If All It Takes Is Money, Wrap Up Super Bowl

If money talks, then the Dallas Cowboys make the most noise. Owner Jerry Jones’ payroll is a staggering $62.4 million, according to NFL Players Assn. figures.

By contrast, the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas’ opponent in next Sunday’s Super Bowl, have a payroll of $37.4 million.

Despite a salary cap of $37.1 million in 1995, Jones and his accountants circumvented the rules by luring stars, such as Deion Sanders, with lavish signing bonuses. The Cowboys ran up a signing-bonus bill of more than $41 million--more than most teams spent in total compensation in 1995.

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Trivia time: Who is the only player selected as the Super Bowl most valuable player while playing for a losing team?

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Nasty business: Former tennis star Ilie Nastase is running for mayor of Bucharest, Romania, under the slogan: “Ilie Nastase--an honest person.”

The 49-year-old Nastase, known for his bad-boy antics in the 1970s, told the daily Evenimentul Zilei that as mayor, he would use his financial clout, business acumen and political contacts to give the grimy, crumbling capital a face lift.

At least, he’ll be colorful.

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Big O hunt: George Smith, former University of Cincinnati coach, who died last Sunday at 83, was known for recruiting Oscar Robertson in the late 1950s, according to Newsday’s Ivan Maisel.

In those days, recruiting a blue-chip player didn’t stop when he signed his scholarship.

“Every time Oscar left town, Smith would start phoning campuses to see if he had been stolen,” teammate Ralph Davis once said.

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Too much pressure: Marge Roetzel, 69, had two holes-in-one recently at the Oro Valley Country Club in Tucson. But she wound up shooting a 95.

“I fell apart after the second ace,” Roetzel told Golfweek magazine.

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Holler girl: Some memorable names in sports supplied by Norm Clarke of the Rocky Mountain News:

--Scott Ten Fingers, Oglala (S.D.) basketball coach.

--Billy Hoops, high school basketball player in Duchesne, Utah.

--Willowsong Holler, Fairview High cheerleader, Boulder, Colo.

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The ultimate hustle: Famed pool player Minnesota Fats died Thursday and his wife, Theresa Bell Wanderone, had his epitaph ready:

“Beat everybody living on Earth. Now, St. Peter, rack ‘em up.”

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Lube job: Dan Kelly in USA Today talking about his brother, Buffalo Bill quarterback Jim Kelly’s impending knee surgery: “For an NFL quarterback, it would be the equivalent of a 5,000-pass tuneup, or maybe a 200-slam tuneup.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1979, the Steelers defeated the Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII in Miami, 35-31.

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Trivia answer: Linebacker Chuck Howley of the Cowboys in Super Bowl V.

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Quotebook: Golfer Jeff Maggert to one of his struggling pro-am partners, Cleveland Indian outfielder Kenny Lofton: “You’re supposed to hit fly balls in this game.”