Allison Not Most Popular With Everyone

More than two years have passed since Davey Allison was killed in a helicopter crash at Talladega Superspeedway, but his popularity has held true.

Now comes a book. “Davey Allison, a Celebration of Life,” by his wife Liz is due out in September.

“There are so many good memories, a lot of them funny,” his former crew chief, Larry McReynolds, told the Charlotte Observer.

“For example, Davey knew how nervous I get during races and that any little thing out of the ordinary would tear me all to pieces. Well, in ’91 we’d won the Winston all-star race and wanted a sweep at Charlotte Motor Speedway by taking the Coca-Cola 600, too. Davey was leading and it was down to about 25 laps to go.

“Davey came on the radio and said, ‘Larry, you aren’t going to believe this.’ I was sure he was going to say the motor was missing or that he’d cut a tire or something else bad.

“I said, ‘Oh, Lord, what is it, Davey?’ And he came back and said, ‘There’s a Dale Earnhardt fan hanging out the fence on the backstretch flipping me off.’ ”

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Trivia time: Jack Nicklaus and Walter Hagen are tied in the record books with five PGA championships. Who has the most second-place finishes?

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Translator required: Jim Gantner Day in Milwaukee this week brought back memories of the former Brewer standout who retired in 1992. The way he hit. The way he fielded.

The way he talked.

Like when he spotted left-hander Donnie Hill throwing with his right arm and said, “Hey, look at Donnie Hill. He’s amphibious.”

Or the time he missed a radio talk show appearance and explained, “I must have had ambrosia.”

Or when asked what he did during the winter one year and responded: “I mostly stayed around the house. But I did take a hunting trip to one of those Canadian proverbs.”

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Add Gantner: Gantner, arguing with umpire Ken Kaiser that a baserunner had interfered with Robin Yount’s attempt to field a grounder: “That was construction!”

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Head games: Tom Coughlin, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ spit-and-polish coach, is full of rules for discipline. . . . Well, he’s full of something.

The latest tale is that Coughlin has drawn a line around the practice field and anyone who crosses must wear a helmet to ensure that the player will be thinking of only football. So imagine the strange sight when Tony Boselli came to a workout on crutches because of a knee injury.

When he stepped over the line, he had to put on a helmet.

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Finger food for thought: They’ve come up with a new nickname in New York for Jack McDowell, he of the single-finger salute to the home fans who recently booed him:

The Yankee Flipper.

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Trivia answer: Nicklaus, with four.

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Quotebook: Wide receiver Haywood Jeffires of the Houston Oilers, on rookie quarterback Steve McNair and his seven-year, $28.4-million contract: “I definitely want to get him in some of our card games.”