Checkered Flag For Optimism

Michael Waltrip has started 430 Winston Cup races over 18 years without reaching victory lane, but he is still upbeat.

“I have a new car, a new sponsor and it’s a new century. So maybe I’ll win a race,” he said.

Marketing glitch

Shortly after Tiger Woods received $30 million to have Buick plastered on his golf bag, he won the first tournament of 2000 and was shown on national TV alongside the car he won - a Mercedes.

At least he improved in the third set

After Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt’s 6-0, 6-0, 6-1 defeat of Spain’s Alex Corretja in the Australian Open, he said to the loser, “Bad luck, mate.”

Brace yourself

You can be sure Isaac Bruce has brought along his lucky ankle braces for the St. Louis Rams’ NFC Championship Game today against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Last week, about 90 minutes before game time, he realized he had left the braces at the team’s training site, 20 miles from the Trans World Dome.

It’s not that he’s superstitious, it’s simply that he has used the same ones since college.

Equipment manager Jim Lake tracked down the Rams’ security director, who found a willing St. Louis police officer, who drove Lake to Rams Park. The officer used his flashing lights to help get through heavy traffic around the stadium - just in time for Bruce to get them on.

“I had a backup pair at the dome, but I couldn’t play without the old ones,” Bruce said. “They’re kind of raggedy and work well for me.”

Well enough that he caught a touchdown pass on the Rams’ first play.

It beats playing dogpile in the NFL

Joe Montana is called “the greatest quarterback of all time” in the magazine, NFL Insider. The publication says that to hone his competitive juices, Montana has been riding horses in cutting contests.

After being thrown, he was asked if he was hurt.

“No,” he said. “The sand is soft, and there wasn’t 800 pounds landing on top of me.”