Tackling a battle of the sexes

Women playing tennis against men? The idea made Billie Jean King a sociocultural icon.

Women boxing against men? The idea has made Mike Tyson an even sadder joke.

Women playing football against men? The idea of pitting over-30 men against all-stars from the National Women’s Football Assn. is something the NWFA hopes will drum up publicity as the league prepares for its seventh season.

“The Gender Bowl,” a battle-of-the-sexes football game presented as reality television, will be shown on CoLours TV as part of the NWFA’s new broadcast deal with the Dish Network channel.

The game was played and filmed in the Coliseum in August, and a five-minute promo available on Google videos features all the we’re-not-losing-to-a-bunch-of-girls bravado you’d expect in the men’s locker room.

More entertaining than the promo is the e-mailed reaction to the clip. A sampling:

* From Tony in Las Vegas: “I’ll bet my paycheck that the men win by at least 28 if they aren’t complete losers.”

* From Mel in Lubbock, Texas: “I’ll bet anyone $500 that the men knocked the women out of the game in the first half.”

* From Brian Ex-NFL Player: “If I was in this game, I would have scored on every down against the big-mouthed women. AND, I’m 52.”

* From Anonymous: “There is no way women could beat men in football, but I’d like to see the game just to shut my wife up.”

The promo obviously doesn’t reveal the winner but shows enough to offer viewers this much: Take the women and the points.

Trivia time

Who holds the Holiday Bowl record for most yards passing in a game?

A-Rod needs anti-freeze

Pepsi’s 2006 All-Clutch baseball team does not include any Dodgers or Angels, which is none too surprising. A case might have been made for Nomar Garciaparra, but that case was quickly shut by the entry, “First base: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals.”

Elsewhere on the team:

* The Minnesota Twins were represented by three players: catcher Joe Mauer, starting pitcher Johan Santana and relief pitcher Joe Nathan. The Twins were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Oakland Athletics, who had not won a playoff series in their previous five postseason appearances.

* The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had as many honorees as the World Series champion Cardinals -- one -- with the selection of outfielder Carl Crawford. Did the Devil Rays have any clutch moments in 2006?

* The New York Yankees also had one representative, shortstop Derek Jeter. Again, not surprising. When left out in the open too long, Pepsi goes flat. Same with Alex Rodriguez.

Once they were kings

Briefing played one like the Atlanta Hawks in a Wednesday item claiming the Hawks, who last won the NBA title in 1958, have the league’s longest championship drought.

Actually, that dubious distinction belongs to the much-traveled Rochester Royals/Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City-Omaha Kings/Kansas City Kings/Sacramento Kings franchise.

Rochester won the NBA title in 1951.

Trivia answer

Sonny Cumbie, who passed for 520 yards to lead Texas Tech to a 45-31 triumph over California in the 2004 Holiday Bowl. Cumbie was the offensive coordinator for the men’s team in “the Gender Bowl.” Larry Brown, former Super Bowl most valuable player, was head coach for the men’s team.

And finally

In response to Charles Barkley’s claim that there wasn’t much Halloween candy to be had as a youth growing up in Leeds, Ala., reader Don Sparks of Pasadena writes, “From the looks of Barkley, he obviously got candy from someone.”

mike.penner@latimes.com