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Don’t Forget, Those Guys Ran It in Slow-Motion

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Track and field promoter Al Franken took note of the 100 meters Marion Jones ran in 10.71 seconds Tuesday and conjured up another result to the dramatic race depicted in the classic film, “Chariots of Fire.”

He calculates Jones would have won the men’s 100 at the 1924 Paris Olympics, the race featured in the film.

“Harold Abrahams of England won the race in 10.6 seconds, but that was a hand-timed race,” Franken said.

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“Most experts feel electronically timed races [as Jones’ 10.71 was] are up to two-tenths of a second slower than hand-timed races. She would have beaten Abrahams.”

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Trivia time: What was the first nationally televised boxing match?

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Suds and sales: This item is for prospective concessions bidders for Los Angeles’ Staples Center, now under construction.

Concession sales at Boston’s FleetCenter this year are expected to gross $20 million, according to Amusement Business magazine.

The figure would be twice any annual gross achieved at FleetCenter’s predecessor, Boston Garden.

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Pair of aces: A University of Iowa statistics professor calculated the odds of getting two holes in one in the same 18-hole round at 363,000,000 to 1.

Yet that’s what Christian Owen did Monday at the University of Iowa golf course. He aced the 192-yard eighth and the 188-yard 13th holes.

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Owen, an assistant grocery store manager who is a near-scratch golfer, also had two eagles on the front nine. He shot a 69.

Owen also had a hole in one on the eighth hole three weeks ago.

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Buzz word: Would anyone ever have difficulty understanding the difference between the nicknames or logos of Georgia Tech and Salt Lake City’s minor league baseball team, the Buzz?

Yes, Georgia Tech maintains, and the university is taking the Salt Lake Buzz to court in an attempt to de-Buzz the club.

Georgia Tech’s nickname is the Yellow Jackets and its mascot is called Buzz. The school obtained trademarks on both in 1988.

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Ole: Another sports gender barrier has fallen.

There are other woman matadors in Spain, but only one, Cristina Sanchez, has appeared in Madrid’s renowned Las Ventas bullring, which she did Tuesday.

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Trivia answer: Carl “Bobo” Olson vs. Dave Sands, from Chicago Stadium, Oct. 3, 1951.

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And finally: Dodger Executive Vice President Fred Claire, commenting on the recent closure of the Dodger Stadium executive dining room as a cost-cutting move:

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“Whether the lunch is a tuna sandwich or a lavish spread, what difference does it make? Our jobs aren’t to eat lunch.”

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