It’s time for his close-up
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame’s sophomore quarterback, performs in front of millions of people.
His cousin, actor Zachery Bryan, performs in front of millions of people.
So whose job is tougher?
“The only thing I could say,” Quinn explained, “when he messes up, they can do a retake. When I throw an interception, that’s it. I’m coming off.”
Bryan had plenty of retakes from the age of 8 to 18, when he starred as Tim Allen’s son, Brad, on ABC’s popular sitcom “Home Improvement.”
Quinn got a front-row seat to Bryan’s stardom. He and his family watched Bryan in front of big crowds at public appearances and attended tapings of the TV show.
But last year, things changed. Bryan was in Las Vegas for his 21st birthday. He was a sports bar when he looked up at one of the games on TV.
Right then, Notre Dame was replacing Carlyle Holiday at quarterback with Quinn.
Notre Dame lost to Michigan State that day, but Quinn threw his first career touchdown pass. He won the starting job the next week and has started every game since.
“It was so surreal for me,” Bryan said. “It was another member of the family out there and working hard. It baffled me. True freshman, 18 years old.”
Bryan considers Quinn his second cousin, by way of an adoptive link.
The Bryan and Quinn families will be reunited this weekend for the Notre Dame-Southern Cal game, but Bryan will have a small problem. His girlfriend is aTrojans alum. So whom will he be rooting for?
“N.D.! Are you kidding me?” Bryan said. “I already told her: ‘Blood over girlfriends.’ “
Cards real Cracker Jacks
The baseball cards remained in their original envelope, wrapped carefully in napkins and tucked away in a shoebox stored in a New York woman’s home.
The prize of the collection, a complete set of 1914 Cracker Jack cards, included pristine specimens of legends Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Honus Wagner and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson.
Earlier this month, the 144-card set sold to an anonymous buyer for a record $800,000, a deal brokered by Willowbrook auction house MastroNet in a sale expected to be announced Monday.
The cards originally belonged to the woman’s uncle, who died in World War II, and her father kept them until he died recently. The woman did some research on the Internet and realized the cards were valuable.
She then took the cards to the annual Sports Collectors Convention in July in Cleveland where she asked MastroNet to find a buyer and had Dave Forman, president of Sportscard Guaranty, evaluate the cards for authenticity and quality.
“When I realized what they were, I was in a mini-state of shock,” Forman said. “Chances are, nothing like it will ever surface again.”
The cards are unique because they have been so well-preserved. Most surviving Cracker Jack cards from 1914 are stained by caramel or damaged because they were inserted in the boxes next to the popcorn.
He said it for all of us
From Aussie golfer Kurt Barnes, who shot a 65 to lead the Australian Open by two shots Thursday and then shot a 73 on Friday to fall four off the pace:
“You can’t treat this game too serious. Otherwise, you go insane.”