Crikey! This Game Will Be a Beauty for Him

Miami defensive tackle Matt Walters should feel right at home when the Hurricanes play the Florida Gators on Saturday. He has been wresting real alligators since high school.

Walters grapples gators near his hometown of Eau Gallie, Fla. He told the Bloomberg News Service he goes out in a small boat with his brother and friends and they scan the surface of the water with a spotlight, looking for the eyes and snouts of alligators.

“Then we just grab them, one at the tail and one behind the back of the neck and drag them into the boat,” Walters said. “We hold them up, take a picture and let them go. Sometimes they get loose in the boat, though, which can be a little nerve-racking.”

Trivia time: When did USC play its first night football game?

Elite group: Fortune magazine has published a list of the 40 richest people under age 40. Tiger Woods, at 26, has the distinction of being the richest youngest member with earnings of $212 million.

Shaquille O’Neal, 30, has earnings of $171 million. Michael Jordan tops Tiger and Shaq with earnings of $408 million. But, at 39, he won’t be on the list next year.

Organization man: Marv Goux, longtime USC assistant football coach who died July 27, was extremely organized, according to Dave Levy, who served 16 years on the USC coaching staff with Goux.

Speaking at Goux’s memorial service, Levy said: “He was an extremely meticulous guy about his person, about his house, about his cars, everything. His closets were notched so that the hangers were all three inches apart.

“And the shoes were all stuffed with shoe trees and tied with the heels facing out, arranged by color. Everything was arranged by color.”

Is Max in hiding? Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel recalls the time he interviewed recruiting guru Max Emfinger when Emmitt Smith was coming out of high school in Florida.

Said Emfinger: “Emmitt Smith is not big, he’s not fast and he can’t get around the corner. When he falls flat on his face at Florida, remember where you heard it first.”

Bianchi: “Smith did not fall on his face at Florida. And the Dallas Cowboys running back probably will become the NFL’s all-time leading rusher this season, surpassing the great Walter Payton.”

Food for thought: Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “If the Sonics sign Popeye Jones to take Vin Baker’s roster spot, does this mean that spinach will sub in for doughnuts at the team buffet?”

More Perry: “How far Drew Bledsoe can take Buffalo this season remains to be seen, but with an offensive line that averages 6-4 1/2 and 321 pounds, you have to admit that the Bills, at the very least, look like a team of density.”

Looking back: On this day in 1995, Baltimore’s Cal Ripken passed Lou Gehrig’s iron-man streak when he played in his 2,131st consecutive game.

Trivia answer: Oct 14, 1944, against St. Mary’s Pre-Flight in Fresno. The Trojans won, 6-0.

And finally: From David Letterman’s “Top Ten Reasons to Hold the 2012 Olympics in New York”:

* “Lot of junk lying around to use as javelins and shotputs and stuff.”

* “Heavily polluted air cancels effects of illegal performance-enhancing drugs.”