Good Thing We Could Catch Up With This

The “Flying Tomato” -- a.k.a. Shaun White -- is in Colorado trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic snowboarding team.

Before the redheaded action sports star left, he revealed that it was two skateboarders, the legendary Tony Hawk along with Colin McKay, who gave him the catchy moniker.

They were relaxing in a hotel lobby during a Hawk tour, waiting for their bags to be loaded onto the bus, when the energetic White leaped over the bags and startled them.

“They were like, ‘Hey, Tomato, calm down!’ ” White recalled. “Then they started drawing tomatoes with wings on them on my clothing and skateboard. The name just stuck.”

Add Tomato: The 19-year-old from Carlsbad is a cult hero in Japan, where he is often mobbed by fans. Boys bear gifts. Girls ask him to sign their bodies, but first they want to pet his mop of hair.

Asked if his popularity with the Japanese girls has led anywhere, he joked, “That’s a whole ‘nother monster.”

Trivia time: Reggie Bush has been compared to Barry Sanders and Marshall Faulk. When were Sanders and Faulk taken in the NFL draft, and by whom?

Going down swinging: Pete Rose is not eligible for the Hall of Fame, but his name invariably comes up when new ballots are passed around. Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News recalled the time the Phillies’ team plane encountered turbulence, creating panic.

Rose, as the story goes, stood and yelled, “We’re going down, and I’m the only one taking a .340 average with me!”

Waxing pathetic: David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram might have had too much holiday cheer before chiming in on the Cowboys’ dramatic win over the Chiefs on Sunday:

“Cowboys fans turned quite bitter, when their season began to fritter. The air filled with gloom, a third straight loss did loom, until [Terry] Glenn scored on a flea-flicker.”

Trouble in Paradise: The PGA Tour’s season-opening Mercedes Championships at Kapalua on Maui have lost their luster. Among those who probably will not play, citing fatigue, are Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Retief Goosen and Padraig Harrington.

Said Kapalua Vice President Gary Planos, trying to remain upbeat: “We’re not running a funeral -- we’re running a championship. We’re going to show Kapalua to a freezing mainland.”

Ultimate overhaul: On the 1-12 Houston Texans’ hiring of former NFL coach Dan Reeves as a consultant, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times commented, “Most observers, though, say the team’s only chance at a turnaround would be an unprecedented performance at the upcoming college draft -- like, say, drafting USC.”

Trivia answer: Sanders went to the Detroit Lions as the third overall pick in 1989, behind Troy Aikman and Tony Mandarich. Faulk went to the Indianapolis Colts as the second overall pick in 1994, behind Dan Wilkinson.

And finally: Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote on Reggie Bush winning the Heisman: “It was the most comfortable Americans had felt about Bush winning an election in a long time.”