Tiger Dreams of Becoming the First 49er

Tiger Woods was asked by Pat Sullivan of the San Francisco Chronicle if he thought it was possible to make a birdie on every hole, for a 54.

“Could be better than that,” Woods said.

“A 50?” Sullivan asked.

“Could be better than that too. You never know.”

Only in Tiger’s world.

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Trivia time: Who is the only player to lead the NBA in scoring and assists in the same season?

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Security blanket: You can be sure Isaac Bruce has brought along his lucky ankle braces for the St. Louis Rams’ NFC championship game today against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Last week, about 90 minutes before game time, he realized he had left the braces at the team’s training site, 20 miles from the Trans World Dome.

It’s not that he’s superstitious, it’s simply that he has used the same ones since college.

Equipment manager Jim Lake tracked down the Rams’ security director, who found a willing St. Louis police officer, who drove Lake to Rams Park. The officer used his flashing lights to help get through heavy traffic around the stadium--just in time for Bruce to get them on.

“I had a backup pair at the dome, but I couldn’t play without the old ones,” Bruce said. “They’re kind of raggedy and work well for me.”

Well enough that he caught a touchdown pass on the Rams’ first play in a 49-37 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

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Old fashioned: Among Jacksonville Jaguar Coach Tom Coughlin’s team rules are that his players travel in coat and tie, must have both feet on the floor in team meetings and his coaches cannot wear sunglasses on the practice field, in order to better make eye contact with their players.

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Lavender chocolate: Chocolate Thunder is hanging ‘em up as a player, but will continue to coach the Winnipeg Cyclones.

Former NBA star Darryl Dawkins was International Basketball Assn. coach of the year last season while also playing periodically.

“He’s more animated when he’s out of uniform,” Cyclone General Manager Guy Yerama said of the one also known as Dr. Dunk. “He’s up and down and he’s got an amazing wardrobe of suits which range from lavender to dark pink to peach.”

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Said the 6-foot-11, 280-pound Dawkins: “Most big guys would not wear red or loud yellow or blue, but I figure, who’s going to tell me I can’t wear it?”

No one I know.

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Trivia time: Nate Archibald, with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, in 1972-73.

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And finally: Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, last season’s NBA most valuable player, was not selected as one of 12 players for the U.S. Olympic team. His reaction:

“They didn’t even call and acknowledge me or see what I thought. They just made their picks. Even though the guys that got picked were deservedly so, it’s just another example of out with the old and in with the new.”