche, recently called police in Miami.

His complaint? His girlfriend had slapped him.

Police made no arrest and Canseco, the Texas Ranger slugger, later said he never should have called police in the first place.

Good thinking.

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Home improvement: If you’re a golf fanatic and would like to have your own putting green in your back yard, Golf Greens of America will accommodate you.

The design, according to Golf Digest, could include sand bunkers or water hazards and comes with drainage and irrigation systems.

The cost? About $30,000.

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No kidding: You might say that Mark McCoy, the Canadian Olympic 110-meter high hurdles gold medalist in 1992, gets around.

McCoy was born in Guyana, lived in England, studied at Clemson and Louisiana State, is now an Austrian citizen and is married to a German.

“I’m really not attached to a special country,” McCoy told Track & Field News.

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For what it’s worth: Michael Jordan scored 52 points Friday in a charity basketball game, one more than his runs batted in total for the double-A Birmingham Barons this season.

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Charity: Peter Leo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has some suggestions on how baseball fans can fill the void during the strike:

“Take up a collection in your neighborhood for the striking baseball players’ food bank.

“To stimulate participation, invite your favorite Bucco, but make sure he parks his Mercedes several blocks away.”

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Trivia answer: All players must wear stockings.

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Quotebook: Michael Stich, who lost in the U.S. Open final to Andre Agassi, on what he likes most about New York: “Spending money. It is a good city to spend money. That is why I am in the finals. I need the money back.”