Arizona Expectsto HaveDry Years

Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe, writing before the start of the World Series: “The primary diversionary feature of Yankee Stadium is Monument Park, a celebration of the team’s unmatched baseball history and accomplishments.

“The primary diversionary feature of Bank One Ballpark is a swimming pool behind the right-center-field fence.

“You are invited to supply your own punch line.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the UCLA record for pass completions in a game?

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BCS bias: Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union-Tribune, commenting on undefeated Brigham Young (7-0) not being among the top 15 in the bowl championship series rankings: “The Cougars are part of the Mountain West Conference, which is not among the anointed BCS leagues. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you’re one of the NCAA’s 115 Division I-A football-playing universities.

“The BCS plays by its own rules, which are so mystifying, convoluted and, yes, stupid, it’s amazing university presidents with half a brain allow their schools to be part of this sham, something so bad for collegiate athletics, so unfair.”

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He had to say it: Tim Barnes in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “A lot of college and professional teams play catch-up football.

“But at Heinz Field, the Steelers and the Pitt Panthers are about to start playing ‘ketchup’ football. Two large electric signs--in the shape of Heinz ketchup bottles--arrived at the stadium after a four-day cross-country journey from Nevada.”

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Place an ad: Notre Dame senior defensive end Anthony Walker has an Irish father and a Samoan mother. He said the mix didn’t seem unusual until he arrived in South Bend.

“I remember early in my freshman year, thinking: ‘Who do I hang out with? Where are the Irish Samoan kids at?”’

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Whew! Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “The site of a tennis tournament in Basel, Switzerland, that features some of the top players on the men’s tour was closed for more than an hour Tuesday after a letter was found to contain a powdery substance.

“Thank goodness it was just cocaine.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1991, the Minnesota Twins defeated the Atlanta Braves, 1-0, in the seventh game of the “worst to first” World Series.

The Twins and Braves each finished in last place the previous year in their divisions.

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Trivia answer: Troy Aikman, 32, against USC in 1988.

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Fiscal Wizardry: A local ticket broker’s prices for NBA games at Staples Center range from $25 and up (Golden State) to $75 and up (Philadelphia)--except for when Michael Jordan and Washington are in town.

Open those wallets, please. Wizards vs. Clippers, $175 and up; Wizards vs. Lakers, $200 and up.

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And finally: Rick Telander in the Chicago Sun-Times, needling writers who predicted that Michael Jordan wouldn’t make a comeback as a player.

A sampling: “Good old Peter Vecsey, the officious, hair-plugged hoops insider for the New York Post, wrote: ‘Elvis is dead and Jordan ain’t returning to play for the Wizards.’

“Fifty percent ain’t bad, eh Pete? For a coin flipper.”