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Not famous enough

Jim Furyk might be the first golfer to have an endorsement handed to him on a sizzling platter when he agreed to a deal with Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

Furyk may be a household name, but he isn’t a steakhouse name. The public relations company’s news release spelled his name “Furky.”

The name change accommodates the promotion of the steakhouse’s new Furky Jerky.

Do the hockey thing

Spike Lee knows NBA basketball. He has a high-priced front-row seat at Madison Square Garden from which he watches the Knicks.

But does the filmmaker know hockey?

Know it or not, Lee directed a 30-second commercial promoting NHL games on the Fox network.

Costumed performers dance around the head of a hockey player who has just taken a hard hit on the ice.

“I was intrigued by it,” said Lee, who directed “Do the Right Thing” and the recent documentary “Four Little Girls.”

“The challenge we have in doing this campaign is to make the game more appealing to persons who are not hockey maniacs.”

But to people who would appreciate maniacal behavior.

Turning over in his grave

Vince Lombardi is dead 27 years. Yet his reputation as coach of the Green Bay Packers remains as strong as ever.

No coach could bawl out a player any better.

“Lombardi treats us all alike, like dogs,” said Henry Jordan, a Packers’ defensive tackle.

But a story in the current issue of “Esquire” maintains that Lombardi was an adept psychologist who treated each of his players differently, according to the player’s personality and his standing with the coach.

The question was asked how Lombardi would react to the showboating that has become commonplace in the NFL after touchdowns or sacks.

The article recalls the time Travis Williams, the kickoff-return man on the 1967 team, did a dance after scoring a touchdown.

Lombardi called him over and said, “Travis, try to act like you’ve been in the end zone before.”

Thanks for the pain, Pheidippides

Legend has it that the marathon distance of a little more than 26 miles was determined by how far the Athenian soldier, Pheidippides, ran from Marathon to herald the victory of the Greeks over the Persians in 490 B.C. before he collapsed and died.

It was 97 degrees when Hiromi Suzuki of Japan won the world championship over the same route in Athens last week.

“Before the race, I thought about the history,” she said. “The heat was not so tough.”

However, there were probably some who felt the same way Frank Shorter did in 1972 when he said to fellow runner Kenny Moore at about the 22-mile mark, “Why couldn’t Pheidippides have died here?”

The last word …

“I don’t know what their plans are. I don’t get paid to think too much, and that’s a good thing.”

- St. Louis utility man John Mabry, whose role with the baseball team has been reduced with the acquisition of Mark McGwire and the return of Brian Jordan

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo