He’s Bursting With Good Ideas for These Games

The Commonwealth Games went virtually unnoticed when they were held in September in Kuala Lumpur. All of which prompted Harry Pearson, in Total Sport, to comment:

“The Commonwealth Games is the sporting equivalent of the appendix: We all know it’s there but the exact point of it, no one can quite fathom. Sometimes, of course, the appendix grabs our attention by bursting.

“This has yet to happen in the case of the Commonwealth Games, though, personally, I think we should remove it as soon as possible just to be on the safe side.”

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Trivia time: Utah won the NCAA basketball championship in 1944. What was so unusual about the Utes’ victory?

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Pocketbook decision: The Riveridge golf course in Eugene, Ore., has instituted an unusual way of appeasing players who want to wear spikes and groundskeepers who want players to wear spikeless shoes.

If you wear spikes, the greens fee is $35. If you have alternative spikes or tennis shoes, you pay $27.

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Just like mom: Martha Earnhardt, describing the similarities between her son Dale’s Winston Cup championship driving style and hers:

“Dale has always been a real aggressive driver, and sometimes I think he might have gotten a little bit of that from me instead of his dad. When I’m on the road, I find myself not liking to follow people. Of course, I haven’t run over anybody yet.”

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Worth the money: How valuable was Mike Piazza to the New York Mets?

Before they acquired him on May 22, the Mets had averaged 18,876 for 26 home dates. After Piazza joined the club from the Florida Marlins, they averaged 35,239 for 51 home games.

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What does it mean?: You can’t blame New York Yankee fans if they watch closely how the University of Kentucky basketball team fares this season.

The last six times the Wildcats won the NCAA championship--1949, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996 and 1998--the Yankees have won the World Series.

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One dissident: When Canadian snowboard gold medalist Ross Rebagliati returned home to Whistler, Canada, he received a hero’s welcome despite stories that he had been a pot smoker. A park was named after him, as was a run at Intrawest ski resort, where he received a lifetime pass.

Not impressed was a local journalist. He gave Rebagliati a gas mask.

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What’s next?: Soccer, whose clock continues running when nothing is going on, has a new whipping boy in Brazil: the ball boys.

When Palmeiras got a lead on Corinthians in a league championship match, one Corinthian had to be restrained by club officials after accusing ball boys of delaying tactics.

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Trivia answer: They got into the tournament as a replacement for Arkansas after a traffic accident sidelined the Razorbacks.

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And finally: When John Brodie was playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, he also held the ball for extra-point kicks. When asked why the highly paid quarterback would be responsible for that, he replied, “Well, if I didn’t, it would fall over.”