Kangaroos? They’ll Rue That Question

No, Australia, site of the upcoming Summer Olympics, isn’t the way you think it is, especially if your frame of reference is “Crocodile Dundee.”

“People always ask where the kangaroos are, as if they’d be in the streets or something,” Debbie Moore, a concierge at the Sydney Hilton, told the Orlando Sentinel.

“I mean, do I see cowboys in the streets when I go to New York? Do I see camels when I go to Kuwait? I don’t think so. And I don’t know how to throw a boomerang so don’t ask me that, either.”

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Hot off the grill: Nor do they throw many shrimp on barbies, no matter what actor Paul Hogan says in their tourism ads.

“It was made up just for Americans because we don’t even use the word ‘shrimp’ here,” says Bob Roberts, who lives 120 miles north of Sydney.

“We call them prawns. And back then, we never, ever put a prawn on the barbie. Back before we heard that red meat was bad for you, we used to put a half a cow on the barbie--not seafood!”

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Trivia time: Who has the NFL’s highest single-season rushing average, with a minimum of 1,000 yards?

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Re$pect with capital $: The Dodgers reportedly want Dusty Baker as their next manager, in the event they miss the playoffs and something untoward happens to Davey Johnson. However, San Francisco’s strong season means the Giants will make Baker a big offer to stay.

Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner notes Baker ranks 14th in managers’ salaries at $750,000. The leaders are the New York Yankees’ Joe Torre ($3 million), St. Louis’ Tony La Russa ($1.7 million), Atlanta’s Bobby Cox ($1.5 million), Montreal’s Felipe Alou ($1.4 million), Seattle’s Lou Piniella ($1.3 million) and Johnson ($1.275 million).

“Giants ownership . . . understands that Baker is infinitely more popular among Giants fans than any other figure save perhaps Willie Mays,” writes Ratto.

Baker won’t be entertaining many counteroffers from his old team, the Dodgers, says Ratto, having “all but said there is some money he does not need.”

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Ram envy: Quarterback Drew Bledsoe is taking heat for the New England Patriots’ slide, but the Boston Herald’s Gerry Callahan says the problem is the other 21 positions and traditional offensive schemes.

“Do like the Rams,” writes Callahan. “Maybe you can’t put as much raw talent on the field as St. Louis . . . but there is one thing you can do like Mike Martz’s team: Pick up the pace.”

ESPN Radio’s Boomer Esiason told Callahan he always tried to keep things moving, to preserve the feeling of momentum, even if his teams had none.

“You don’t have to go to the no-huddle,” Esiason said. “Just make it a quick huddle.”

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Trivia answer: Cleveland’s Jim Brown, who averaged 6.4 a carry in 1963 when he gained 1,863 yards.

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And finally: Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, on the Nittany Lions’ 0-2 start: “I make a lot of lectures to high school coaches and one thing I tell them all the time, ‘Don’t let the fans coach your football team. Don’t let the media coach your football team. You’d better know what you believe in, in what you know will work.’ ”