When They’re Together, Are They Mongeese?

Archie Moore’s daughter, J’Marie, is following in her father’s footsteps. When she decided to become a professional boxer, she named her training site “Camp Mongoose” after the former light-heavyweight champion’s nickname, “the Old Mongoose.”

J’Marie, 5 feet 10 1/2 and 170 pounds, believes in modern training methods, such as step machines and treadmills. But Archie, 83, insists she do things the way he did too, meaning early morning roadwork and splitting wood.

She won her first fight, a four-round split decision.

Trivia time: Who holds the record for most home runs before being traded in mid-season?

Fair warning: Pity poor Penn State. The Nittany Lions have been picked No. 1 in the AP preseason football poll. Since the poll started in 1950, only eight of 47 choices have gone on to win the national championship. The last was Florida State in 1993.

Can’t wait: It had to happen. Dennis Rodman’s life story will be turned into a made-for-television movie by ABC, though Rodman will not be playing himself.

That distinction goes to Dwayne Adway. Rodman will get his moment, however, as he will introduce the movie and comment periodically on the events depicted.

Attention collectors: Anybody have a Sister Assumpta baseball card?

It has just been added to the Cleveland Indian collection, right there with Sandy Alomar’s and Jim Thome’s.

Sister Assumpta, mother superior for the Sisters of the Holy Spirit in Cleveland, has baked cookies for the Indians since 1986 and is known around Cleveland as one of the team’s biggest fans.

Sister no help: The Cleveland Indians are 0-49 when trailing after eight innings.

Ouch! San Jose Mercury News writer Ann Killion described San Francisco Giant pitcher William VanLandingham as a “bass guitarist in a garage band,” and said he was called up from triple-A “for no apparent reason other than he has a pulse.”

No hitchhikers: After two-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher stopped to pick up fellow driver Giancarlo Fisichella, who was stranded on the track after completion of the German Grand Prix, did officials hail him for his sportsmanship?

Absolutely not. He received a reprimand. FIA rules state that a driver may not stop for any reason on the cool-down lap before arriving at the pits.

Trivia answer: Mark McGwire, who had 34 when the Oakland A’s sent him to St. Louis last month.

And finally: The mayor of Providence, R.I., was hooked by what appears to be a major league fish story.

A group claiming to be looking for a new home for the Florida Marlins sent Mayor Vincent Cianci a letter expressing interest in Providence.

“We have been empowered to gauge interest in the team’s relocation,” read the note from a group calling itself the Florida Marlins Relocation Search Committee.

A Marlin spokesman said the letter is a hoax perpetrated by a weekly newspaper in Miami.