Southland Sports Really Have Gone to Dogs

The Angels might not be winners, and the Rams have fled the grounds, but Anaheim can still claim to be the home of champions.

A collie named Owen and his owner, Pon Saradeth of Anaheim Hills, won the annual ALPO Canine Frisbee disc World Finals last weekend on the grounds of the Washington Monument. How big was it?

“After an intense summer of competition involving thousands of talented tail-waggers, fourteen great canine athlete finalists from across the country advanced with their owners to the World Finals,” said one story.

That sounds doggone big.

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Trivia time: What do Francis Ouimet and Annika Sorenstam have in common, other than being U.S. Open golf champions?

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Work ethic: Eyebrows were raised around the NFL when Miami Dolphin Coach Jimmy Johnson released two-time Pro Bowl tight end Eric Green. Johnson explained why to Ken Rosenthal of the Baltimore Sun:

“We had a guy [Green] miss 39 practices last year. That’s the equivalent of 13 weeks! That ain’t happening this year.”

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Better than nothing: Charleston Southern managed only one rushing yard in a 45-0 loss to Hofstra.

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Phillie phan: After a book critic once wrote that author James Michener had no sense of tragedy, Michener wrote, “Anyone who is a lifetime Philadelphia Phillies fan acquires a sense of tragedy.”

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Lays or Pringles? Former world motorcycle champion Wayne Gardner, on what it was like to break his leg in a racing accident:

“You know, when you squash a bag of potato chips and they go all crunchy? That’s how my leg felt.”

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Tough guy: Green Bay Packer safety Eugene Robinson, who spent 11 seasons in Seattle before joining the Packers in the off-season, is impressed with what he’s seen of Packer linebacker Wayne Simmons.

“He’s real tenacious,” Robinson said. “He’ll bite you right in the eye. He will. He’ll bite you in the eye.”

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Trivia answer: Both have appeared on stamps, Ouimet in 1988 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of his Open victory, and Sorenstam this year by her native Sweden for winning her second U.S. Women’s Open title.

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And finally: David Letterman, who is also part owner of Bobby Rahal’s Indy car team, says he has no intention of becoming a driver in the manner of celebrities Paul Newman and Craig T. Nelson.

“I’m not as dumb as I look,” Letterman told columnist Mary Barker of the Monterey County Herald.