His Swing Was Purely Presidential

In the October issue of GolfJournal, the following is a description of a famous person who happened to play golf:

“Strengths: Graceful, rhythmic swing; accuracy with shorter irons, particularly seven-iron; ability to use gamesmanship on opponents.

“Weaknesses: Bad back often idled him; impatience made him an indifferent putter.”

The player: the late John F. Kennedy.

Trivia time: What was unusual about the Pittsburgh-Fordham football games from 1935 to 1937?

Scary program: How bad are things for the floundering University of Pittsburgh football program? Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides a clue reporting on the Oct. 31 game between Pitt and Boston College:

“Pitt announced the attendance as 26,313, but there couldn’t have been more than 5,000 people.

“What made the small crowd even worse was that Pitt offered free general admission tickets to anyone who showed up in a Halloween costume.”

Artistry: Actor Wayne Knight (best known as Newman on “Seinfeld”) said it was a pleasure to work with Michael Jordan on the film “Space Jam.”

Asked about acting with the NBA star, Knight joked: “Acting with Michael Jordan is like bowling with Picasso.”

Survivor: When Milwaukee Brewer owner Bud Selig took office, he said he was simply the acting baseball commissioner, which prompted Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post to ask:

“Do you know that [former Pakistani Prime Minister] Benazir Bhutto has been deposed twice in the time Selig has been commissioner?”

FYI: For the first time since 1958, USC and UCLA will go into Saturday’s game at the Rose Bowl without winning records.

The Trojans were 4-4 in ‘58, the Bruins 3-6. The result? A predictable 15-15 tie. The last tie game in the series was 10-10 in 1989. There will be no more ties now that the NCAA has a tie-breaking procedure.

Ongoing investigation: David Letterman reported that although Richard Jewell has been cleared in the Atlanta Olympic bombing, “he’s still a suspect in the collapse of the Braves in the World Series.”

Looking back: On this day in 1967, USC defeated previously unbeaten UCLA, 21-20, on O.J. Simpson’s 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Trivia answer: They were all scoreless ties in games played at the Polo Grounds in New York.

And finally: San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown’s remark that 49er quarterback Elvis Grbac “is an embarrassment to mankind” brought this response from Chronicle columnist Tim Keown:

“With one reckless diatribe, Brown changed his entire public image from a stylish, self-possessed politician to a stylish, self-possessed fan screaming at the wind while wobbling through a parking lot.”

Quotebook: New England Patriot Coach Bill Parcells on getting his message across to the players: “Once in a while, we’ve got some brain donor out there. Every once in a while they lend their brains to someone for about 15 minutes.”