And We Thought It Was Never on Sunday

Not only was the U.S. team frustrated by the Europeans in Ryder Cup play, but so were some members of the media.

“The toilet facilities for the media were locked the other day,” the Detroit News reported. “An American went searching for someone to unlock the door. He was told, ‘But, Senor, it is Tuesday.’

“ ‘But, Senor, I go to the bathroom on Tuesday.’

“Not in Spain, apparently.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the World Series record for runs batted in in a game?

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Big Apple hype: The New York Jets are obviously an improved team, a 3-2 record now compared to 1-15 in the 1996 season.

But New York Post headline writers were getting a bit carried away after the Jets beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-14, last Sunday: “JETS A MEAN, GREEN WINNING MACHINE.”

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Gutty little team: Former Chicago White Sox pitcher Steve Stone, talking about how the late Bill Veeck put together the overachieving 1977 White Sox, who went 90-72:

“We were Bill’s version of the sign on the Statue of Liberty: ‘Give us your lame, your halt, yearning to be baseball players.’ ”

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Instant incentive: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Q: The Golden State Warriors have a new slogan, ‘Thunder by the Bay--be there when lightning strikes.’ Will this slogan stir up new interest among fans?

“A: No, but if lightning strikes one of the Warriors’ players in the butt, you might see some hustle on the court for a change.”

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Flawed analogy: Says CBS golf commentator David Feherty, “The game is becoming more athletic, just like the NBA. Twenty-five years ago, when you looked at the NBA it was a bunch of skinny guys in bad shorts. Now, it’s muscular guys in bad shorts. It’s the same thing in golf.”

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Record: 40-120: Casey Stengel, manager of the 1962 New York Mets on his team: “The only thing worse than a Mets game is a Mets doubleheader.”

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Looking back: On this date in 1951, Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the ninth inning to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant.

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Note: This has been a bad date in Dodger history. They also lost league playoff titles to the Cardinals in 1946 and the Giants in 1962.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1919, UCLA lost to Manual Arts High School, 74-0, in the first game of the first season of Bruin football.

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Trivia answer: Bobby Richardson of the New York Yankees, with six against Pittsburgh on Oct. 8, 1960.

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And finally: Remember when Dennis Rodman vowed to appear naked in his final NBA game? Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune advises the Bulls not to re-sign the Worm: “It’s time to dump Rodman’s behind, not risk seeing it.”