Who Knew That You Could Mix Oil and Powder?

ABC news anchor Peter Jennings, an avid skier, once hit the slopes in the Middle East. Yes, the Middle East, not the middle-eastern United States.

Jennings recently recalled the time he traveled there for work and found himself strapping on skis.

“I was the first television reporter allowed into some of the more isolated desert areas of Saudi Arabia, and we skied down the dunes,” Jennings told Outside magazine.

“They were almost like talcum powder. I was amazed at how good the skiing was.”

Wonder if the high-speed quad lift was working that day?

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Add Jennings: He spoke about his worst skiing calamity, which occurred seven years ago.

“I’ve only got two pictures in my office,” Jennings said. “One is of me shaking hands with Anwar Sadat in the Sinai Desert, and the other is of me wiping out on skis seven years ago in front of President Ford. We were at the American Ski Classic in Beaver Creek [in Colorado], and I was racing.

“In the picture, my face is buried in the snow, with President Ford standing right there.”

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Trivia time: The victorious horse in the 1980 Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe in Paris had the same name as which Michigan city?

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Rivals? Not so: Colorado Avalanche center Joe Sakic is looking over his shoulder these days at teammate Peter Forsberg.

Sakic won the Conn Smythe trophy as the most valuable player in last season’s playoffs after leading the Avalanche to its first Stanley Cup title. Now he is battling Forsberg atop the NHL scoring race.

“He helps me elevate my game,” Sakic said of the 23-year-old Forsberg. “We don’t really have a competition going. Hopefully, one of us will end up on top at the end of the year.”

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Rivals? Absolutely: The squabbling was solved, at least momentarily, when organizers decided to play the opener of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and the championship game in Japan.

But the solution is only temporary, as one unidentified Western diplomat pointed out to Soccer America, saying: “The only way for everyone to be happy would be to play it on an aircraft carrier midway between Japan and South Korea.

“But, of course, then there would be an argument over whose aircraft carrier and where is the midpoint.”

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Shoeless Seahawk: Seattle cornerback Selwyn Jones lost both of his shoes in pursuit of Detroit’s Barry Sanders last Sunday.

“Let’s hope the NFL doesn’t fine him for being out of uniform,” wrote Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun.

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Trivia answer: Detroit.

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And finally: St. Louis rookie Harry York, who threw his gloves off and tossed his stick aside after scoring the winning goal 57 seconds into overtime of a 3-2 victory over Phoenix: “I might have over-celebrated, but I don’t do that every day. It was just one of those times where I scored and the adrenaline got a little higher and higher. I couldn’t care less what I did after the goal, because we won the game.”