It’s All Downhill for Some Mad Monks

Portions of busy Fillmore Street in San Francisco will be the site of a ski jump competition Wednesday and Thursday, despite complaints by local residents who said it would cause gridlock and parking problems.

According to Associated Press, city officials decided that Icer, a company that makes wax for skis and snowboards, had satisfied all safety requirements and voted, 8-0, last week to grant a permit, allowing Olympic freestyle gold medalist Jonny Moseley and others to participate in Icer Air 2005.

“Of course, we’re disappointed because we feel like we had good points,” said one of the protesters, Warner Hirsch, a Hindu monk who lives at a monastery close to the site.

Don’t think he ever had a snowball’s chance ...

Trivia time: Nolan Ryan beat Sandy Koufax’s record of four no-hitters on this date in 1981, when, pitching for the Houston Astros, he threw his fifth against, coincidentally, the Dodgers. The Dodgers lead the majors with 20 no-hitters, but, who is the only other Dodger pitcher to have thrown more than one?

Wishful thinking: San Diego Padre third baseman Sean Burroughs, who threw a 72-mph fastball while leading Long Beach to consecutive Little League World Series titles in the early 1990s, hit 77 on the radar gun last week when he performed mop-up duty during a 20-1 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

As for a three-run homer he yielded for runs 18, 19 and 20, Burroughs told the Denver Post, “If I was loose, I would have had a better release point and I would have painted the corners.”

Modern plumbing: Responding to a Scottish Daily Record report that engineers in Switzerland have developed a urinal with sensors that warn a user he might need a prostate examination, Dan O’Neill of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes:

“Rumor has it Major League Baseball is working on developing similar technology for urinals in its clubhouses that would indicate a player should be tested for steroids.

“And in related news, the Major League Baseball Players Assn. has placed a large order for outdoor Porta Potties.”

Looking back: On this date in 1983, the longest winning streak in modern sports history -- 132 years of U.S. domination -- ended when Australia II, skippered by Australian John Bertrand, won the seventh and deciding race in the America’s Cup yacht series over Dennis Conner’s Liberty at Newport, R.I.

Trivia answer: Carl Erskine had two no-hitters -- June 19, 1952, and May 12, 1956.

And finally: Former major league pitcher Marv Grissom died Monday after a long illness. He was 87.

Grissom was the Angels’ first pitching coach under manager Bill Rigney. Longtime Times baseball writer Ross Newhan remembered Grissom as having “a gruff, intimidating presence but also a quick sense of humor.”

“One of my favorite recollections occurred in 1961, during the Angels’ first spring training in Palm Springs,” said Newhan, now semi-retired. “Relief pitcher Ryne Duren decided to cap off a night of closing bars by chipping golf balls off his pitching coach’s motel windows at 3 a.m. Finally, Grissom opened the door and shouted, ‘Hey, Ryno, got sort of an early tee time don’t you?’ ”