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Don’t play it again, Drew
Alan Greenberg in the Hartford Courant, on New England Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe:
“No matter what the Germans and the war did to them, Bogie and Bergman comforted themselves knowing they’d always have Paris. No matter what the NFL defenses did to them, the Patriots knew they’d always have Drew… .
“In their 27-17 loss to the Dolphins Sunday, the Patriots were Sinatra without his voice, Schwarzenegger without his muscles, Tim Wakefield without his knuckleball.”
What Greenberg is trying to tell us is that five of Bledsoe’s passes were intercepted, the most since he was a rookie in 1993.
A stroke of unluck
Jaxon Brigman played well enough to earn his PGA Tour card for 2000. A careless math error will keep him on the Buy.com Tour.
Brigman had one of the best closing rounds at qualifying school, a 5-under 65 that put him at 8-under and right on the number for making the top 35 and ties. He was on top of the world - until a rules official asked him about his card.
While Brigman had 65, he signed for a 66. Because he signed for a higher score, Brigman was not disqualified. But he had to take the 66, which left him at 7 under and caused him to miss his PGA Tour card by one stroke.
“I never signed a wrong card in my life,” Brigman said. “Today was the first and the worst time.”
Stinky matchup
Comedy writer Jerry Perisho says of the Stanford-Wisconsin Rose Bowl matchup: “It will give new meaning to the term `Y2K.’ On Jan. 1, `Y2K’ will stand for the 2,000 yards Ron Dayne will gain on the ground.”
Caddie bagged again
Breaking up is hard to do, but not in the case of caddie Jerry Higginbotham, who in less than one year has been fired by Mark O’Meara and now by Sergio Garcia.
Garcia apparently decided Higgy should be history after the caddie got into a fight in a bar after the Ryder Cup.
Higginbotham consoled himself: “I’m either getting beat up or fired.”
It’s no joke
Don Kaul of the Chicago Tribune, complaining that cyclist Greg LeMond not only isn’t No. 1 on ESPN’s list of the century’s top athletes, he isn’t even on it: “The panel obviously was made up of mopes who think golfers and horses are athletes, but bikers aren’t. Not even `Comedy Central’ broadcasts jokes that are that funny.”
The last word …
“They pay appearance money in Europe. I’m starting to think they should pay disappearance money here. As much as he wins, maybe get him to go somewhere else.” - CBS Sports analyst David Feherty on Tiger Woods