Daly Goes at It With One-Arm Bandit

Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “John Daly has the reputation of being wildly inconsistent, but he’s never posted scores like this in the same week: four over par, one over par and 400,000 under par.

“Those represent his rounds Wednesday and Thursday at the PGA Las Vegas Classic -- and his luck playing high-limit slot machines at Bally’s on the Strip on Monday night.

“The Las Vegas Review Journal reported that Daly, playing $100 and $500 slots, was on the green to the tune of almost $2 million before walking out with $400,000.”

Trivia time: Who holds the USC season rushing record, including bowl games?

Durable: Greg Cote in the Miami Herald: “Sunday marked Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre’s 163rd consecutive NFL start.

“That has shattered the all-time record for the game’s most volatile position -- a number nearly 100 games beyond that of the second-longest active QB streak, 68, by Colt Peyton Manning.

“Favre’s streak might be as safe as Cal Ripken’s in baseball.”

Old-timers’ reunion: Joe Stein of the San Diego Union-Tribune points out that it has been 30 years since George Allen coached his Over the Hill Gang to Super Bowl VII.

The NFL’s second coming of the OHG is in Oakland, where the Raiders have the same number of thirtysomething players (16) as the Redskins.

There’s a connection: Allen’s son, Bruce, is an executive with the Raiders.

Ready Teddy: UCLA tailback Ted Narleski’s recent induction into the UCLA Hall of Fame was a reminder of his outstanding game against USC in 1950. Narleski scored three touchdowns in UCLA’s 39-0 rout, the worst conference loss by the Trojans.

Far-out tales: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Latrell Sprewell’s agent said Spree hurt his hand trying to right the vessel when it was struck by a huge wave. Now the agent admits he fibbed.

“What really happened was Sprewell hurt his hand hurling a harpoon to ward off an attack of the monster whale, Moby Shaq.”

Big gardening job: Mike Bianchi in the Orlando Sentinel takes two shots:

* “I don’t really care about Andy Rooney’s opinion on female sideline reporters; I just wish someone would take a pair of hedge clippers and trim those eyebrows of his.”

* “Now that the Cornhuskers are terrible, what are Nebaskans going to do for entertainment on weekends? Guess it’s time to break out lawn chairs and bug zappers.”

FYI: Playing a full league schedule, USC has won the Pacific 10 Conference football title outright or shared the conference championship nine times while finishing with one loss.

Trivia answer: Marcus Allen, 2,427 yards, 5.6 average, 1981.

And finally: Jim Fassel of the New York Giants confiding to Adrian Wojnarowski of the Bergen (N.J.) Record on the loneliness of being a head coach: “Sometimes, you’re really hurting inside and as the head coach, there’s not a lot of people to sit around and [vent] to.

There’s nobody there.... I mean, there’s nobody.”