Red Sox and Cubs Should Listen Too

Who better to explore the psyche of an on-the-sports-field bridesmaid than a wedding planner?

Whether it’s catching the bouquet or trying to catch the ball -- it’s all about positioning, positioning, positioning -- there are similarities in the runner-up syndrome, says wedding planner Yvette Shier of Toronto.

“As a bridesmaid, you can never really appreciate the intensity of the emotion of the bride,” Shier told Joe O’Connor of Canada’s National Post. “You don’t quite get it, and you think: ‘What is all the fuss about? Can’t we just pick a dress color?’ But being a bridesmaid -- or being a runner-up in a championship game -- gives them a little taste of what it is like.”

Are you listening, Buffalo Bills and Utah Jazz?

Trivia time: What Oakland pitcher played in all seven games of the 1973 World Series between the A’s and New York Mets?

Ax to grind: As soon as Jacksonville Jaguar punter Chris Hanson cut himself with an ax that was supposed to be a motivational prop, the inevitable litany of jokes followed, including this one from Syracuse, N.Y., newscaster Jim Barach:

“In kicking terms, that is known as splitting the upright.”

Not camera-shy: Coach Pat Quinn of the Toronto Maple Leafs turned 60 in January, but that has not curtailed his fighting spirit. Quinn didn’t appreciate the intrusion of cameras between the benches, and directed his ire at “Hockey Night in Canada,” apparently believing the cameras were helping the opposing team pick up on injuries.

“I’m going to break one of them real soon if they keep flashing on our bench whenever guys come back to the bench with something,” Quinn said. “Because that’s not information anyone should have, especially not the other team.”

Jay Sox: NBC’s Jay Leno, on Friday, after the Yankee-Red Sox series:

“Congratulations to the New York Yankees. They’re going to the World Series. Yankee coach Don Zimmer was so happy, he threw himself to the ground.

” ... I wanted the Red Sox to win. I’m from Boston, but I thought this was really nice. Today, Rush Limbaugh donated all his leftover painkillers to the city of Boston, and there was enough for everybody.”

Dave Sox: Briefing does not want to forget David Letterman on CBS. Like Leno, Letterman addressed baseball’s wild postseason on Friday. His top-10 list: Messages Left on the Answering Machine of the Cubs Fan Who Tried to Catch the Foul Ball in Game 6.

The top two:

2. “Hey, it’s Bill Buckner. You wanna hang out?”

1. “Hi, Rush Limbaugh here. Gimme a buzz if you need something to take the edge off.”

Trivia answer: Darold Knowles.

And finally: Thirty-eight-year-old basketball player Andrew Gaze of the Melbourne Tigers was quoted by Australian Associated Press on the topic of growing older: “Because of the color of my hair, I’ve been called old since I was about 22. I’m growing into the age that I look, rather than getting older. My age is just catching up to the way I look.”