Junior Happy: His Twin Stays in the Family

Think Ken Griffey Jr., was happy the Seattle Mariners bucked their recent tradition and signed outfielder Jay Buhner?

After Griffey said he was frustrated that the team couldn’t surround him with talent and was about to let Buhner go to the Baltimore Orioles, the Mariners stepped up with a $15.5-million offer that landed Buhner.

Losing Buhner, Griffey said, would be like, well, losing a sibling.

“We have been together for five years, going through the ups and downs, and we’re family,” Griffey said.

“Jay is like a brother to me. Not like a big brother but more like twins, you know, like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

“I’m Arnold, and he’s Danny.”

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Trivia time: Name the seven basketball players who have won NCAA, NBA and Olympic titles as players.

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The final days: Washington Post columnist Michael Wilbon, who, given his locale, is understandably politically sensitive, is not rushing to bury the Buffalo Bills.

“Hopefully, enough of the people writing history will remember how absolutely difficult it was to do what the Bills did, under the kind of scrutiny that exists only in two NFL cities, Buffalo and Green Bay,” Wilbon wrote.

“If Nixon could be rehabilitated in a short time, why can’t the Bills?”

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Boring Bears: Last time the Chicago Bears were any good, the town went crazy over their colorful cast of characters. So with the current edition surprisingly successful, Chicago Tribune columnist Bernie Lincicome explains why it hasn’t quite caught on.

“Sideline antics and a single Super Bowl set up one ex-Bear coach for life,” Lincicome writes. “Being fat was enough to make a folk hero out of a defensive tackle.

“The point is, you almost have to work at being drab to avoid attention here. And so the Bears have. . . .

“The Bears are too dull to dare. Other than the occasional wacky special teams antic, the Bears offer the exhilaration of rust. This does not travel well.”

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Threesome: Remember this when those wise NFL analysts size up playoff games by saying a certain quarterback has never won “the big game.”

Only three current NFL starting quarterbacks have won a Super Bowl--Dallas’ Troy Aikman, the Raiders’ Jeff Hostetler and Kansas City’s Joe Montana.

Four starters have played in, but not won, a Super Bowl--Miami’s Dan Marino, Denver’s John Elway, Buffalo’s Jim Kelly and the New York Jets’ Boomer Esiason.

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Trivia answer: Clyde Lovellette, Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Jerry Lucas, Quinn Buckner, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

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Quotebook: Jose Canseco’s father, Jose Sr., on his son’s prospects with the Boston Red Sox: “His best years are ahead of him. He’s going to play another 10 years and he’s going to hit 500 home runs.”