This Guy Has a Real Bone to Pick With Giants

The loss of Barry Bonds is one reason why the San Francisco Giants’ are having a poor season, but Daniel Brown of the San Jose Mercury News points out another: the Curse of Father Guido Sarducci.

Brown, in interviewing Don Novello, who played the “Saturday Night Live” character, discovered that he had put a hex on the Giants. The reason: The Giants got rid of the baseball-fetching Portuguese water dogs that retrieved home run balls out of McCovey Cove after the 2002 World Series.

“The dogs were great, people loved them, but the Giants don’t care about that,” Novello told Brown. “They only care about selling lemonade for $8.”

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Trivia time: What do Bonds, Tom Brady and Lynn Swann have in common?

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Oops department: The process Shaun Cody went through in selecting an agent was taped for an eight-part reality television series that is being shown Friday nights on Spike TV. The series concludes Sept. 9.

The former USC defensive tackle, a second-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions, interviewed nine prospective agents, then eliminated them one by one.

In the first episode, the only woman among the candidates was well-prepared. She presented Cody with a pamphlet that had reports on him from the 32 NFL teams. One problem, though. One of the teams was listed as the Baltimore Colts.

Said Cody on camera: “That’s a pretty big typo, considering the Colts have been in Indianapolis for a long time.”

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A defining moment: Mike Downey of the Chicago Tribune, on Jose Canseco’s claim in his book “Juiced” that he injected Rafael Palmeiro with steroids: “Something tells me Palmeiro won’t be suing Canseco for defamation of character. Now it’s more like definition of character.”

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Spare them: The Dodgers will hold a bowling charity event Monday night at Lucky Strike in Hollywood to raise money for the Dodgers Dream Foundation.

Nice gesture, but don’t the Dodgers see enough strikes as it is?

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Nothing to brag about: “Dodger Manager Jim Tracy and GM Paul DePodesta say, despite no major roster moves, the Dodgers are still good enough to win the NL West,” Alan Massengale of Channel 9 said. “And so is Cal State Fullerton.”

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It’s do or dye: Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, on the benefits of the University of Saskatchewan’s hiring hairstylist Wayne Grund to coach its women’s hockey team: “The Huskies should definitely have more highlights this year.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1985, 40-year-old Tom Seaver became the 17th 300-game winner in major league history with a six-hitter -- all singles -- as the Chicago White Sox defeated the New York Yankees, 4-1.

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Trivia answer: They attended Serra High in San Mateo.

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And finally: Bud Geracie of the Mercury News, on the five-year contract the New York Knicks gave Larry Brown: “That should be good for a year or two.”

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