Sometimes, You Get What You Pay For

In a survey of sponsors by Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Journal, NASCAR stock car racing was rated No. 1 among sports offering “good value for the money.” Not too surprising, considering the success of its Winston Cup series, but the runner-up may cause a few lifted eyebrows.

Minor league baseball was named a close second, well ahead of No. 3 Senior PGA golf. There was another surprise at No. 4--minor league hockey.

Here’s to the Ice Dogs.

*

Trivia time: Purdue’s only Rose Bowl appearance was 1967 when the Boilermakers defeated USC, 14-13. What was unusual about Purdue playing?

*

Life’s priorities: Asks Jeff Jacobs of the Hartford (Conn.) Courant: “Do you find it troubling that we spend multimillions to perfect TV technology to superimpose first-down lines on a football field, yet we can’t accurately count presidential ballots?”

*

Lifestyle: Sacramento Bee columnist Mark Kreidler, writing on the East Coast euphoria surrounding the Subway Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, quoted a local fan:

“The glow of victory lasts only for so long. Then you realize it’s November and you’re living in New Jersey.”

*

The ultimate: Senior PGA pro Bob Bruce, speaking about gambling in golf:

“I used to play with a guy who cheated so badly that he once had a hole in one and wrote down zero on his scorecard.”

*

Wrong sport? Orlando Magic Coach Doc Rivers took his NBA team bowling one day in Salt Lake City and guard Darrell Armstrong rolled a 280, starting with a spare and finishing with 11 strikes. Armstrong carries a 160 average.

*

No Cousy, he: Boston Celtic guard Chris Herren, who has been commuting to home games by train, was stopped at the FleetCenter by a security guard who didn’t believe he was on the team.

“I said, ‘I’m a player. How do I get up there [to the locker room]?’ And he said, ‘No you don’t. Get out of here.’ ”

*

Thanks, Title IX: According to the Women’s Sports Federation, in 1972 only one of 27 high school girls played varsity sports, while in 1998 that figure was one in three. And women now comprise 34% of Olympic athletes, 39% of college athletes and 40% of high school athletes.

*

Tit for tat: Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban didn’t mince his words after Karl Malone was suspended one game for backhanding Christian Laettner.

“An act of thuggery. What he did was criminal,” Cuban said. “If Malone used such tactics in hockey, criminal charges would have been filed.”

To which Dwight Manley, Malone’s agent, said of Cuban: “This is a situation that happens . . . when you have an individual with more dollars than brain cells.”

*

Trivia answer: Purdue was the second-place team in the Big Ten. Because of a no-repeat clause at the time, undefeated Michigan State could not play.

*

And finally: Steve Wimmer went to Atlanta two weeks ago hoping to take part in an ARCA race, a support event for the Napa 500 Winston Cup race.

When rain washed out qualifying and his hopes of making the field, he entered the 500 instead. Remarkably, Wimmer qualified and actually led for nine laps before slipping back and finishing 22nd.

He earned $37,780, more than Bob Strait got for winning the ARCA race.