He Was a ‘10’ at the Movies as Well as on the Field

His jaw clenched, his eyes piercing, his voice commanding, Don Shula gave no indication he belonged anywhere Saturday other than on the steps to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To hear him tell it, Shula has been humbled only once in his life.

After he coached the 1972 Miami Dolphins to a 17-0 record, he and his late wife, Dorothy, vacationed in a small town on the Maine coast. Entering a movie theater one evening, they received a standing ovation.

“You don’t have to applaud,” Shula said. “I don’t want any special treatment, even if my team did just win the Super Bowl.”

From the back of the dark theater came a voice.

“We don’t care who you are,” it said. “They wouldn’t start the movie until we had 10 people here. You and your wife put us over the top.”

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Swimmer Franziska van Almsick, who won four medals in the 1992 Summer Olympics at 14, was called the last miracle of the Miracle Machine, the name for East Germany’s remarkably efficient, government-sponsored sports program. . . .

It appears as if there was at least one more. . . .

Jan Ullrich, who became the first German to win the Tour de France on Sunday, lived in the East German port city of Rostock until he was 12, when he was recruited into East Berlin’s Dynamo Sports School. He is still trained by his former East German coach. . . .

Frustrated by a flat tire, Denmark’s Bjarne Riis, the Tour’s defending champion, picked up his bicycle during Saturday’s time trial and heaved it as far as he could. . . .

Not only has this been a particularly hot summer in some places, it has been a hot-blooded one. . . .

Mike Tyson bites Evander Holyfield’s ear, Hideki Irabu spits at the crowd, Shigetoshi Hasegawa throws his glove, Nancy Lieberman-Cline puts a headlock on Jamila Wideman, James Fellows tears down the net to protest a referee’s call in the beach volleyball tournament at Hermosa Beach. . . .

I don’t condone any of the misbehavior noted above. But don’t you also hate it when an athlete brings no passion to his game? . . .

“I came here to practice,” Goran Ivanisevic said the day before he was eliminated in a listless semifinal performance at UCLA in the Infiniti Open. . . .

Gee, Goran. Thanks for stopping by. . . .

In the mother of all temper tantrums, Saddam Hussein’s son and the head of Iraq’s soccer federation, Odai, ordered the caning of Iraq’s team after its elimination from World Cup qualifying. . . .

He must have been talking to Mike Ditka. . . .

Or Bill Parcells. . . .

You think a tough guy like Parcells can co-exist with Keyshawn Johnson? . . .

Of course. The Big Tuna didn’t win all those games by ignoring his most talented players. . . .

He said before training camp the Jet passing game would be built around receivers Johnson and Jeff Graham, not Wayne Chrebet. . . .

Johnson is so content, his new nickname in New York is “LoKeyshawn.” . . .

Irabu is now Ira-boo. . . .

Having batted against Hideki and Hideo, Matt Williams says Irabu is no Nomo. . . .

If the Dodgers make a move before Thursday’s interleague trading deadline, it probably will be for a left-handed pinch-hitter. . . .

I’m still hearing the Angels are discussing a deal for Kevin Appier. . . .

Do it. . . .

Do something. . . .

The most intriguing explanation I’ve heard for Ben Hogan’s loss in the 1955 U.S. Open playoff is that Jack Fleck somehow “appropriated” Hogan’s inner body. . . .

That comes from Michael Murphy’s “Golf in the Kingdom,” in which the mystical, and I assume mythical, pro and guru, Shivas Irons, preaches a golfer must make peace with his natural swing. . . .

Hogan might have been the only golfer who could muster the concentration required to do combat with his and consistently win. . . .

Maybe that’s what made him so irascible. . . .

As the story goes, Gary Player once called Hogan to ask for advice. . . .

“What clubs are you using now?” asked Hogan, who had a brand that he designed. . . .

“Dunlop,” Player said. . . .

“Then call Mr. Dunlop,” Hogan said. . . .

No one got smart with Mr. Hogan, except perhaps for his wife, Valerie. . . .

When he complained about his putting during the 1937 L.A. Open, she said, “Would you like to know how to sink those putts? Just hit the ball a little closer to the hole.” . . .

Sounds like something he would have said.

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While wondering how Harold Baines would look in a Dodger uniform, I was thinking: It’s good to see Jim Courier win again, Karch Kiraly too, Hogan will remain alive as long as Jim Murray writes about him.