Unlike Seoul, He Won’t Be Running on Premium

Ben Johnson is back, sort of. The Canadian sprinter, banned from official competition, will race against two horses and a car in a charity event next Thursday in Toronto.

Johnson, 36, will run against a standardbred pacer, a thoroughbred and a stock car. A spokesman said the bizarre race--using a staggered start--would be run during a harness-racing card at the Charlottetown Driving Park.

Johnson’s agent, Morris Chrobotek, couldn’t resist joking about the strange event.

“I want the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport to test the horses,” he said “We ask that [Director Victor Lachance] personally go out and take the urine from them. We want someone to look at the engine of the car too.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I-A record for most interceptions in a season?

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Soft schedule: Bruce Keidan in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, on Ohio State’s 28-9 victory over Penn State last Saturday:

“This was [the Buckeyes’] first Big Ten game following victories over West Virginia, Toledo and Missouri. Next they play the Seven Dwarfs--Grumpy, Sneezy, Happy, Dopey, Bashful, Doc and Michigan.”

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Disparity: Woody Paige in the Denver Post: “In 1998 there is no middle class in the [NFL], only the Princes and the Paupers, the Power and the Pathetic. Pete Rozelle’s parity has become parody.

“At least 15 teams are human sacrifices, and Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, the New York Jets, Oakland and Seattle are suspect.”

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Frying pan to . . .: Amid the celebration of Prairie View’s recent victory that ended an 80-game losing streak, one player on the losing Langston team was particularly upset.

“I transferred from Prairie View to come here,” defensive back Devren Byerly said. “I feel terrible.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1943, Bob Hoernschemeyer threw six touchdown passes, an NCAA record for a freshman, as Indiana routed Nebraska, 54-13.

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Ageless wonder: Seattle Seahawk Coach Dennis Erickson, on quarterback Warren Moon, who turns 42 in November:

“I think he lies about his age. I think he’s younger than he is. It won’t amaze me if he plays next year. And it probably won’t amaze me if he plays the year after that. I might be too old to retire when he gets done playing.”

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Update: An omission from significant Coliseum events: the Rev. Billy Graham drew a crowd of 134,254 on Sept. 8, 1963.

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Trivia answer: Al Worley of Washington, 14 in 1968.

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And finally: When Keith Long got a hole in one Sunday on the 140-yard, par-three fourth hole at Gracewill Pines Golf Course in Jackson, Mich., his father, Bob, was screaming and rolling around on the ground.

Said Keith, “My dad flipped over like a bird.”

No wonder. Keith is only 5 years old.

The National Hole In One Assn. in Dallas does not keep records on the youngest ace shooters.