Rose Slides Headfirst Into Sorry Situation

Dave Kindred in the Sporting News, commenting on Pete Rose, the huckster: “There is Rose, his shirttail flapping over an old man’s paunch, belly-flopping into third base during an old-timers’ softball game for which 41,092 Cincinnati zealots paid $30 a head [plus $5 for a program, and Rose would only autograph that program].

“We see in an exhibition sponsored by a cookie company, and by the hustler Rose we are diminished....

“How sad what Rose has become, a caricature of a caricature, Charlie Hustle hustling for a buck, for a nod of recognition, a fat man 61 years old willing to throw himself headfirst into third in a softball game if people pay to see it.”

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Trivia time: Name the matchup for the only World Series in the 1950s that did not involve a New York team.

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Full speed ahead: Ken Sugiura in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Allow Warren Sapp to explain the difference between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the past and present.... ‘It was a blue-collar team that played the field-position game. Now, there’s no such thing as a field-position game with Jon Gruden,’ Sapp said of his new coach. ‘He gets the ball, he thinks he can score from anywhere. You can put him in Afghanistan, he thinks he can score a touchdown.’ ”

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Leading example: Mike Allen in the Washington Post, commenting on President Bush: “This month, his annual physical showed the 6-foot, 189-pound president had a resting heart rate of 44 beats per minute, putting him in the range of elite marathoners. He had 14.5% body fat.

“In an interview in Runner’s World, he said: ‘I try to go for longer runs, but it’s tough around here at the White House on the outdoor track. It’s sad that I can’t run longer. It’s one of the saddest things about the presidency.’ ”

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Best and worst: Bubba Paris, former 49er offensive tackle, told the Louisville Courier Journal about blocking for Joe Montana:

“All you had to do was give him time to operate and he was going to make things happen. He did it so often, that you wanted to make sacrifices for him. I’ve had seven knee operations and four of them were for him.”

Paris was less charitable about Jeff George, whom he protected in his final NFL season as a member of the Indianapolis Colts: “He was so narcissistic that most of the linemen wanted him to get hit, as long as it wasn’t their man doing it.”

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Busting Broncos: Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post, ridiculing the Broncos after their 34-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens: “That the Broncos got routed by a bad Baltimore bunch with zero resemblance to the recent Super Bowl champs was shameful enough.... This was no way to act on national television. Denver lost its composure and a large measure of respect. The Broncos acted like punks.”

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Trivia answer: The Chicago White Sox against the Dodgers in 1959.

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And finally: Dan Bickley in the Arizona Republic: “Curt Schilling wins games, not friends. He evokes clubhouse whispers, anonymous insults, a roll of the eyes whenever a camera is in his vicinity.

“Red Light Curt, he’s been called. And underneath his glittering reputation as a dependable ace and big-game superstar lies a darker perception: A me-first guy who speaks with a bullhorn, grates on his teammates and is constantly seeking the media platform.”