Crawling From the Wreckage of a Jet Defeat

New York Jet quarterback Boomer Esiason told Lorraine Kee of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he was driving home after a 28-24 loss to the Miami Dolphins last season when he had to stop his car because of an accident in front of him.

He got out of his car in a traffic jam and asked a woman in the car in front of him whether she was all right. Her window was broken and she was crying.

“She looked at me and said, ‘Boomer?’ I said, ‘Yes.’ She said, ‘You guys really [stink], how’d you lose that game today?’ ”

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Add Esiason: He said he was recognized by others in the traffic jam. “Thankfully, my windows were tinted or the people would have seen some of the gestures I was giving back to them,” he said.

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Trivia time: Which NCAA school has the record for the longest unbeaten streak in football (including bowl games and ties)?

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Choices: The Rev. John Parlow of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Green Bay, Wis., on Packer fans torn between special church services and the regular-season final game against Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve:

“I’m quite certain that it’s not Brett Favre and Edgar Bennett who will determine what happens to their eternal soul.”

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Recognition plea? Offensive linemen usually toil in anonymity, so it wasn’t surprising that Houston Oiler guard Kevin Donnalley has issued a challenge to the Houston media.

“I’ll pay $1,000 to anyone in print, television or radio who can go the rest of the season without interviewing [Oiler linebacker] Micheal Barrow.

“I open the [Houston] Chronicle every day, and Barrow’s quoted. I turn on television, and I see Barrow’s fat head.”

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Small change: Miami Heat announcer Jack Ramsay, who coached in the NBA for 21 seasons, told Amy Shipley of the Miami Herald that players on his teams were required to make 20 free throws before leaving practice.

Players who made 20 of 20 were rewarded with $10. “Now, I don’t think that would get anybody’s interest,” Ramsay said. “Maybe $100?”

Try $1,000, Jack.

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Bet on it: Some philosophy from Wayne Lucas, the nation’s leading trainer, as told to Gary West of the Dallas Morning News: “A good horse can overcome a bad ride, but a good ride can’t overcome a bad horse.”

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FYI: Since trading John Elway to the Denver Broncos after the 1983 NFL draft, the Indianapolis Colts have started 27 quarterbacks.

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Looking back: On this day in 1984, Martina Navratilova lost to Helena Sukova, ending the longest winning streak--74 matches--in the history of women’s singles tennis.

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Trivia answer: Washington, 63 games, 59-0-4, from 1907 to 1917.

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Quotebook: Irish golfer David Feherty, describing the unorthodox swing of American pro Jim Furyk: “It looks like an octopus falling out of a tree, or like a man trying to kill a snake in a telephone booth.”