They Didn’t Worry About Jockeys Making the Weight

Elephant racing never caught on the way motocross, in-line skating and jet skis have, but Mike Welds of Laguna Hills recalls that on May 11, 1962, a crowd estimated at 10,000 showed up at Orange County State College (now Cal State Fullerton) to watch the first intercollegiate elephant race.

Fifteen institutions filed entries and elephants were rented at $200 a day from a Thousand Oaks animal farm. Bill Langsdorf, the college president, offered the organizers a barley field near where the University Center is today for a race site. It was called Dumbo Downs.

Harvard’s entry, the four-ton Sonita, went off a 2-1 favorite and was ridden to victory by student mahout Joe Russin.

Trivia time: Who is the all-time rushing leader in NCAA Division I-A football?

Life as a prodigy: Michelle Kwan is the heir apparent to Nancy Kerrigan, but she’s still only a 14-year-old schoolgirl. On Halloween, the U.S. skating star went trick-or-treating as Fred Flintstone.

No one recognized her, which was as enjoyable to her as winning a medal.

The safe way: Junior Seau’s real first name is Tiaina. In an appearance on “The Tonight Show,” host Jay Leno asked the San Diego Charger linebacker if players ever make fun of his name.

“Maybe under their breath,” he replied.

How old is old? In the 1981 Philadelphia Phillies’ media guide and the National League Green Book, Julio Franco’s birthday was listed as 8/23/58. Now, it’s 8/23/61.

Soccer savior: World Cup star Roberto Baggio of Italy says he’s prepared to put the Golden Ball awarded him as Europe’s top soccer player up for auction to raise money for flood victims in Italy.

“The sports world has the obligation of committing itself,” said Baggio, who plays for Juventus of Turin. “Times like these need everybody’s help. Those in the public spotlight must set an example.”

The Turin area was especially hard hit by the flooding.

Watchful eye: NFL official Larry Nemmers was a high school principal when he started officiating.

“One time I had a Bear game and I called Jim Harbaugh for intentional grounding,” Nemmers recalled. “It was a fairly easy call. He threw it 20 yards out of bounds with no receiver in the area. The Bears had to punt.

“The next day I was walking into school and I had one of our football players come up, put his arm around me and say, ‘Mr. Nemmers, you cost me five bucks yesterday.’ ”

Frustrating: Norman Chad in the Chicago Sun-Times on quarterbacks Scott Mitchell and Dave Brown when the Lions played the Giants two Sundays ago: “Watching Mitchell and Brown trying to move their teams downfield was like trying to watch Gilligan steer the SS Minnow to shore.”

Trivia answer: Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh, 6,082 yards, 1973-76. Quotebook: Detroit Lion Coach Wayne Fontes, on his star running back: “If Barry Sanders is not the best football player in the National Football League, I haven’t seen one. I know the Browns and the Juices and the Paytons and all those guys. Maybe they make one Barry Sanders.”