He Didn’t Waste Time Blowing This Title

Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, at a welcoming ceremony for the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl game in Tempe, Ariz., was approached by a young-looking man who offered him a bag of Tostitos chips.

“Are you the master of ceremonies?” asked Bowden.

“No,” he said. “I am the mayor.”

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More Bowden: The Florida State coach was better prepared when asked his thoughts on the Bowl Championship Series.

“I have two answers,” he said. “If we’re in it, ‘Yes.’ If we’re not in it, ‘No.’ ”

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Trivia time: What is the all-time one-sided score in college football?

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He’s quotable: Pity the poor reporter assigned to get a quote from Tennessee linebacker Al Wilson after tonight’s Fiesta Bowl.

“I hate the media,” he told a gathering of writers in Arizona. Asked how much he hated them, on a scale of one to 10, he snapped:

“Minus one.”

Wait till he meets The Times’ T.J. Simers.

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Steel springs: Thomas “Hit Man” Hearns, 40, is another of those fighters who can’t quit. In his first fight since Nov. 29, 1996, Hearns knocked out Jay “Swamp Man” Snyder, a 37-year-old South Carolina maintenance worker. Swamp Man was knocked out three times in the first round last year. Hearns hit him so hard, both boxers fell. “I’ve never hit anybody like that before,” Hearns said. He added: “I was up fast, wasn’t I? I’ve got springs in my butt.”

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What, no VW?: When a boyfriend has everything imaginable, what what do you get for him?

How about a $350,000 silver Ferrari 550 Maranello. That’s what pop star Victoria Adams, better known as Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, got British soccer star David Beckham for Christmas.

The Ferrari joined a Porsche, a Range Rover and a Bentley in the millionaire’s car collection.

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Where’s Esther Williams? What’s next for the already crowded Olympic Games schedule?

How about fin swimming, an obscure sport being proposed for the 2004 Athens Games.

Fin swimmers stick both feet in a single rubber-and-fiberglass mono-fin up to 22 inches wide. They clasp hands together in front and propel themselves through the water with undulating thrusts of the fin.

Wow!

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Sounds logical: Ever wonder where the Green Bay football team got the name “Packers?”

When the team was organized in 1919, the Indian Packing Company provided the equipment and the nickname.

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Trivia answer: Georgia Tech 222, Cumberland 0, in 1916.

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And finally: According to the National Golf Foundation, 64% of the nation’s amateur golfers concede short putts--popularly known as gimmes--to their playing companions.

Until, of course, a buck or two rests on making them.