Compared to Brady, Bledsoe Is Lucky One

Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press writes that New England’s Drew Bledsoe shouldn’t feel too bad that he won’t start at quarterback for Sunday’s Super Bowl game against St. Louis, giving way to Tom Brady.

“What’s the hurry to start against the Rams? They tend to embarrass almost everyone they face. Their most common score is We Win.

“The Rams don’t defeat people, they disappear on them. You think you’re playing the Rams and suddenly they’re downfield, accepting a trophy.

“Did you see what they did to Brett Favre in the playoffs? They beat his Packers, 45-17, and forced him into six interceptions.... And Favre is one of the best. He came in with a swagger. He left with a limp.”

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Trivia time: Who scored the first touchdown in the first Super Bowl game played at the Coliseum on Jan. 15, 1967?

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Is it a deal? Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Promoters in South Africa and Denmark say they would welcome the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis fight. So here’s the deal to those countries. You let Tyson fight, you have to keep him.”

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Suspicious trail: The Associated Press reports that a quirky running club in Pittsburgh that uses pink flour to help guide its joggers has run into a sign of the times.

Anxious calls to police were made recently when residents discovered the flour at locations across the city and feared it might be anthrax.

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We’ll pass: Jerry Greene in the Orlando Sentinel: “Michael Jordan’s magazine, cleverly titled ‘Jordan,’ doesn’t come out until Feb. 8, during the NBA All-Star weekend, and I’m already tired of it. Kind of reminds me of his comeback.

“Still, if Oprah and Rosie can have their own magazines, why not Mike?”

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More Greene: “Why should we be surprised if an Olympic bobsledder fails a drug test? After all, he’s a pusher.”

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Veteran player: From comedy writer Earl Hochman: “Recently the California Horse Racing Board approved licenses to two companies to take bets by phone and over the Internet and wouldn’t you know it--the first caller to phone in a wager was Pete Rose.”

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FYI: From the Gallery column of the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Prison inmates in Brazil’s sun-kissed surf mecca of Florianopolis can now work their way to freedom by repairing surfboards in return for shorter prison sentences.

“At a prison workshop in Florianopolis, inmates who labor for three days fixing up battered surfboards win one day off their sentences, plus 63 cents a day.”

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Are you sure? Here’s a golden oldie from Yogi Berra: “Ninety percent of the putts that fall short don’t go in.”

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Trivia answer: Green Bay’s Max McGee, on a 37-yard pass from Bart Starr as the Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

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And finally: Brook Reynolds, principal of Camino Grove Elementary School in Arcadia, decided to have a Super Bowl pool.

He tried to sell squares to teachers at $5 apiece. Problem was, since teachers have little extra cash, Reynolds had to reduce the cost of a square to $2.50 to get the 100 squares filled. *

Mal Florence