Morning Briefing

It’s called betting a dead horse

You have heard the argument that horse racing is a dying sport. Now, here’s some proof.

In Adelaide earlier this week, South Australia’s betting agency accepted a bet on a horse that died more than two weeks earlier.

Chicakaloo was the horse’s name. It was put down Sept. 9 after breaking a leg. Chicakaloo was listed as a 200-1 shot to win the Epsom Handicap on Oct. 7 -- long odds, to be sure, yet not bad for a horse that had been dead for more than two weeks.

Tom Hunt placed five Australian dollars ($3.75) on the horse, and the Totalisator Agency Board accepted the wager.

“I knew the horse was put down and I thought it was strange to see it in the market,” Hunt told the Associated Press. “So I went to the TAB to see if they’d take my money.”

Paul Caica, minister of South Australia’s gambling watchdog, said his office would investigate the matter -- how it was possible, if not quite encouraged, to bet a dead horse.

“The investigation will be looking into why this occurred,” he said. “Any punter who backed this horse after its death will receive a refund from the TAB.”

A towel too terrible

Unable to match the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl championships, or television commercials, fans of the Cleveland Browns are trying to out-terrible the Terrible Towel. The result, which can be yours for only $8, is called -- believe it or not -- “The Dirty Brown Towel.”

“Show your team spirit by swinging the original ‘Dirty Brown Towel’ and restoring the old glory days of the Dog Pound,” reads the blurb on the website hawking the towel, which indeed is colored, ahem, dirty brown.

“Imagine the energy from the thousands of roaring fans swinging ‘The Dirty Brown Towel’ as the Browns do battle on the gridiron. ‘The Dirty Brown Towel’ will represent a high level of fan loyalty and commitment to the Browns.” As well as a low level of dignity.

Trivia time

Who invented the Steelers’ famous Terrible Towel?

He survived the Devil Rays!

Silas Simmons was born in 1895, the same year as Babe Ruth and Rudolph Valentino. He played at the highest level of black baseball while Satchel Paige was in grade school.

Simmons’ career as a pitcher-outfielder predated the formal creation of the Negro leagues.

And he is living today in a nursing home in St. Petersburg, Fla.

That last fact was unknown to baseball historians until this summer, when a genealogist living near the nursing home notified a Negro leagues expert. Simmons, who turns 111 on Oct. 14, is believed to be the oldest living person to have played professional baseball.

A recent New York Times article said Simmons began his pro career “about 1912” and played until 1929 for a variety of teams in Pennsylvania and New York, including the Homestead Grays, the Germantown Blue Ribbons and the New York Lincoln Giants.

Simmons remains an avid baseball fan, watching Tampa Bay Devil Rays games on television and attended a game at Tropicana Field this summer with his church group.

“I like young players,” said Simmons, who will celebrate his 111th birthday next month with 30 or 40 former Negro leaguers, including Hall of Fame member Monte Irvin.

Trivia answer

Trying to fire up the fans for a 1975 AFC playoff game against the Baltimore Colts, Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope urged fans to bring yellow dish towels to the stadium and wave them throughout the game. Pittsburgh won and eventually advanced to the Super Bowl, and the towel stayed.

And finally

Vijay Singh, speaking to Golf World about the PGA’s new Fall Series: “I might play five of the seven, three of the seven, or none of the seven.”

mike.penner@latimes.com