Investigation Wouldn’t Mean a Quick Fix

Hall of Fame quarterback Sammy Baugh said recently he suspects his Washington Redskin teammates allowed the Chicago Bears to run up the score to 73-0 in the 1940 NFL title game because they were upset with loud-mouthed owner George Preston Marshall.

Said Michael Ventre of MSNBC: “Because of the suggestion that players might actually throw a game because of antipathy toward a boorish owner, the NFL has decided to investigate every game ever played since the league’s inception.”

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Trivia time: Whom does the NBA list as its all-time leader in offensive rebounds?

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Only way to go: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Going in style: Primo Nebiolo, the former head of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, always was considered imperious, and the mere fact he died last month didn’t change anything.

“His coffin was put on a pedestal in a room at Italy’s national Olympic headquarters that contained murals of Roman emperors and Benito Mussolini. Six athletes stood guard.”

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Wrong opponent: Sam Smith in the Chicago Tribune: “Charlotte’s Brad Miller came up with last week’s stupid injury when he had to sit out part of the second half of a loss to Portland after he punched a glass case holding a fire extinguisher at halftime and needed stitches.”

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A no-brainer: Steve Davis in the Dallas Morning News: “Former Texas basketball coach Abe Lemons never quite conquered his frustration over being fired by DeLoss Dodds.

“Many, many semesters after his ouster, Lemons still jokes about the indignity of being shown the door by a former track and field coach.

“ ‘How hard is it to coach track and field?’ he likes to say. ‘You just tell ‘em to stay left and get back as quick as you can.’ ”

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Air league: Jake Curtis in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Four of the Pac-10’s past seven Rose Bowl teams have been picked to finish sixth or worse:

“UCLA in 1993 (sixth), Oregon in 1994 (eighth), Washington State in 1997 (seventh) and Stanford this year (eighth).” All of them, Curtis notes, had prolific pass offenses.

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Something in common: From comedy writer Jerry Perisho: “It appears that NASA scientists have officially lost their Mars Polar Lander. How does it feel throwing away $165 million, getting nothing in return? Ask the Dodgers.”

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It will sell: Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: “The bat Babe Ruth leaned on in his farewell game sold for $107,000. Now accepting bids on the bar stool Ruth leaned on after the game.”

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Trivia answer: Moses Malone, 6,731, with eight teams from 1976-77 to 1994-95. Note: offensive rebounds have been compiled only since 1973-74.

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And finally: Nate Newton, a 6-foot-3, 335-pound guard for the Carolina Panthers, doesn’t apologize for his prodigious appetite, telling the Charlotte Observer:

“We get on the plane and this lady comes down the aisle, ‘Cheese and grapes?’ I’m like, cheese and grapes? Come on, we’re not in California. This ain’t the Napa Valley.”