No Joke: Comic to Get the Last Laugh

Moldova, one of the old Soviet Union countries and one of Europe’s poorest, may have a conspicuous entry in the Salt Lake City Olympics. Sort of a Moldovan version of British ski jumper Eddie the Eagle.

German comic Stefan Raab, who has fought a women’s boxing champion and sung in a Eurovision song contest, plans to ski cross-country for the tiny country. He is on the team because he promised to pay the way for all six Moldovan athletes in the Games. And he has dual citizenship.

The German skiing federation recommended he take out an insurance policy to cover broken legs and a hospital stay.

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Trivia time: Who is the Professional Bowlers Assn. all-time winner?

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Might be chilly: When former World Cup snowboard winner Sabrina Blassnig, 31, couldn’t land a clothing sponsor, she said she would compete in only a pair of panties and a bra.

“It doesn’t really matter, as I still have a lot to offer even without my overalls on,” she said in entering a snowboarding contest in Laax, Switzerland.

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Translation needed: “I think I’ll nosepick-to-barspin over the sub rail and then flip the spine.”

That’s BMX superstar Rob Nolli, describing one of his routines in the bicycle version of motocross.

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More than a name: Daniel Shula had the name, and the game, but it wasn’t enough to win Florida’s state high school football championship game. Shula’s previously undefeated Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas team was beaten by Tallahassee Lincoln, 28-20.

Shula, grandson of Hall of Fame coach Don Shula, completed 23 of 31 passes for 309 yards but was outplayed by Lincoln’s Gavin Dickey, Florida player of the year, who threw two touchdown passes and ran for the winning score.

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National pastime: Even in prisoner-of-war camps, American soldiers found a way to play baseball, according to Tim Wolter in his book, “POW Baseball in World War II: National Pastime Behind Barbed Wire.”

“Even in the worst of circumstances, the people still found a way to play ball,” he wrote. “These people basically re-created behind barbed wire almost all the institutions of American life. At the camps in Germany, they not only developed leagues, they sometimes put up scoreboards.”

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He’s probably right: Jim Kelly, the Buffalo Bills’ quarterback who led his team to four consecutive Super Bowls, is not impressed with today’s crop of signal callers.

“You give me a month and I could come back and play better than 60% of the quarterbacks in this league,” said Kelly, who has been retired for five years.

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One man gang: In case you hadn’t noticed, the Portland Trail Blazers are 7-0 when Rasheed Wallace scores at least 23 points, but are 2-9 when he doesn’t.

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Trivia answer: The late Earl Anthony, with 41 victories.

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And finally: Houston Rocket Coach Rudy Tomjanovich, on Michael Jordan’s return to the NBA:

“He’s still a great player. I don’t know why he’s still playing, though. He’s a good golfer and a good sandlot baseball player, so I don’t know what the heck he’s doing, messing with us. He’s probably the only one who could do what he’s doing.”