Did they buy those trophies at Sears?

When Les Horvath, the 1944 Heisman Trophy winner from Ohio State, moved to Los Angeles in the late 1940s, he was warmly welcomed by two other well-known sports figures living here.

On their first night in town, Horvath and his wife had dinner at the home of Tom Harmon. On the second night, they were invited to dine at the home of Glenn Davis.

After the Davis dinner, the Horvaths returned to their new home and when Les inspected all the moving boxes in his living room, he told his wife, “Let’s get these unpacked in the morning, but be careful of that box over there -- it has something very rare and valuable in it, the Heisman Trophy.” To which his wife replied, “How rare could it be? We’ve only been in this city for two days and have gone to your friends’ homes for dinner both nights, and I noticed each of them has one.” (Thanks to former Times writer Jerry Clark for this anecdote.)

Trivia time

When was the last time Ohio State defeated USC in football?

Hotel misses out

on frenzy

Surprise U.S. Open quarterfinalist Melanie Oudin overstayed her reservation at the Marriott in Times Square, which had her booked only through Sunday and did not offer the player an extension.

Oudin’s agent, John Tobias, interceded and found her a room at the Intercontinental. “Obviously, we will not be sending any of our players back to that hotel [the Marriott]),” Tobias told the SportsBusiness Journal.

Seventeen and counting

The Pittsburgh Pirates have clinched their 17th consecutive losing season, a record for major sports franchises in North America.

The Pirates won three consecutive National League Eastern Division titles from 1990-1992, managed by Jim Leyland and powered by a pre-steroids Barry Bonds. But 1992 was the team’s last winning season, with the Pirates using 317 players to no avail during the next 17 years.

“Unfortunately, we’re not happy with where we are in terms of wins and losses, and we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Pirates Manager John Russell said.

“But we believe in what were doing. We’ve developed some very good young players, and we’re looking forward to continuing to build. Unfortunately, we can’t do anything about the 17 years.”

Trivia answer

Ohio State defeated USC in the 1974 Rose Bowl, 42-21. USC has won the last six meetings.

And finally

From Dan Daly of the Washington Times, on Boston Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon’s repeatedly being fined for dawdling on the mound: “If MLB really wanted to speed up games, it would authorize a golf cart for Prince Fielder.”

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mike.penner@latimes.com