There’s No Business Like Shoe Business

The choice of footwear has prompted a mini-controversy -- a flip-flop flap, if you will -- at the White House, according to Associated Press.

A photo of Northwestern’s national champion women’s lacrosse team, taken during its recent visit to the White House, shows four of the nine women in the front row wearing flip-flop sandals along with their dresses and skirts.

A front-page article in the Chicago Tribune, headlined “You Wore Flip-Flops to the White House?!” was inspired by an e-mail sent to player Kate Darmody from her older brother after he saw the photo on the team’s website.

During an appearance Monday on NBC’s “Today,” Darmody and teammate Shelby Chlopak said players planned to auction the flip-flops, with proceeds to go toward a fund for a 10-year-old girl with a brain tumor.

The women have defended their attire, arguing they wore a dressier version of the sandal.

“Nobody was wearing old beach flip-flops,” said Aly Josephs, who wore a $16 brown pair with rhinestones.

Darmody added, “I tried to think of something that would go well with my outfit and at the same time not be that uncomfortable. But at the same time not disrespect the White House.”

Trivia time: What former TV actor preceded Tex Rickart as the “Voice of Ebbets Field,” the public-address announcer for Brooklyn Dodgers’ home games?

Hot diggity: The folks at Billy’s Deli in Glendale and Torrance remind us that today is National Hot Dog Day.

The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council estimates that 25.9 million hot dogs will be consumed in major league stadiums this season. Yankee fans in New York are expected to eat an estimated 1.8 million hot dogs, which is tops in the majors; runner-up Dodger fans will eat an estimated 1.5 million Dodger Dogs.

Hmmm ... might be different if all Dodger Dogs were grilled.

Pulling rank: Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times noted: “Isn’t it something that Earl Woods was a lieutenant colonel in the Green Berets but his son can’t seem to get any higher than a major?”

Looking back: On this date in 1876, the first intercollegiate track and field meet was held by the newly formed Intercollegiate Assn. of Amateur Athletes of America.

Held as a side attraction to the annual intercollegiate regatta at Saratoga Lake, N.Y., the meet’s team championship was won by Princeton.

In the bag: Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on what tennis star Roger Federer has tucked away in his pocket: “Money clip, comb, lint, breath mints, Andy Roddick.”

Trivia answer: John Forsythe, who later became known for his TV roles as the voice of Charlie on “Charlie’s Angels” in the 1970s and as Blake Carrington on “Dynasty” in the 1980s.

And finally: David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram on New Yorkers’ saying that getting snubbed over the 2012 Olympics is tough to take because they’re not used to losing: “Has anyone taken the time to look through the last few years’ records of the Knicks, Mets, Rangers, Islanders and Giants?”