Life Not So Ruff After Romp in the Citrus Bowl

Leo, the blond-haired dog that disrupted the Citrus Bowl game on Jan. 2 in Orlando, Fla., with a carefree romp around the football field for 15 minutes, is now a celebrity.

People stop by his owners’ home to take Leo’s picture. Television and the tabloids have called. His exploits received feature coverage in newspapers.

The game between Alabama and Ohio State was halted for nearly three minutes while Leo trotted around the field, resisting efforts to catch him.

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Add Leo: Robert Turner, one of the dog’s owners, was home preparing dinner when he got a surprising phone call. “Somebody called and said, ‘Your dog’s on TV,’ ” he said.

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Trivia time: What do Dick Motta, Gene Shue and Bill Fitch have in common?

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Door to door: Before the final weekend of the NFL regular season, David Letterman announced that 12 teams had been given permission to sell Super Bowl tickets.

He also announced that the “New York Jets have been given permission to sell Girl Scout cookies.”

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Ideal pairing? Tom Weir in USA Today: “In the interest of saving time, the basic message being sent about Ty Cobb when “Cobb” opens in movie theaters this weekend:

“If the Georgia Peach were alive today, he’d be dating Tonya Harding.”

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Can it cook? Albert Cohen of Troy, N.Y., has obtained U.S. Patent No. 5,356,360 for a mechanical arm that enables a fan watching a game alone on television to get a “high five” after an exciting play.

The arm attaches to a table, wall or floor, and the pivoting elbow springs back after each slap on the palm. Cohen suggest putting the sleeve of a favorite team uniform on the arm.

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Historic game: In one of great matchups of the season last Thursday night, it was Montana 90, Rice 81 in double overtime.

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Don’t bet on it: Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News, on things bound to happen in 1995: “Dick Vitale will call his first-ever basketball game in English.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1977 the Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl before a crowd of 103,424.

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Trivia answer: They are the only members of the top 10 all-time NBA winning coaches with losing records. Shue and Fitch formerly coached the Clippers.

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Quotebook: Calgary Flame Coach Dave King on getting some kind of NHL season going: “I’d play 42 doubleheaders if I had to, to go back to work.”