Governor Has No Beef With Burying This Story

Here’s a wager that was a lot of baloney:

New Jersey Gov. Donald DiFrancesco owes Colorado Gov. Bill Owens a basket of Italian meat because the Colorado Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils for the Stanley Cup.

Almost a month later, DiFrancesco has yet to pay up and Owens isn’t holding his breath. Owens spokesman Dick Wadhams told the Denver Post: “The governor believes we’ll find our meat when we find Jimmy Hoffa.”

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Trivia time: In what city and what year was the first major league night baseball game played?

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He can’t win: Ron Cook in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “With his fast home run start, Barry Bonds has put himself in a position to be called a choker if he doesn’t break Mark McGwire’s single-season record of 70.

“Can you imagine hitting 50 or 60 home runs and being labeled a choker? Such is the curse of Bonds’ playoff failures.”

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More Cook: “Alex Rodriguez gets a $100,000 bonus for being a starter on the American League all-star team. What, exactly, are the Texas Rangers paying him $25.2 million a season to do?”

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Kobe’s toy: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Laker star Kobe Bryant’s new 16,000-square-foot estate in Orange County came with a pirate ship on a man-made lagoon, but--can you believe it?--the ship is only half-scale. Boy, $13.5 million sure doesn’t buy what it used to.”

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Slugs slighted: David Whitley in the Orlando Sentinel: “Last week I said [Cleveland closer John] Rocker has the brain of a banana slug. Alert reader Richard Apter called to protest on behalf of the invertebrate and pointed out I’d offended all athletes at the University of California at Santa Cruz, home of the Fighting Banana Slugs.

“I’d like to formally apologize to them, and banana slugs everywhere.”

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Good riddance: The Grizzlies, who averaged fewer than 20 victories during five full NBA seasons, are leaving Vancouver for Memphis. Said reader Steve Abney to the San Francisco Chronicle: “It’s hard to say which city has more to celebrate.”

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Lane woes: From comedy writer Jerry Perisho: “AMF Bowling, the world’s largest operator of bowling alleys, filed for bankruptcy protection. They wanted to file for the standard Chapter 11 protection, but instead ended up with the more difficult Chapter 7-10 split.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1967, Billie Jean King swept three titles at Wimbledon. She beat Ann Hayden Jones, 6-3, 6-4, for the singles title; teamed with Rosie Casals for the women’s doubles title, and paired with Owen Davidson for the mixed doubles title.

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Trivia answer: Cincinnati in 1935.

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And finally: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “Imagine that. The media creating a story, not covering it. To wit: A San Francisco newspaper guy saying on Fox TV that Barry Bonds may be on steroids.

“Sorry, but you don’t say a guy could be doing ‘roids, then take off your mike and go have a cold one with the boys. Reporters are accountable, just like players.”