What, VCRs Weren’t Around in Those Days?

Bruce Keidan in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “I asked Joe Garagiola, who played big league baseball back in the 1940s and has been observing it at close range ever since, ‘Who had the best home run trot of any player you’ve seen?’

“‘Reggie Jackson,’ he said without hesitation. ‘He worked on it. Reggie’s only regret was that he never saw himself play.’ ”

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Trivia time: Which are the only two schools from the same state to have played each other in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Division I championship game?

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Oh no, not again! It must have been deja vu for Rhode Island Coach Jim Harrick, when his team blew a six-point lead with one minute left and lost to Stanford in the NCAA Midwest Regional final on Sunday.

In 1983, when Harrick was coaching Pepperdine, the Waves had a six-point lead with 1:10 left in the first overtime while playing North Carolina State in an NCAA first-round game in Corvallis, Ore.

Pepperdine then blew free-throw opportunities, and the Wolfpack went on to win in double overtime, and eventually won the NCAA championship.

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A long haul: George Will in the Washington Post: “Any team can have bad century, but the Phillies have overdone it. Since 1900, they have lost 1,270 more games than they have won, so they need about an eight-season winning streak just to get back to mediocrity [.500].”

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New currency? Will McDonough of the Boston Globe cited this remark by a talk-show caller in Boston, discussing reports that Patriot running back Dave Meggett has fathered five children by four women:

“Meggett’s face should be on the dollar bill because he’s really the father of our country.”

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Wait and see: Bill Suda in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Former Stanford golfer Casey Martin will throw out the first pitch when the Padres play the Giants at 3Com Park on April 14. No word on whether he’ll use a bullpen cart.”

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Party time: Andre Agassi, after his 6-4, 7-5 third-round victory over Vince Spadea Sunday at the Lipton Championships at Key Biscayne, Fla., on whether he would be willing to play doubles for the United States in its first-round match against Russia, April 3-5 at Stone Mountain, Ga.

“I would be willing to cook dinner and make margaritas for everybody.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1973, UCLA defeated Indiana in the men’s NCAA tournament semifinal game in St. Louis, 70-69.

The Bruins then beat Memphis State in the championship game two nights later, 87-66.

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Trivia answer: Cincinnati defeated Ohio State in 1961 and 1962.

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And finally: St. Louis Cardinal slugger Mark McGwire’s forearms are 17 1/2 inches in circumference, and his biceps are 20 inches.

That helps explain why, as Philadelphia Phillie pitcher Curt Schilling told Sports Illustrated: “He’s the one guy who could hit a ball that goes in one side of you and out the other, and it would be going just as fast when it came out.”