They Don’t Look Like a Trade Union Now

OK, we get it. The A-Rod deal is dead (for now). No one from Boston, Texas, the commissioner’s office or the United Nations could negotiate the trade that would have sent Alex Rodriguez, with baseball’s richest contract at $25 million a year, from the Rangers to the Red Sox.

But Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution maintains the players’ union was the deal-killer in this hot-stove league saga.

“There is panic at the Union for Oppressed Millionaires, but you’re never going to hear that officially,” Schultz wrote. “The worm has turned -- no offense, Gene Orza -- regarding players’ salaries. The [union] rejected the Texas-Boston swap of Rodriguez for Manny Ramirez because Rodriguez made the outlandish decision to give some of his money back.

“Next thing you know, somebody might actually try to bunt the runners over. Then you’ve got total chaos.”

Trivia time: Anquan Boldin of the Arizona Cardinals leads NFL rookies in touchdowns with eight. Who holds the NFL rookie record for touchdowns?

Foul play: Among the instant celebrities born in 2003, none wishes their notoriety would go away more than Steve Bartman, the unlucky Cub fan who inadvertently kept Moises Alou from catching a foul ball during the National League championship series.

The Cubs haven’t been to the World Series since 1945, but Rick Morrissey of the Chicago Tribune says it’s time for fans to let it go.

“He was no more the culprit in Game 6 than was a beer vendor. Anybody could have stuck a hand up to catch the ball, but it was Bartman’s hand for a reason. That’s the way the tale was supposed to be told.

“He’s a punching bag, even if he doesn’t deserve the body blows.”

Swing ka-ching: Callaway Golf Company Chairman Ron Drapeau told PGA.com he expects his company to pass the $1-billion mark in 2004 and reach sales of approximately $1.03 billion.

Imagine the money to be made if someone made a club that hit the ball straight every time.

Rent, don’t buy: Administrators at Pepperdine, file this one away. Men’s basketball Coach Paul Westphal loves working at the university but hasn’t totally gotten the NBA out of his system.

“I would never rule it out, but I’m not actively looking either,” Westphal told the Arizona Republic. “I am very happy at Pepperdine.... I have always told the people here that I would return to the NBA under certain circumstances, but that I would be very content to finish my career here.”

Trivia answer: Gale Sayers, Chicago Bears, with 22 touchdowns in 1965.

And finally: From Atlanta Falcon quarterback Michael Vick, assessing a play when he took a hit rather than run out of bounds:

“I think the older that I get, the more that I mature and the more I play this position, then I think the better I’ll become with managing the game, managing the clock and doing all the important things that a quarterback is supposed to do,”

Vick is 23.