His Run to Cy Young Award Was Unearned

Miami Herald columnist Dan LeBetard is still smarting over the New York Yankees’ Roger Clemens getting the Cy Young Award.

“He received it because sportswriters ... voted for Clemens’ reputation, name and age--voted for everything except his actual performance,” LeBetard wrote. “Clemens’ impressive 20-3 record was something of a lie. He had zero shutouts, zero complete games.

“Clemens’ 3.51 ERA--the true measure of a pitcher--is just about the worst ERA ever for a Cy Young winner.

“If you compare the relevant numbers of Clemens with the likes of Seattle’s Freddy Garcia (who should have won the award), the Yankees’ Mike Mussina, the Twins’ Joe Mays and any of three Oakland starters--Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson and Barry Zito--you can make the argument that Clemens

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Trivia time: Where was the first New Year’s Day football game played in Pasadena?

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One who knows: Samaki Walker, the Laker power forward who played last season for San Antonio, knows what it’s like to face the Spurs’ Tim Duncan. He did it enough in practice.

“He’s the best power forward, bar none, in the league, so it’s definitely a test,” Walker said.

“I don’t think any one person can stop him. You just have to play hard-nosed defense to try to contain him.”

The Lakers and Spurs meet Jan. 19 in San Antonio.

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Easy choice: Before Washington played in the Rose Bowl last New Year’s Day, Rick Neuheisel took his players on a tour of the Playboy Mansion.

“We have a lot of architectural majors on our team,” the Huskies’ coach explained.

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Double pleasure: The Carolina Hurricanes’ Erik Cole, who had his winning goal in overtime against Atlanta reviewed by officials, said, “Minus the review would have been nice, but it was pretty nice to celebrate it twice.”

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Totally Irish: Columnist and TV/radio talk-show host Tony Kornheiser grew up on Long Island, where there was no college team, so he says he always thought of Notre Dame as his “home” school.

“I always looked at Notre Dame as the University of Football of America,” he said.

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Never too old: Sarah McClelland, 102, will be an Olympic torch carrier on Jan. 3 when it passes through Moraine, Ohio, on its way to Salt Lake City--even if she has to use a walker.

“If I have one hand on the torch and one on the walker, I don’t know how I’m going to wave,” said McClelland, who is recovering from a broken hip after a fall last month. “I want people to know I appreciate them being there.”

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Trivia answer: Tournament Park, now part of the Caltech campus, in 1902, when Michigan defeated Stanford, 49-0.

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And finally: Duke point guard Jason Williams, considered college basketball’s No. 1 player, knows where his financial future lies.

After starring in the Blue Devils’ victory over Kentucky, Williams posed for photographers while holding the ball so that the Nike swoosh on it was next to the swoosh on his pant leg.

Williams’ major is sociology, but his minor is business marketing. For which he should receive an A.