Sky World Series May Be the Next Big Thing

How old is the sport of lacrosse?

A lot older than baseball, according to one school of thought.

In a story on the North American Indigenous Games being held in Colorado, Vince Schiffert, coach of a New York team, told the Denver Post: “In our belief system, our people played before there was even a world here.

“It was played by the people in the sky world, the people that created our Earth. That was one of the things that the people from sky world sent down here. It is a sacred game.”

That would certainly trump any American national pastime.

More lacrosse: The sport was used by Native Americans as a means of settling disputes between tribes, and matches could last days. Apparently, they didn’t believe in penalty shots.

Trivia time: Where are major league baseballs made?

Nip it! From Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel, on the poor performances of U.S. athletes this year on the world stage: “My country tis of thee, We play sports just like Aunt Bee!”

Easy on the Mayo: There were reports this week that USC was close to landing O.J. Mayo, who might be the most hyped high school basketball player since LeBron James.

But not everyone is ready to roll out the welcome mat.

“Hold the Mayo” is the banner atop a USC fan website developed to protest the Trojan basketball program’s interest in the Cincinnati prep star.

The site, keeptheojout.50megs.com, claims that Mayo wants to move west only to be close to Hollywood and achieve Matt Leinart-like status.

“O.J., you are not Matt Leinart. You never will be even close!” the site proclaims. “College basketball is not loved in Hollywood like college football is!”

Then, the expected knock: “Look at UCLA, nobody cares about their players.”

Waxing nostalgic: Although his date of birth is the topic of some debate, by some accounts Satchel Paige would have had his 100th birthday this week. That was reason enough for Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski to recall a few famous lines attributed to the legendary pitcher:

* “My mother always told me if you tell a lie, rehearse it. If it don’t sound good to you, it won’t sound good to no one else.”

* “Don’t look back, something might be gaining on you.”

* “Dance like no one’s watching.”

Small ball: Physicists in Germany reportedly have developed a soccer pitch measuring 500-by-380 nanometers -- so small that 20,000 of them could fit on a human hair.

Responds Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “As an encore, the same scientists are now hurriedly working on a hush-hush project for FIFA code-named. ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Hooligans.’ ”

Trivia answer: Baseballs are handcrafted in Turrialba, Costa Rica.

And finally: Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News, bemoaning the absence of Barry Bonds from the All-Star game lineup: “If your circus has a pink elephant, that is who leads the parade.”