Gore’s Vision Didn’t Come From the Court

Tom Fitzgerald of the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Bob Kanuth, a former teammate of Al Gore on the Harvard freshman basketball team, about the presidential candidate:

“You know how some players have a wonderful ability to see the whole court while they dribble? Al didn’t.”

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Trivia time: Golf was once an Olympic sport. Who is the only women’s champion?

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Misnomer: How can they call it “Little” League when Julian Vandervelde, the 12-year-old first baseman for Davenport, Iowa, stands 6 feet 2 inches and weighs 231 pounds?

“We grow them big [in Iowa],” Davenport Manager Matt Kolar said.

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Sound advice: Stock car driver Rusty Wallace, explaining how his team maintains its high level in Winston Cup competition: “To stay ahead, you must have your next idea waiting in the wings.”

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Another Nolan Ryan: Cricket’s 400-wicket club has its fifth member. Curtly Ambrose, a 6-7 fast bowler from the West Indies, snapped up the two wickets he needed against England to reach 400 wickets in test matches.

Taking 400 test wickets in cricket can be compared to compiling 3,000 strikeouts or 300 victories in baseball.

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Honoring Sweetness: Jackson State is naming its new athletic complex for the late Walter Payton, who played for the Tigers in the 1970s before starring for the Chicago Bears. Payton, the NFL’s career rushing leader, died last November of cancer.

Payton’s brother, Eddie, is the Jackson State golf coach.

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Lost and found: Two days after training camp ended, the Denver Broncos sent a truck back to Northern Colorado University in Greeley to gather a collection of forgotten gear.

The stash included CDs by Van Halen, UB40 and Jimi Hendrix, and a few paperback books, including “Meditations for Marriage,” and “The Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member.”

Also included was an official Bronco ID card belonging to rookie wide receiver Chris Cole.

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Famous name: His name sounds the same as that of baseball great Jackie Robinson. Now Massachusetts Republican Senate candidate Jack E. Robinson says there’s more to it than that.

“I am a distant relation,” Robinson said. “Not close enough to be anything fancy. . . . It’s a cousin on my father’s side, down in Mississippi or Alabama or somewhere.”

Jackie’s widow, Rachel, said she had never heard of him.

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Like Babe Ruth: The Cal Ripken Baseball Division is open for children ages 5 to 12, with the “major league” level for kids 11-12. The league was created last year, when the Babe Ruth League renamed its Bambino Division to honor the Baltimore Orioles’ third baseman.

“At first, I was scared because it was a great responsibility. But now I look at it as a great opportunity,” Ripken said.

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Trivia answer: Margaret Abbott of Chicago, in 1900 in Paris.

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And finally: After USC accepted a bid to play Penn State in Sunday’s Kickoff Classic, ESPN college football analyst Beano Cook said: “It’s not the dumbest move since Hitler went to war on two fronts, but it’s close.”