Maybe They Should Nip This in the Rose Bud

The Tournament of Roses has a new name for its New Year’s Day football game: The Rose Bowl presented by PlayStation 2.

How long will it be before it is simply the PlayStation 2 Bowl? Never, you say? Well, look what happened to the venerable Los Angeles Open.

For 60 years it was the Los Angeles Open. In 1987 it became the Los Angeles Open presented by Nissan. After two years it became the Nissan Los Angeles Open and in 1995 just the Nissan Open.

PlayStation 2 Bowl. Get used to it.

Trivia time: Who was the last Iowa player to win the Heisman Trophy?

No connection: Ken Dorsey and Willis McGahee of the Miami Hurricanes are finalists for the Heisman Trophy and are playing on a team that is hoping to win a national championship in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 3. But there isn’t much of a link between the champion and Heisman winner.

Only four players have won the Heisman from a team that ended up No. 1 since 1949, Charles Woodson of Michigan the most recent in 1997.

Growing boy: Garrett Webster, son of former Pittsburgh Steeler Hall of Fame center Mike Webster, is a 6-foot-9, 340-pound high school lineman.

“I like to eat,” he said, not surprisingly. “If I’m real hungry I can eat 25 pieces of pizza. I hate salads. The only way I like them is if they’re covered with a big porterhouse steak.”

His dad never weighed more than 255.

Cricket news: Blind men from six nations are competing in cricket this weekend in Madras, India. They use a hard plastic ball that rattles, which helps the basemen and fielders to follow the action. Playing are teams from India, South Africa, Pakistan, England, Australia and Sri Lanka.

Travel talk: The New York Jets play the Chicago Bears in Champaign, Ill., on Sunday and Coach Herman Edwards had words of warning for his team.

“There are no Trump Towers, no five-star meals waiting at the Holiday Inn, only Twinkies in the vending machine, claustrophobic meeting rooms, no soft pillows, no sympathy,” he told them.

Being the Bear: Tom Berenger, who plays Paul “Bear” Bryant in tonight’s ESPN showing of “The Junction Boys,” told David Martindale of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram how it felt to portray the coaching icon:

“To a lot of people, he’s a god. This is a guy who’s revered by college football fans. And there have been a lot of great coaches who played for him or coached with him who adopted his style.

“I’m sure that a lot of people who knew him will be tough critics when they’re watching. That’s sticking your head on the block a little bit, isn’t it?”

Trivia answer: Nile Kinnick in 1939.

And finally: Bill Elliott was selected NASCAR’s most popular driver, for the 11th time in 12 years and 16th overall. Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer said that when Elliott retires, the award should be named the Bill Elliott Trophy.

On second thought, Sorensen said, “Let’s call it the Bill Elliott Fan Club Stuffed the Ballot Box Yet Again Award.”

-- Shav Glick