Hurricanes Might Go to the Run and Shoot

When University of Miami football players were regularly appearing on police blotters, the Hurricanes were winning a lot of games.

Lately, there are a bit fewer wins, but Miami football keeps going in one area.

Willie Cooper, a reserve safety for Miami, was shot in the buttocks by an unknown assailant Friday in front of the home where he lives in South Miami, the Associated Press reported.

Then Cooper’s teammate and roommate, starting safety Brandon Meriweather, pulled a pistol from his pants pocket and fired three times at the assailant as he jumped a fence and fled with another person in a car.

Cooper was taken to a hospital for treatment but apparently was not seriously hurt. He and Meriweather had gone outside their home at 6:30 a.m. to investigate a suspicious car.

Where’s “CSI: Miami” Lt. Horatio Caine when you need him?

Trivia time: In 1940, Belle Martell became the first licensed boxing referee in California but worked only a few amateur fights. Who was the first woman in California to be licensed to work professional fights?

You can’t catch the sheriff: Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca finished first in the 60-64 age division in a charity run last weekend at Dockweiler Beach in Playa del Rey. Baca, 64, ran the 3.1 miles in 20 minutes 33 seconds, beating the next finisher in his age group by more than five minutes.

Just goes to show that in L.A. it’s difficult to outrun the law.

Good answer: A reporter on a conference call to promote ABC’s coverage of the British Open asked commentator Paul Azinger if there were any U.S. courses comparable to Royal Liverpool in Hoylake, England.

“We don’t play that many courses on tour that are brown and like a racetrack,” Azinger said. “And if I were to point one out, then the superintendent would probably get fired.”

Distinct differences: Last weekend, golf fans had a choice of watching a celebrity golf tournament or the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. David Thomas of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram listed these as signs you were watching the celebrity golf:

* “On every hole, an announcer could truthfully say, ‘Par is a good score on this hole.’ ”

* “More ‘fores’ than ‘fours.’ ”

* “You can recognize the names on the leaderboard.”

Name game: John Wildhack, senior vice president of programming for ESPN and ABC Sports, is a 10-handicap golfer.

“Whenever I play in a member-guest tournament and the announcer says, ‘And now on the first tee, Mr. Wildhack,’ people take cover.”

Looking back: On this day in 1963, Sonny Liston knocked out Floyd Patterson in the first round at Las Vegas to retain his heavyweight title.

Trivia answer: Gwen Adair in 1980.

And finally: Noting Steve Nash’s new buzz cut, Randy Hill of Foxsports.com wrote: “The Phoenix Suns star still deserves credit for getting past the Clippers once this summer.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.