After All, He Was a Power Runner

Jim Brown is 65 now and still talking the way he ran with a football--relentlessly.

“It’s wasted greatness, squandered power,� Brown said of today’s pampered athletes after Miami Herald columnist Dan LeBatard caught up with him in his 32nd-floor South Beach condo. “It’s as if being the house slave is some slice of glory. In modern slavery, a slave can make $10 million a year.

“Before, we took the nice clothes, the roof and the pat on the head from the master. Now we settle for the signing bonus without the power of decision making. Athletes are pawns, emphasizing the athleticism while other people run the damn world.�

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More Brown: “Life is a journey, and you are a fool if you experience it with just your body. You have to live it through your mind and heart.�

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Trivia time: What does Barry Bonds have in common with the late Jack Benny?

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Soccer’s A-Rod: Defender Sol Campbell became England’s highest-paid soccer player when he signed a four-year contract with Arsenal reported at more than $28 million.

“I could have earned more money by going abroad but I felt this was the place to be,� said the 26-year-old.

Could he have meant the Galaxy?

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Mileage diet: More and more, CART champ car races are being decided by fuel mileage instead of hard racing, prompting Portland Oregonian columnist Jerry Boone to comment:

“Forcing teams to get at least 1.85 miles a gallon of methanol is like putting distance runner Alan Webb on a 1,500-calorie diet.�

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Tiger watch: Is Tiger Woods prepared for defense of his British Open championship? History says yes.

Last year, he prepared by finishing 23rd in the Western Open, then going golfing and fishing in Ireland. This year he finished 20th in the Western Open and is fishing and golfing in Ireland.

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Numbers game: Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, speaking of her tennis priorities:

“Grand Slams definitely are No. 1. Then No. 2, for sure, is No. 1.�

She laughed at the unintentional word play. “Oh boy, that sounds like a Dr. Seuss book.�

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Golden oldies: Scott Hoch became the first player to win at least two PGA Tour events as a 45-year-old since Hale Irwin won the U.S. Open and Buick Classic back to back in 1990.

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Potatoe revisited: Former vice president Dan Quayle played in last week’s American Century Celebrity golf tournament in Stateline, Nev.

According to Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle, Jim Lowe, the press room scoreboard operator, said it was accidental when he put this designation next to Quayle’s name: “ameteur.�

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Trivia answer: Both got stuck on 39.

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And finally: During a game between the Tigers and Kansas City Royals, the Ferris wheel got stuck at Comerica Park in Detroit, trapping riders inside for two hours. Firefighters had to use a cherry picker to get them out.

“Just thinking out loud,� wrote Dave Krieger in the Rocky Mountain News, “but what if they tried sticking to baseball at these baseball parks? It might free firefighters for stuff like putting out fires.�