Don’t Shoot if Iris Eyes Are Smiling

The 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, will be the high-tech Games, according to officials. For example, some athletes won’t be able to pick up their equipment unless a machine recognizes the iris patterns in their eyes.

The latest technology is intended to do everything from helping to control traffic and forecast weather to improving the sights and sounds relayed to television viewers.

On the security side, the iris checks will be for competitors taking their guns out of the storage room for the biathlon, a sport that combines target shooting with cross-country skiing.

Thank goodness, we were worried about that.

*

Trivia time: Which football coach has the highest winning percentage in bowl games, minimum 11 games?

*

Classy response: Washington quarterback Brock Huard, whose team lost to Washington State last Saturday, was a gracious loser:

“The only thing I can say is [Washington State] is the team of destiny. I have a lot of respect for them and I’m proud of those guys. I wish them the best in Pasadena.”

*

Classy place: Courtney Walsh, skipper of the West Indies cricket team, on hotel accommodations in Hyderabad, Pakistan:

“To begin with, four players were booked to one room, and then there were scorpions and cockroaches all over the place.”

*

Home support: Joe Falls of the Detroit News is campaigning for Michigan’s Charles Woodson to become the first defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy:

“Why they even have a ballot for the [Heisman Trophy] is hard to understand. They ought to give it to him by acclamation.”

*

Variety: Washington State is the sixth school to represent the Pacific 10 in the Rose Bowl in as many years. The others: Arizona State, 1997; USC, 1996; Oregon, 1995; UCLA, 1994, and Washington, 1993.

*

What to wear? David Letterman on the McCaughey septuplets: “Here’s how they came out: boy, girl, girl, girl, girl, boy, boy. Sounds like Dennis Rodman selecting his wardrobe in the morning, doesn’t it?”

*

Looking back: On this day in 1890, Navy defeated Army, 24-0, in the first matchup of the historic series, which Army leads, 47-43-7.

*

Trivia answer: Bobby Bowden of Florida State, 15-4-1 record, 77.5%.

*

And finally: Demand for red roses, usually slow this time of year, increased by about one-third last Monday, said Anna Jedlecki manager of a florist shop in Spokane, Wash.

“A lot of people are coming in and getting single roses and giving them to Huskies they know, because they lost,” she said. “We’ve also sold a lot of cards that say ‘Rose Bowl Bound’ from people sending a dozen roses to [Washington State] friends.”