Some Sports Fans Couldn’t Conceive Missing a Game

For the serious sports fan--better make that the seriously warped sports fan--the folks at a Web site for new and expectant parents called BabyCenter.com offer some planning advice.

Concerned that the arrival of your bundle of joy might interfere with your enjoyment of spectator sports?

Just type in your due date and click on the submit button that says, “Tell me what I might miss.”

If you’re just finishing your first trimester, watch out; you could be timing contractions during the Super Bowl.

Thinking about getting pregnant but don’t want to miss the Final Four or the Stanley Cup playoffs?

Just pick your event, and BabyCenter’s Sporting Event Conception Blocker will tell you when not to play around.

If you and your beloved are counting the days to the Olympics, better avoid each other from Christmas Day to Jan. 9.

Little League World Series junkies? Don’t go past third base from Nov. 28-Dec. 4.

Can’t miss the Grey Cup on Nov. 28?

You’re safe if you were really watching Duke blow out North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament final March 7.

Planning a party for the National Finals Rodeo?

Hey, maybe you need more counseling than a Web site can offer.

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Trivia time: Who among Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Hank Aaron managed a hit in his final at-bat?

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The Colt shoulder: A recent reader survey by the Indianapolis Star and News to select the biggest events in Indiana sports history proved basketball’s supremacy in the Hoosier State.

The Colts’ move to Indianapolis from Baltimore in 1984 was only No. 3.

No. 1 was Indiana’s undefeated 1976 NCAA basketball championship season.

And No. 2?

Try the 1954 state basketball championship won by tiny Milan High, which had an enrollment of 162 students--and only 73 boys--when it won the state’s famous single-division title on Bobby Plump’s shot in the final seconds.

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Going to pot: Oakland Raider running back Rashaan Salaam’s admission to ESPN that he smoked marijuana during much of his fumble-plagued stint with the Bears led to this Chicago Sun-Times headline: “A ‘high’ draft pick.”

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Trivia answer: Only Aaron, who singled in his final at-bat for the Milwaukee Brewers on Oct. 3, 1976.

Ruth grounded out for the Boston Braves on May 30, 1935, and Cobb hit a foul pop to shortstop for the Philadelphia A’s on Sept. 11, 1928.

And finally: From San Jose Mercury News columnist Bud Geracie: “In voting for ESPN comeback player of the year, Lance Armstrong should have no trouble unseating the incumbent, Darryl Strawberry.”

Strawberry, suspended from baseball after being arrested for cocaine possession and solicitation in April, is eligible to return today and has been assigned to triple-A Columbus.