He’s a real sport about this dancing

Questions philosophers have pondered through the ages:

* What is the relationship between mind and body?

* If nobody sees something happening, does that mean that it didn’t happen? (Plenty of hockey games on OLN last season may fit this category)

* Is dance an art or a sport?

On this last question, former Dallas running back Emmitt Smith fell squarely into the latter camp, treating his winning “Dancing With the Stars” campaign like a sporting competition, approaching his pre-show practices like a training camp.

And his quest took on overtones of a playoff run as sports bars and dance studios in North Texas held “Emmitt watching parties,” according to the Associated Press.

“As one male customer told me just the other day: ‘Emmitt makes dancing look manly,’ ” dance studio manager Toni Musgrow of Plano told AP.

Now does this old quote, from early 2005, look a tad premature?

“It’s been a tremendous ride. My 15 years, my 15 minutes of fame, is up,” Smith said when he announced his retirement from pro football.

Trivia time

How many yards did Smith rush for in his rookie season with the Cowboys?

Clone again, naturally

What does $150,000 buy these days?

For one thing, a cloned horse. Word came out of Austin, Texas, on Wednesday that the venerable barrel racing horse Scamper, a gelding, was cloned. The clone, Clayton, was born Aug. 8. Apparently, there are pigment variations between Scamper and Clayton.

The owner, Charmayne James, told thehorse.com that the differing color distribution on the face should help young Clayton be thought of as a new animal, stopping folks from “thinking of the science fiction thing.” Still that might be unavoidable. Hard to think of the same horse winning and showing.

Good night now

Guests Keyshawn Johnson and Michael Strahan discussed the Bobby Knight “nudging” incident on the “Best Damn Sports Show Period” on Wednesday.

Said Johnson, “When you sign at Texas Tech, when he recruited you, you knew there was a chance you could get slapped.”

Strahan one-upped him, saying, “That’s just like working for Naomi Campbell.”

Trivia answer

He rushed for 937 yards and scored 11 touchdowns.

Here today, thong tomorrow

The Ice Dogs of Long Beach are promoting tonight’s game against the Utah Grizzlies as “Desperate Housewives Night!” Among other things, they will be offering $2 beers for an hour and a half, starting at 6 p.m., and will be giving away “an authentic Ice Dogs thong.”

The team’s release goes on to breathlessly state: “These limited edition one-size-fits-all-thongs are sure to be a hit, so all ladies make sure to arrive early because they will go fast!” Briefing has been rendered momentarily speechless.

And finally

Former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler on the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry, speaking to the Detroit Free Press: “I think this is about as big as it gets. I don’t know what else you can do. Two teams that have been dominant all year long.... This is the greatest college football rivalry there is. I don’t see that changing.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com