Danger, Karch Kiraly! Robots in Your Sport!

A volleyball-playing robot has been developed by Toshiba Corp., a Japanese electronics firm--and its name isn’t Spike.

The 4-foot-7-inch robot, called Tomorrow, has two moving cameras for eyes and two arms that respond to human movement. It has no legs and is suspended from the ceiling.

The robot also recognizes human faces, shakes hands and picks up balls--by a specific color--if told to do so.

Unbeatable? Hardly. “In a game of volleyball, it doesn’t measure up to human skills,” a Toshiba spokesman acknowledged.

Trivia time: Which NCAA Division I school has produced the most consensus men’s All-American basketball players?

Win one for the Filter: The Sporting News reports that former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz recently took a part-time job as a consultant to U.S. Filter Corp., a California-based company that provides water and waste-water treatment equipment.

Will Holtz be walking through muck wearing coveralls, boots and thick gloves? No chance. He has been hired to give motivational speeches to employees, work at trade shows and visit each plant to assess teamwork.

Top dogs: In New England two weeks ago, USA Network’s showing of the Westminster Kennel Club Show quadrupled the TV ratings for both of Boston’s last-place teams, the Bruins and Celtics.

“Given the choice,” writes Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe, “local viewers opted for real dogs over the bowsers that play for the Bs and Cs.”

Vicious: A newspaper reader in Edmonton, having heard of Hamilton’s bid for an NHL expansion franchise, wrote a letter to the editor, saying “Hamilton won’t get a pro hockey team, because then Toronto would want one.”

The humanitarian: Albert Belle’s former Cleveland Indian teammate, Tony Pena, who’s also in the Chicago White Sox camp, said the outfielder is misunderstood.

“He’s smart. People think he’s stupid, but he’s not,” Pena said. “I think he’s a great human being.”

The four Jens: Starting lineup for the Villanova women’s basketball team: Jennifer Sliwa, Jenea Skeeters, Jenn Beisel, Jenny Higgins--and Shanette Lee.

Who let Shanette get in there?

Looking back: On this day in 1988, speedskater Bonnie Blair won the second U.S. gold medal at the Winter Olympics at Calgary in world-record time as she beat Christa Rothenburger of East Germany by .02 seconds in the 500 meters.

Trivia answer: Kentucky, with 14, followed by UCLA with 12, according to the NCAA media guide.

And finally: Bill Parcells, on his new team, the woeful New York Jets: “We’re going to find out who the bus drivers are. We’ll see who’s going to ride and who’s going to get off.”