Sorry, He Knew Citation, and Cigar Is No Citation

Horse trainer Jimmy Jones is 89 now, but he remembers when he trained Citation--nearly 50 years ago--as if it were yesterday. Jones watched at Arlington Park last weekend as Cigar equaled Citation’s record of 16 consecutive wins.

“I like Cigar,” Jones told Joseph Durso of the New York Times. “He’s honest and honorable, but his competition is marginal because there aren’t many handicap horses around these days. I’d compare him to Armed, a bulldog who carried a little weight and beat nice horses. But he was no Citation. I don’t think Cigar is either.

“There aren’t many like Citation. When he was right, he was in a class by himself.”

Trivia time: Who was the first golfer from the United States to win the British Open?

Control artist: The legend of Satchel Paige keeps growing.

Clint Courtney, who caught the great Negro League pitcher when both were with the St. Louis Browns, tells the tale of one day when he went out to warm up Paige. Before the first pitch, Satchel placed a chewing gum wrapper on the plate.

“Then he threw every pitch, including curveballs, right over the paper,” Courtney said.

Confidence: Miami Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson owns a boat and a restaurant, both called “Three Rings,” after the number of national championships he has won with the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Hurricanes.

Shortly after being named coach of the Dolphins, he bought a new boat.

“It’s got enough room for a fourth ring,” he said.

Tattoo tales: What is it about Chicago that lends itself to tattooed athletes? First there was Dennis Rodman of the Bulls. Now along comes Bryan Cox of the Bears.

On the linebacker’s right upper arm is barbed wire with the inscription, “Me against the world.” On his shoulder is a rose with the name of his wife, Tonia. On his left arm is a drawing of Cox in his old Miami Dolphin uniform, with the words “Tonia’s Freak Man.”

On his left shoulder is a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde drawing. It was his first tattoo, and, as the Chicago Sun-Times’ Dan Pompei notes, “the perfect metaphor for the man.”

Think about it: Mike Solari, the San Francisco 49er tight end coach, has no sympathy for players who complain about the rigors of training camp.

“Hey, you get three meals a day and they make your bed,” he said. “And you’ve got football. It’s utopia.”

Changing scene: When Northwest Mutual Life Insurance Co. took a survey to find out which Olympic sports should be dropped and which should be added, these were the results:

Suggested dropping--sailboarding, synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics and beach volleyball.

Suggested adding--golf.

Worldwide: One of the Russian swimmers showed up for the Olympic team picture with the Reebok logo shaved into his head.

Trivia answer: Walter Hagen, in 1922, at Royal St. George’s.

And finally: From J.G. Harper, in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “The Ugly American has awakened again. The name ‘Dream Team’ should more aptly be ‘Sham Team.’ ”