They Were Willing to Give Shirts Off Their Backs

This isn’t the kind of scrum you usually get in the sport of rugby.

After defeating American University, 19-0, in a match at Washington, D.C., on Saturday, some members of the Ohio State women’s team made a monumental decision--posing for a team photo in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

To help make it a memorable moment, the players decided to go topless for the photo. And we’re not talking hats.

“We wanted to do something crazy,” team captain Megan Cowley said. “It’s rugby. It’s a crazy sport.”

The District of Columbia has no law against women going topless in public, but apparently Ohio State does. The school suspended the entire team.

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Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for the longest run from scrimmage?

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Nowhere man: Michael Ventre of MSNBC, on the Lakers’ triangle offense: “The scrub who fills in for the injured Kobe Bryant . . . will feel like he’s playing in the Bermuda Triangle if he expects a pass from Shaq or Glen Rice.”

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Enigmatic team: Ray Ratto in the San Francisco Examiner, on the 4-4 Oakland Raiders: “The [Raiders] reached the midpoint of their season Sunday evening, and about the only thing they know about themselves is that they know nothing about themselves.

“Which seems only fair, since we don’t know anything about them, either.”

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No trick or treat: Cincinnati’s 41-10 loss to Jacksonville last Sunday prompted this assessment by Geoff Hobson of the Cincinnati Enquirer: “Leave it to the Bengals to show up on Halloween disguised as an NFL franchise.”

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Oh, him again: Comedy writer Argus Hamilton, on the continued dominance of the Yankees in the World Series:

“How big is the team? President Clinton called the Yankee locker room after the game, and Joe Torre let the machine pick it up.”

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Yawn: Rooting for the Yankees, says Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, is “like rooting for Brad Pitt to get the girl or for Bill Gates to hit Scratch ‘n’ Win.”

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Aren’t we all: New York Islander defenseman Jamie Howard said he is 90% recovered from the second concussion of his career, but his mind still gets fuzzy on the ice.

“I’m a little bit behind mental-wise,” Howard told the New York Post.

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Trivia answer: Tony Dorsett of the Dallas Cowboys, 99 yards against Minnesota on Jan. 3, 1983.

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And finally: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Margaret Bauman of Anchorage, Alaska, passes on this story of legendary Alabama football coach Bear Bryant:

“It seems Bear was in Gainesville, Fla., for an Alabama-Florida game and called room service for breakfast. ‘I’d like two raw sausage patties, burned toast, some blackened scrambled eggs and lukewarm coffee,’ he said.

“ ‘Sir,’ the hotel worker said, ‘we can’t send you an order like that.’ To which Bear growled, ‘The hell you can’t. That’s what I got yesterday.’ ”