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Look like a dork, but live to tell about it

A Green Bay Packers fan who survived a plane wreck credits his yellow, foam rubber cheesehead for helping prevent serious injury. “It was in my lap, because I was using it as pillow when I was snoozing an hour before,” Frank Emmert, 36, said. “When you crash in the big ones, they tell you to cover your head with a pillow.”

Emmert was flying home on Sunday after spending a week in Ohio following the Nov. 19 Packers-Browns game. His friend, the aptly named Baron Bryan, 25, was the pilot. As the plane lost power and dropped into the trees, Emmert grabbed the wedge-shaped cheesehead and covered his head. He ended up with a broken ankle; Bryan suffered head injuries.

As a consolation, Emmert won’t have to buy a new cheesehead to replace the one he used in the crash.

“The gentleman that owns the company sent cheeseheads to my family and my boys,” Emmert said.

He’s just lucky Green Bay isn’t the Steel City.

Daly double

John Daly was a bust in the Australian Open last weekend, shooting 80 in Saturday’s third round to fall out of contention. Still, Daly ended up a big winner.

In a two-hour visit to the High-Rollers Room at the Crown Casino in Melbourne Friday night, Daly raked in $187,500 at the blackjack table. That’s after winning $10,000 on each of the previous two nights.

“It’s amazing stuff,” said Daly’s manager, Bud Martin. “Usually he wants to sit there until they name the place after him - he usually tries to stay there until he owns it. But he’s shown a lot of discipline to walk away this time.”

Martin said Daly took control of one blackjack table, playing five hands at once. “He was splittin’ and doublin’ and doing all these things, and he just kept on winning,” said Martin.

Crown Casino even became one of Daly’s sponsors during his visit to Melbourne, with Daly wearing its emblem on his golf shirt during the tournament.

As for any chance of the casino getting its money back, forget it - Daly wired the money back home to the United States late Friday night.

This weekend, Daly is entered in the Greg Norman Classic in Sydney - where a new casino has opened.

Daly has more aces up his sleeve than in the cup.

Every practice seems like WW III

George Washington University’s highly regarded international studies program can consult a miniature United Nations every time the Colonials play a men’s basketball game.

The team features 7-foot-1 Belarusian center Alexander Koul, countrymen Egor Mechtcheriakov and Andrei Krivonos, Portugal’s Seco Camara and Canada’s J.J. Brade.

Said coach Mike Jarvis: “I have no idea what these guys can all do yet or how they’ll work together. We still need at least one more big man. I think the well is dry over in Belarus, but we’ll find him someplace.”

Perhaps assistant coach Henry Kissinger can help.

The last word …

“Once you got through (with Pat Riley), it was time to go home and go to bed. I’d be laying on the couch watching the kids play around. You want to get up and play with them, but you wouldn’t have any energy. With Nellie, you can get a nice round of golf in and go home and play with the kids.”

- Knicks guard John Starks, on the difference between playing for Riley and Don Nelson

, DataTimes