She Prefers Scorching Heat, Sand and Cacti

Sometimes it’s interesting to know what other people think of us. Kristen Davis, in the Arizona Daily Star, is not very complimentary.

“After another trip to the L.A. Sports Arena, I’m again left to ponder what it is about USC that allures so many top [women’s] basketball players to its campus. The Sports Arena is a dump, although the Trojans are to move into the new USC Events Center in 2003. Still, the team basically plays before its family and friends.

“The Trojans average 649 fans. The Sports Arena is at 4.2% capacity with that average. Remember, USC played host to NCAA Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games each of the last two years and attracted only 1,000 a game.”

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Trivia time: What is the largest crowd for an NFL game?

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Swish: The Montreal Expos call slugging outfielder Vladimir Guerrero “The Alien” because, as pitcher Troy Mattes said, “He does things that no one has seen before. His bat speed is unbelievable. I wish I could describe the sound his bat makes when he makes contact. You never hear that sound because no one swings the bat that fast.”

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More on Guerrero: He is one of only four players to have three consecutive seasons with 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in before age 25. The others are Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx and Joe DiMaggio.

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Self-critique: Hall of Fame golfer Lee Trevino, on the state of his game:

“I’m not saying my golf game went bad, but if I grew tomatoes, they’d come up sliced.”

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Yo, Trojans: LaVell Edwards, when he was football coach at Brigham Young, was asked by a reporter if he preferred speed or quickness in his wide receivers.

“I’d like to have both, but if they had both, they’d be at the University of Southern California.”

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Four is enough: Senior PGA pro Bruce Crampton is known as a man of few words.

At a pro-am, his amateur partner introduced herself and said, “A friend of mine bet me $10 that you wouldn’t say five words to me all day. You will talk to me, won’t you?”

Crampton’s reply: “Sorry, lady. You lose.”

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Second thoughts: Said Janice Hough of Palo Alto in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Maybe we have misjudged Sebastian Janikowski. All this speculation about what drugs and/or alcohol might have caused his spill on the dance floor in October. It could have been a pretzel.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1960, boxing’s original “Golden Boy,” Art Aragon, announced his retirement. A knockout loss to Alvaro Gutierrez on Jan. 21 at the Olympic Auditorium was responsible for his decision to end his 17-year career.

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Trivia answer: 112,376 for the Dallas Cowboys-Houston Oilers in a Mexico City exhibition in 1994. The Super Bowl record is 103,985 for the 1980 game at the Rose Bowl when Pittsburgh defeated the L.A. Rams, 31-19.

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And finally: The cheers were loud for James Stewart, Mike LaRocco and Jeremy McGrath at the Edison Field supercross, but the loudest may have been for a girl peewee rider on the victory stand.

“I want to thank my daddy, my daddy’s girlfriend and my mother,” she said innocently.

Shav Glick