Presented a Chance at History, He Ran With It

Fifty years ago today, more than 38,000 fans attended the USC-UCLA track and field meet at the Coliseum in hopes of seeing a first on U.S. soil.

Australian John Landy, who then held the world record in the mile at 3 minutes 58 seconds, set two years earlier in Finland, looked to become the first to record a sub-four-minute mile in the Western Hemisphere during a special race against an assortment of collegians to promote the 1956 Melbourne Olympics.

But Jim Bailey, a 26-year-old fellow Aussie attending the University of Oregon, surprised everyone by hitting the tape first that day in 3:58.6.

“I knew I was in the race to make it competitive, but with the understanding it was John Landy’s to win,” Bailey, 76 and a resident of Bellingham, Wash., recently told the Seattle Times.

After three laps, Bailey trailed Landy by 10 yards, but by the final turn he had closed to within two. “Once I was level with him, I forgot about all the obligation,” Bailey said. “You know, let the better man win.”

Trivia time: Who was the first American to break the four-minute barrier for the mile?

Getting a grip: The NBA assessed a $10,000 fine and, retroactively, a flagrant foul against Denver Nugget forward Reggie Evans for grabbing at the crotch of center Chris Kaman during the Clippers’ 100-86 victory in Game 4 on Saturday.

Wrote “The Flip Side” in the Baltimore Sun: “If Evans would end up with a suspension, we could say it was the first time a player had been sidelined by a pulled groin that wasn’t his own.”

A clip job: Speaking of the Clippers, Coach George Karl had a simple explanation for his Nuggets’ first-round elimination by a franchise that had not won a playoff series since 1976.

“They’ve got seven guys on their team who could get 30 on any night,” Karl told Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post. “How many guys on our team, if you left them in the gym all day, could get 30?”

Say what? Time magazine recently released a list of 100 people “shaping the world” that included five sports figures: soccer great Franz Beckenbauer, speedskater Joey Cheek, NASCAR chief Brian France, Phoenix Sun Steve Nash and teenage golfer Michelle Wie.

“One possible explanation?” wrote Greg Cote of the Miami Herald. “The Time editors were drunk.”

Scrabble anyone? The right side of the Kansas City Royals’ infield contains more letters than any other in big league history, noted Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe.

The surnames of first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek combine for 24 letters.

The previous record-holders? Joe Cunningham and Red Schoendienst of the 1954 St. Louis Cardinals, who combined for 22.

Trivia answer: Don Bowden, from the University of California, who ran a 3:57.8 mile on July 19, 1957, at Stockton.

And finally: Asked by the host of ESPN2’s “Cold Pizza” what he would name a horse if he had one running in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, Woody Paige replied, “Cyrano de Bergerac ... because I’d like to hear at the end, ‘Cyrano de Bergerac wins by a nose.’ ”