Heading Off Another Cherry Bomb

Apparently, the delay button will be operating north of the border too.

After the Janet Jackson Super Bowl halftime show incident comes a cultural crossroads in Canada, one of seismic proportions: CBC hockey commentator Don Cherry’s “Coaches Corner” will go on a seven-second tape delay.

The move was made when the bombastic former coach expressed, according to the network, “an inappropriate and reprehensible personal opinion.” Cherry had been talking about visor-wearing players.

NHL players, during the All-Star weekend in St. Paul, Minn., were quizzed about the potential muting. Many questioned the move and supported Cherry. But Vancouver star Markus Naslund may have had the best suggestion.

“I don’t really want to comment, but maybe it should be seven minutes instead of seven seconds,” he told Canadian Press.

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Trivia time: Andy Roddick set the record for the fastest serve Friday, hitting one 150 mph in a Davis Cup match against Stefan Koubek of Austria. He had shared the record with another player. Who was the other player?

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Boxers or briefs? That answer became clear moments after Frenchmen Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llodra won the Australian Open doubles title. After defeating Bob and Mike Bryan in the final, they stripped down to their underwear. Perhaps Santoro’s nickname should now be “Fa-Brief.”

The spur-of-the-moment strip didn’t hit “Full Monty” stage, though. Said Llodra: “Just for fun, you know, sometimes.”

Santoro, on his partner: “He’s very spontaneous, no? Don’t you think?”

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No fashion victim: Gustavo Kuerten showed up at the Sao Paulo Fashion Week show in Brazil last week and didn’t put a lot of planning into his look.

“I don’t even know a lot about fashion, I am only dressed like this today because my manager bought these shoes for me, the pants are jeans and are the only ones I found at home and the shirt was picked by my girlfriend,” he said, joking.

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Add Guga: Kuerten credited Andre Agassi with changing the look of the tennis player.

“If you look back 20 years, everybody was wearing white, and nowadays there are companies making sleeveless shirts, colorful shoes and lots of different stuff ... and even I have already played in a bright yellow shirt. I think tennis is following the fashion,” he told reporters.

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De-scudded: Mark Philippoussis, a Davis Cup star late last year, went from feeling like a hero to plain hollow after losing twice in three days during Australia’s first-round Davis Cup loss to Sweden. He was asked afterward whether this was the lowest point. “As low as you can get is probably dead, so I wouldn’t say that,” he said.

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Trivia answer: Greg Rusedski. Rusedski hit a 149-mph serve at Indian Wells in 1998.

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And finally: San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler: “[Kevin] Costner continues to blow me off as I try to pitch him my film idea, where he plays the caddie for a retired Army dog trying to make it on the PGA Tour, ‘Rin Tin Tin Cup.’ ”