He’s Ready to Cut Short His Career With CART

Paul Tracy says he feels “betrayed” by CART and hinted he could be the next defector to the rival Indy Racing League.

Irritated by two recent penalty rulings, he says he now understands why Tony George, a former member of the CART board of directors, founded the IRL, and why engine makers Honda and Toyota, Team Penske and Michael Andretti have fled to the rival circuit.

“I supported CART when nobody wanted to support them,” he said. “It’s frustrating.”

That frustration led to a heated exchange with CART Chief Executive Chris Pook during a party in Vancouver last week.

The penalties sparked Tracy’s ire, but CART may have provided the final straw when it fined him $15,000 for wearing shorts to a news conference in Cleveland this month.

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Trivia time: Who was the first guard to win the NBA’s most-valuable-player award?

He kept trying: Bob Hope had thousands of golf stories, and often he was the brunt of the joke.

To wit: While playing in Bing Crosby’s Clambake at Pebble Beach, he hooked his tee shot on the first hole out of bounds.

“That’s OK,” said PGA pro Jimmy Demaret, Hope’s friend and playing partner. “There’s always next year.”

Naked truth: Mark Roberts, the world’s most famous streaker -- according to him, anyway -- said in an ESPN special report on streaking that he has run about sans clothing at more than 300 events.

His description of the experience: “Once you jump on, the roar of the crowd slowly builds until you are in full stride. It’s like the hairs on the back of your head stand up, like you’re Bart Simpson.”

Thanks, now we’ll never be able to look at Bart the same again.

A hug’s in order: Golf commentator Peter Allyce, on diminutive and rail-thin S.K. Ho of South Korea, who came out of nowhere to get into contention at the British Open: “He looks like you want to take him home and give him a good feed and a cuddle.”

Start saving: If you’re really into Canadian thoroughbred racing and you’ve got a lot of money to throw around, you can own a piece of history.

Bernard Smith, of Toronto, is trying to sell the trophy commemorating Bonniefield’s 1895 Queen’s Plate victory. He was asking $20,000, but the trophy was returned when the reserve price wasn’t met.

“At the moment, the silver market is a little depressed,” said Hugh Lawson from Ritchies Auctioneers & Appraisers. “Our advice was to hold off and try again.”

FYI: Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez is baseball’s best player, according to a Sporting News poll of 10 major league executives. Barry Bonds, last year’s winner, was second. The two received all of the first- and second-place votes. No Dodger or Angel made the top 10.

Trivia answer: Boston’s Bob Cousy in 1957.

And finally: From Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Mike Tyson, fed up with this one, says he’s looking forward to his next life. Hope he brings a lot of ice tea and a ceiling fan.”

--John Weyler