Get Over It Already, Tennessee

Not to suggest that Tennessee fans are sore losers, but . . .

In the wake of Peyton Manning’s surprise loss in the Heisman Trophy voting, the entire state appears to be in mourning.

From Mike Keith, a Knoxville radio host: “Many Tennessee fans to this day are bitter that John Majors lost the Heisman to Paul Hornung, who played for a 2-8 Notre Dame team in 1956. I don’t know if Tennessee fans will ever get over this one.”

Several full-page ads have run in the Knoxville News-Sentinel, including one from a local bank that appeared Sunday declaring, “We’ve always believed Peyton is the best. We still do.”

An editorial cartoon in the Chattanooga Times depicted sports writers who voted as The Heistmen.

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Trivia time: Who was the only player selected in the first round of both the NBA and major league baseball drafts?

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Up in smoke: Australian tennis player Pat Cash has never been known to pull verbal punches. His speech after accepting his winner’s check at the Salem Open began: “I’d like to thank the sponsors, even though I think it’s a disgrace to smoke cigarettes.”

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Daffy: Disney’s venture into pro-team ownership is examined in the current Newsweek. While owning the Angels and Mighty Ducks “is at the heart of [its] burgeoning sports empire,” Disney, “one of the ultimate bottom-line companies, seems unprepared for a business in which the bottom line is winning.

“Clever marketing, pretty uniforms and show biz glitz can’t mask a lack of talent. Moreover, what is routine in today’s pro-sports game--salary disputes, firings, drug problems--has produced a succession of public-relations debacles for image-conscious Disney.”

Sounds like a not-so-wonderful world.

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New York, New York: Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News, writing about the surprising seasons enjoyed by the Jets and the Giants: “We talk all the time about a Subway Series in baseball. Maybe the Jets and Giants are a better bet to play in the Super Bowl. And soon. A surprise season like this gets you dreaming about a lot of things. Even that.”

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Iced off: While much of the National Hockey League is excited about the participation of its pros in the Nagano Winter Olympics--going so far as to halt play during the Games--Chicago Blackhawk owner Bill Wirtz is not sold.

“The Games will be on at 1, 2, 3 a.m. This is exposure? Do it in Salt Lake City [in 2002.] The [hockey] World Cup, that’s what we should be building up.”

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X-ed off: Ted Simmons, publicist for the Colorado Xplosion of the ABL, on the difficulty of promoting the team while the Broncos are having a good year: “John Elway’s wife gets more ink than we do.”

Trivia answer: Scott Burrell of the Chicago Bulls.

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And finally: From Jay Leno: “The latest rumor is that the Celtics want to sign Latrell Sprewell. Because that way he gets the nickname Boston Strangler.”