Miners Willing to Pay This Price

Former Washington State coach Mike Price couldn’t have been sure about getting another football job after his firing seven months ago by Alabama because of a highly publicized visit to a Florida strip joint and allegations -- a majority of which he has vehemently denied -- about a night spent with strippers.

But not only does Price have a new coaching job, at Texas El Paso, he’s in a town apparently willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

“Of course, that’s why he’s in El Paso and not going to Rose Bowls or rebuilding Alabama under the spiritual aura of Bear Bryant. Nobody else wanted him,” wrote El Paso Times columnist Joe Muench. “But UTEP needed him, and he’s willing to work for UTEP pay ... and the Miners get a big-timer.”

Still, “Roll, Miners, roll!” doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Wrong profession: Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune has found some new contestants for the TV show “Cops.”

“Three burglars were arrested in Winsted, Conn., and charged with trying to sell a stolen baseball autographed by Jackie Robinson,” Rosenbloom writes.

“Two problems: They stole the ball from the mayor, and they tried to sell it to an undercover policeman.”

Trivia time: On Saturday, UCLA renamed its basketball court at Pauley Pavilion in honor of former coach John Wooden and his late wife, Nell. How many losing seasons did Wooden have at UCLA?

Is that all there is? NFL fans in Tampa, Fla.; New Orleans; Washington; Pittsburgh and Oakland bemoaning their teams’ missing the playoffs this season can take heart.

They could be watching the Cardinals, as Arizona Republic columnist John Gambadoro has to do regularly, and miserably.

“I’ve tried to be optimistic,” Gambadoro writes. “Tried to see the glass as half full, not completely empty. I’ve tried to figure out ways that this hapless franchise can turn around. I mean, there is such tremendous parity in the NFL that you have to believe, eventually it has to make a stop here. But it never does. Parity skips over Arizona every year.”

Cowboy up: Gambadoro doesn’t think even Bill Parcells could straighten out the Cardinal franchise. But after returning the moribund Cowboys to the playoffs with their 19-3 victory over the Giants, hardly any coaching miracle is beyond Parcells’ grasp, according to Newsday’s Shaun Powell.

“This isn’t a great team by any means, and the Cowboys probably won’t play many games beyond next Sunday. But that’s not the point here. There’s a buzz about them again, a chance for good times to return, and a sense it’s safe for America to love its Team again. That’s the point. And it also strengthens the case that Parcells is the finest coach ever.”

Trivia answer: None. The closest the Bruins came to a down season under Wooden in 27 years was 14-12 in 1959-60.

And finally: Nashville Predator Coach Barry Trotz, on working with young players: “We have to develop our players, and I think people have seen me age in dog years ... but it’s made me a better coach.”