If He Shoots a 57, He Should Talk to People at Heinz

Stanford graduate Notah Begay recently made golfing history when he became the first player on the Nike Tour to shoot a 59 during tournament play. After registering his 13-under-par round in the Dominion Open in Richmond, Va., however, he shot successive 74s and finished in a tie for sixth.

That didn’t hurt his confidence, though. Asked what he hoped to do in the future, Begay said, “I think I can shoot 58 some day. Records are made to be broken, aren’t they?”

“Mr. 58” does have a nice ring to it.

*

Trivia time: Who was the first African-American player to gain All-American basketball honors?

*

Street slang: Hall of Fame basketball player Earl “The Pearl” Monroe served as technical advisor on the film “He Got Game.”

“I never knew people talked like that,” said the Winston-Salem State graduate.

*

Pitch man: Boston Red Sox first baseman Mo Vaughn, whose parents live near Baltimore, is making no bones about lobbying to join the Orioles next year as a free agent.

“I want my family to stop traveling, my father to take it easy--he has been sick,” Vaughn said. “The [Camden Yards] ballpark is one of the best for my type of swing. It would be nice. If it comes down to it being good for my family, that’s what I worry about more than anything.”

*

Just FYI: In case anyone asks, the Swaythling Cup and the Corbillon Cup are the rewards for winning world table tennis championships, Swaythling for the men and Corbillon for the women.

*

View from Paris: From Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune: “France’s minister of tourism assured visitors they could visit the country this summer and be able to avoid World Cup mayhem and inflated prices. Almost as easily as the insufferable natives avoid soap.”

*

Or is there? Ron Reid, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, says, “There’s no truth to the rumor that the [Dallas] Cowboys refused to draft Randy Moss because they thought he and Michael Irvin, occupying the same huddle, would constitute a parole violation.”

*

Special effects: Detroit’s Golden Tower has turned red, and it features a 20-foot-tall octopus for good measure. The roof of the Fisher Building, distinctively bathed in golden light by night, is now the target of a red spotlight honoring the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings.

Plus an inflated octopus, which has come to symbolize the Red Wings’ run for the NHL championship. Detroit fans used to throw octopuses on the ice in the playoffs, a practice now discouraged.

*

The word: If all Larry Bird is waiting for is word from his players if he should return as coach of the Indiana Pacers, Reggie Miller has the answer for him.

“I told him, ‘As long as my contract is here, your contract is here,’ ” Miller said. ‘When I finish my contract, then you can go on home. Until then, you’re going to be on the sidelines.’ ”

*

Trivia answer: Columbia’s George Gregory, in 1930-31.

*

And finally: If the rumor that Florida Marlin Manager Jim Leyland and General Manager Dave Dombrowski are coming to Los Angeles next season, joining what seems like half their world championship team, Rob Parker of Newsday asks if the Dodgers shouldn’t change their name to the Marlins too.