As Usual, Bradshaw Really Went Overboard

Here’s a man-bites-dog story with a twist.

In “Celebrity Fish Talk: Tales of Fishing From an All-Star Cast,” author Dave Strege recalls the time former Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw appeared on the old TV show “American Sportsman” and had his fishing rod yanked from his hands when a tarpon took the bait.

“Terry backed up and did a swan dive into the water and was swimming after the fish and the rod,” said the show’s host, Curt Gowdy. “It’s the only time I ever saw a fish catch a man.”

*

Trivia time: How long have girls been eligible to play Little League baseball?

*

Another fish story: According to Strege, American League umpires used to fish from a window at a Seattle hotel that overlooked Puget Sound.

“One even came up with an ingenious method to ensure he never missed a bite -- even when he was at the hotel bar,” Strege wrote in his book. “He tossed his bait into the water and tied the line around the telephone receiver. He replaced the receiver in its cradle and then went to the downstairs bar for a drink.

“Every so often he’d sidle up to the house phone in the bar and call his room. If the line rang and rang, he knew he needed to be patient and give it a little more time.

“But if the line was busy, he knew he had hooked a fish because it had pulled the receiver off its cradle ... giving new meaning to the phrase ‘I’ve got a fish on the line.’ ”

*

All in the family: “Now that Kobe Bryant’s dad Joe is the coach of the Sparks of the WNBA,” KFWB’s Bret Lewis said, “it occurs to me, if we can just get Kobe’s wife Vanessa the job coaching the Clippers, the Bryant family would be running every pro basketball team in Los Angeles.”

*

Love goes only so far: Larry Holmes, profiled on tonight’s edition of FSN’s “Beyond the Glory,” talks about his victory over Muhammad Ali in 1980.

“After the fight was all over,” Holmes says, “I went to his room and he was laying in bed, getting massaged.

“I said, ‘I love you, man.’ He says, ‘If you love me, why you beat me like that?’ ”

*

Big men can jump: Michael Ventre of MSNBC.com, on the Madden ’06 NFL video game: “On this expanded version, you can now make Madden jump to every network.”

*

Youth movement: Iowa State recently got a commitment from 6-foot-2 basketball player Amanda Zimmerman, who will soon be starting her freshman year -- of high school.

*

Looking back: On this day in 1990, Kelly Craig became the first female starting pitcher in Little League World Series history, opening for Trail, British Columbia, the Canadian champion. She failed to retire any of the three batters she faced, but her team rallied for an 8-3 victory over Matamoros, Mexico.

*

Trivia answer: Since 1974.

*

And finally: Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis, explaining why he limits the media’s access to his players: “I think I know more than they do.”

*

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