The Fan Page
By TOM JONES
Published March 4, 2007
eBay item of the day
Deadspin.com tipped us off to this. You can bid on the official University of Nebraska 1996 Fiesta Bowl jockstrap. (We're pretty sure it was an unused one. We're hoping, anyway.) It's white with red lettering that reads: 1996 Fiesta Bowl ... Go Cornhuskers. Not surprisingly, the bid on the item going into the weekend was one penny.
Singer of the day
Kid Rock will perform at the Indianapolis 500 Carb Day festivities May 25. The concert will take place on the track's infield two days before the race. "His music is all about power, emotion and a good time, and that's exactly what our fans experience on one of the most popular days during the month of May in Indianapolis," Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood told the Associated Press.
Start your hounds
The Iditarod - the longest dog sled race in the world - held its ceremonial start Saturday and gets under way with real racing today.
We always like to talk about how much better, faster and stronger athletes are today compared to, say, 30 years ago. But what about dogs?
Well, consider this: In the first Iditarod in 1973, Richard Wilmarth led his team of hounds to victory in the 1,100-mile race, completing the course in 20 days, 49 minutes and 41 seconds.
Last year's winner, Jeff King, finished in nine days, 11 hours and 11 minutes.
It's all about advanced conditioning. King said he put his dogs through a swimming routine of two hours a day, five days a week in a lake during the summer. When they started their training runs, the dogs were going 50 to 60 miles a day. By the end of October, they were going 80 miles a day.
"Their conditioning was just staggeringly advanced," he said.
King is defending his title, but a familiar face is missing. Four-time champion Susan Butcher, who dominated the race in the late 1980s, died of leukemia Aug. 5.
To stay on top of this year's Iditarod, check out its official Web site, iditarod.com.
Your turn
Subject: Lakewood basketball coach Daniel Wright
I read the Times online every day and would like to say how proud I am of the accomplishments of Daniel Wright. I am a 1965 graduate of Gibbs and coached Daniel as a Little League baseball player when he was 11. He was a heck of a pitcher even back then. I remember Daniel pitching consecutive no-hitters; the first game he struck out 18 of the 19 batters he faced. As you have probably figured out, I feel a strong attachment to Coach Wright, though I have not seen him other than on Sun Sports in over 40 years. Thanks for the wonderful articles about Daniel.
Willis Alexander, Oklahoma City
Subject: Kansas State bans the chicken toss
I'm a great-grandmother and I don't consider myself an activist, but I'm delighted to see that Kansas State has cracked down on that awful chicken toss. About 10 years ago, after listening to a radio program about the miserable lives of chickens in factory farms, I stopped eating chicken, cold turkey. I learned chickens are interesting, personable birds and I didn't have the heart to eat them anymore, so how anyone can defend throwing them on a basketball court as a prank is beyond me.
Compassionate people, young and old, are opposed to gratuitous cruelty.
Jayne Morris, Largo