13 Homers a Tell-Tale Sign for McGriff

The team that signs free-agent first baseman Fred McGriff also can acquire, for a small sum, a countdown sign constructed last season by the Dodgers’ marketing department in the hope that the first baseman would hit his 500th homer.

Injuries derailed much of McGriff’s season, however, and he finished with a career-low 13 homers, leaving him nine short of the milestone. The wood sign that read “Countdown to History” never made it to its intended destination on a bullpen wall at Dodger Stadium and now rests underneath the stadium.

Dan Brewster, the Dodgers’ manager of special events, hopes McGriff, 40, winds up with a team sporting a blue uniform because the sign is blue.

“I’m waiting for the call,” Brewster told ESPN.com. “All they’d have to do is pay for shipping.”

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Trivia time: What is the NBA record for fewest points in a half since the advent of the shot clock?

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Take him away: Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times is convinced Bob Knight’s days are numbered after the Texas Tech basketball coach got into a verbal spat with Chancellor David Smith at a salad bar inside an upscale grocery store.

“To see Knight unravel convinces me that this job, like his last job, is doomed to end in self-destructive failure,” Mariotti wrote. “Rather than go out like John Wooden, he still might go out like Woody Hayes, swinging away at somebody.

“Not only did he engage Smith in a public scene, but he reportedly was involved in an incident minutes later when he got into his car, drove into traffic, then abruptly got out of the car before getting back in and driving away. This strongly suggests Knight is losing control again and has taken no meaningful lessons from his Indiana dismissal.”

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Let him stay: While stopping short of defending Knight, Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post was more lenient in his assessment of the recent flare-up.

“At least this time Knight sparred with a worthy adversary: his boss,” Wilbon wrote. “At least this time he picked on somebody who could fight back, either with words or a good right hook or by taking disciplinary action.”

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Boob tube: Filip Bondy of the New York Daily News didn’t flinch during Janet Jackson’s risque halftime performance because he wasn’t sure what he had witnessed.

“During its sudden, unexpected appearance at halftime of the Super Bowl, the offending breast took up about one-hundredth of my television screen,” Bondy wrote. “It might have been a dust ball, floating down from the top of the console.

“I probably wouldn’t have noticed it at all if newspaper and TV reports hadn’t blown up the object to “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sex ... “ proportions, even while decrying its vulgarity.”

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Trivia answer: Boston and Milwaukee combined for 51 points in the second half of a game on Feb. 27, 1955, a mark tied by Charlotte and New York on Nov. 11, 2000.

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And finally: Nevada sports books won a record $12.4 million on Super Bowl wagers, which totaled a record $81.2 million. No word yet on whether Pete Rose will have to write another book to cover his losses.