Kiss Nailing All Sorts of Things With Hammer

Track & Field News reports that Balazs Kiss, the former USC hammer thrower, was a one-man wrecking crew at the Budapest International meet July 26:

“Kiss’ winning toss carried all the devastating force of a Led Zeppelin hotel stay.

“His first throw barely avoided destroying a lawn mower; his third smashed the awards podium. Other Kiss throws broke a flagpole flying the Spanish flag and tore a hole through the Jamaican banner.”

The magazine wondered, “What does he do if he loses?”

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Trivia time: Which former Los Angeles Raider quarterback shares the NFL record for longest pass play?

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Out of sight: Woody Paige of the Denver Post, commenting on the Broncos’ keeping the Oakland Raiders’ Napoleon Kaufman under control in a recent 31-3 thrashing: “Napoleon might as well have been on Elba.”

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Is it that bad? Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, critiquing the Raiders: “Not since the Iraqi Republican Guard has such an impressive collection of individuals combined to be so ineffective.”

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Deep pockets: Kevin McHale, general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves, on speculation that Kevin Garnett’s contract will drain the team’s resources when it comes to signing Stephon Marbury and Tom Gugliotta:

“Did anyone notice how high our owner [Glen Taylor] is on the Forbes 400 list?”

He’s 148th, and that’s not too shabby.

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Stick with Mike: From David Letterman: “Michael Jordan is opening a restaurant here in Manhattan. And it’s called Michael Jordan--the Steakhouse.

“Now, I didn’t invest in Michael Jordan--the Steakhouse. No, I’ve got all my money tied up in Hideki Irabu--the Sushi Bar.”

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Unique talent: Zdeno Chara, the New York Islanders’ 6-foot-9 defenseman, on his job at a car wash last year:

“The boss was pretty happy. He found someone who could wash roofs on vans.”

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Turnaround: New York Jet Coach Bill Parcells is only two victories shy of equaling the team’s total number of wins from 1994 to 1996.

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Cold: Pittsburgh Penguin Coach Kevin Constantine, on whether injured defenseman Darius Kasparaitis needs a face shield: “If he was better looking, we’d worry about protecting him.”

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For what it’s worth: The last three Rolling Stones tours of the United States were in 1981, 1989 and 1994. Each of those seasons, the San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowl. The Stones are on tour again.

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Looking back: On this day in 1950, the Rams’ Tom Fears caught 18 passes against Green Bay at the Coliseum to establish a still-standing NFL record.

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Trivia answer: Jim Plunkett, 99 yards to Cliff Branch against Washington on Oct. 2, 1983.

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And finally: Danny Schayes of the Orlando Magic plays basketball right-handed, but writes, eats and bowls left-handed. “I guess you could say I’m amphibious,” he says.