Wooden Is Nowhere Near His Wits’ End

John Wooden, who will turn 92 on Oct. 14, spoke at a businessmen’s breakfast at Pauley Pavilion this week, quoting Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa, among others, and reciting poetry.

Afterward, someone in the audience asked, “How do you stay so mentally sharp? You’re the same as you were 20 or 30 years ago.”

Said Wooden with a smile: “If you really think that, I may have to question your mental sharpness.”

Trivia time: Which five players from the 1995 Angels are playing in this season’s division playoffs for other teams?

Dog-gone: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “A dog wandered onto the cricket field during the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in Sri Lanka between India and the home nation.

“Ananova.com reports the dog was escorted off the field, but not until umpire David Shepherd whipped out a soccer-style red card and flashed it at the invader.”

More FitzGerald: “Seattle strong safety Reggie Tongue intercepted two passes, returning one 46 yards for a touchdown and recovered a fumble to set up another touchdown on Sunday night.

“So, on top of taking a 48-23 licking, the winless Vikings were administered a Tongue-lashing.”

Hardship case: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Faced with big losses to revenue sharing, George Steinbrenner has cut back on expenses in a big way.

“The Newark Star-Ledger says he has ordered a 60% reduction in Yankee Stadium elevator operators and a two-thirds reduction in luxury box hostesses.”

Willing to wait: Rickey Henderson was asked by the Cleveland Plain Dealer to name the toughest pitcher he has faced: “Goose Gossage,” the 43-year-old Red Sox outfielder replied. “I think I faced him eight times, and he probably struck me out eight times.

“I told him, ‘When we meet in an old-timers’ game, I’m going to get a hit off you, stop the game and retrieve the ball.’ ”

No easy rider: Len Casanova, the former Oregon football coach who died Monday at 97, once said of assistant coach John McKay: “Some of the stuff he suggested was too far out for us at Oregon. We had to reject some of his plays because we would have needed motorcycles to make them work.”

McKay found the motorcycle riders at USC, where he won four national championships.

Looking back: On this day in 1951, Bobby Thomson hit a three-run homer off Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth to give the New York Giants a dramatic 5-4 playoff victory and the National League pennant.

Trivia answer: Chuck Finley and Jim Edmonds with the St. Louis Cardinals, Brian Anderson with the Arizona Diamondbacks, J.T. Snow with the San Francisco Giants and Greg Myers with the Oakland Athletics.

And finally: Dave Boling in the Tacoma News Tribune: “As the Seahawks finally won a game after three defeats, [Shaun] Alexander scored an NFL-record five touchdowns in the first half.

“With one more in the game he would have tied the record of six in a game jointly owned by Gale Sayers, Dub Jones and Ernie Nevers.... With his smooth and lengthy stride, Alexander looks as if he’s skating in open field.”