The Girth of a Nation on Display in Sports

Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post is among a seemingly growing number of people who -- after the death of the San Francisco 49ers’ Thomas Herrion -- believe that too much emphasis is placed on massive bodies and brute strength.

“May the best man win? Fat chance,” Kiszla wrote. “This is an era of ham-handed rule by the Big Aristotle in basketball. Golf is too often reduced to a long-drive competition.

“We grew up so addicted to the home run that baseball poisoned itself with steroids. Linemen have swallowed too many burritos bigger than a football. Too many goons find work in hockey.”

In other words, Kiszla said, “In the Supersize-Me generation, size matters far too much.”

Supporting stat: The Post also reports that as recently as 1992, there were 67 players in the NFL weighing 300 pounds or more. In 2002, that number had increased to 318.

Trivia time: Barry Bonds holds the major league home run record for a single season with 73. Which three players share the record for hitting 50 or more homers the most times?

Unsportsmanlike conduct: Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press on the infamous Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota: “This year’s festivities produced 388 arrests and 1,250 citations from local law enforcement, including 188 drunken-driving arrests, 162 misdemeanor drug arrests and 38 felony drug arrests. In other words, it’s like a Portland Trail Blazers season, only with Harley-Davidsons.”

Along for the ride: Whatever qualities Dana Quigley has, a big head isn’t one of them. Though he tops the 2005 Champions Tour money list with $1,519,436, he told the Oregonian newspaper of Portland that it was pure coincidence.

“Never in my lifetime will I ever consider myself a great player or in the category of the top ones out here,” he said. “To be No. 1 is, in my opinion, a miracle. I’ll ride it as long as I can.”

Work’s a snap: The best job in football? According to the NFL Players Assn., long snappers last season earned an average of $645,928 for hiking to punters and kickers.

Said the 49ers’ Brian Jennings to the San Francisco Chronicle: “I work about four minutes a year. The rest of the time I’m trying to have as good a time as possible.”

Got sense? A Florida Marlin batboy has been suspended for six games after accepting a dare and trying, unsuccessfully, to drink a gallon of milk in less than an hour without throwing up.

Afterward the Dodgers’ Brad Penny, a former Marlin who offered the boy $500 to accept the challenge, told the Miami Herald it was “kind of ridiculous that you get a 10-game suspension for steroids and a six-game suspension for milk.”

Trivia answer: Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa and Babe Ruth, with four times each.

And finally: Ian Hamilton in Canada’s Regina Leader-Post: “Among the field at the Canadian men’s amateur golf championship were Andrew Parr, Dave Bunker and Ryan Yip, who may want to blame his putting for his second-round loss.”