His Golden Moment Is Losing Its Luster

An average-looking guy with thick legs, sunglasses, khaki shorts and a white polo shirt looked tense and lost in the bleachers of the Olympic pool Friday night.

Security-conscious ushers wanted to see his event credential. “I’m Mark Spitz,” he told them.

The ushers said his credential didn’t clear him to sit in the bleachers. “I’m Mark Spitz. I won seven gold medals.... I’m an honored guest,” Spitz said, trying to convince them that he’d been told he could sit there.

One usher acknowledged later that he had never heard of Mark Spitz. “He’s a little older,” said usher Manolis Psaroudakis, who recognized Spitz’s name and got a snapshot with him.

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Obsessed: The Olympics are being televised around the clock on NBC and four cable networks.

Asked Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Was anybody else up at 5:50 a.m. Tuesday to watch Korea play China in mixed-doubles badminton on MSNBC?”

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Trivia time: What gold-medal winning athlete carried the Greek flag at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome?

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Name change: From Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel: “Revised nickname for U.S. men’s basketball: ‘The Little Team That Could.’ ”

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Just another Joe: According to the Baltimore Sun, a security guard at M&T; Bank Stadium welcomed Joe Theismann and the ESPN announcing crew to an NFL exhibition game by saying, “This way, Mr. Namath.”

Wrote Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “No word on whose neck subsequently snapped the most -- Theismann’s or that woman walking beside him, colleague Suzy Kolber.”

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Targeting the rich: A new specialty magazine, “OverTime,” was created for professional athletes. The first hint of the targeted audience is an ad for an expensive Swiss-made watch. “Goes well with championship rings,” the ad claims.

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A silver lining: Bob Molinaro of the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., noting that Ricky Williams’ fondness for marijuana could work in the Miami Dolphins’ favor, wrote: “Eventually, he may forget he retired.”

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A silver-and-black lining: Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle, on reports that Williams is already talking about making a comeback with the Oakland Raiders: “Frankly, I think he’s just blowing smoke.”

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On this day: In 1931, Babe Ruth hit his 600th home run in helping the New York Yankees beat the St. Louis Browns, 11-7.

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Trivia answer: King Constantine II, who won gold in sailing. He was forced into exile after a military-backed government seized control of Greece in 1967.

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And finally: ESPN brought back former “SportsCenter” anchors for the recent “Old School Week,” but Keith Olbermann wasn’t one of them.

“I wonder if it was because Chris Berman didn’t want him back, back, back, back,” reader Jim Greene asked.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.