Identifying Gators Is a Job With No Room for Error

Florida quarterback Jesse Palmer is the cover boy for Street and Smith’s annual college preview edition.

There he is, No. 7 in his Gator uniform.

Only it isn’t Palmer. The player on the cover is Danny Wuerffel, Florida’s 1996 Heisman Trophy winner. Also No. 7.

“We blew it,” executive editor Mike Kallay said. “There are some long, convoluted reasons for it, but clearly, bottom line, it should not have happened. God knows, we regret it.

“But since the magazine only comes out once a year, there’s no real way to correct it in the next edition.”

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Trivia time: Who has won the most British Opens?

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Nothing new: While in Australia, Formula One driver Pedro Diniz spent a day scuba diving among the sharks in Melbourne’s new aquarium.

“In F1 we get used to dealing with all kinds of sharks,” Diniz said. “So I felt quite at home.”

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Short walk: When the Detroit Tigers announced during the sixth inning of a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night that they had acquired veteran infielder Hal Morris from the Reds for cash, all Morris did was walk to the visitors’ clubhouse.

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Scouting report: Jeff Bagwell, Houston’s all-star first baseman, has high praise for the play of Cleveland Indian second baseman Roberto Alomar and shortstop Omar Vizquel.

“Everybody knows that when you play in Cleveland, you don’t hit the ball up the middle,” he said. “I would love to play shortstop or second base like them. I can’t. Nobody can.”

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Straight talk: Toronto General Manager Gord Ash, in explaining the financial disparity between small-market teams and the New York Yankees:

“The Yankees operate in a stratosphere that we can’t pretend to be in. They dominate at every level, which is why the little Davids like us are just happy to be with the Goliath.”

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Piling it on: The already overcrowded Olympic schedule will have two new sports this summer in Sydney: taekwondo and triathlon.

New events are women’s pole vault and hammer throw, men’s and women’s trampoline gymnastics, men’s and women’s synchronized diving, women’s water polo, women’s weightlifting and women’s modern pentathlon.

What’s next, ballroom dancing?

How about racing? Officials seeking to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to Dallas have announced plans to hold an international auto race at Texas Motor Speedway as a demonstration sport if Dallas is awarded the Games.

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Good thinking: After Chicago White Sox rookie Jon Garland got his first major league victory, his teammates showered the 20-year-old with beer.

“I didn’t drink any,” said Garland, not yet old enough to legally drink in Illinois.

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So long, Curly: Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., is about to go the way of San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium and San Francisco’s Candlestick Park. The Green Bay City Council is studying how to market naming rights for the Packers’ legendary stadium, named for Curly Lambeau, a high school hero in Green Bay who later played for and coached the Packers.

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Trivia answer: Harry Vardon, six (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, 1914).

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And finally: Rain, snow and power shortages have caused baseball games to be canceled, but a lack of gloves?

Because their gloves were delayed en route from Albuquerque to Des Moines, the Iowa Cubs postponed a game against Tacoma. Players were offered shoes and gloves from a local sporting goods store, but there was a problem.

“New shoes you can deal with,” second baseman Chad Meyers said. “New gloves you can’t.”