After All These Years, Rickey Is Resourceful

It’s turned into a House of Blues in Newark, N.J., now that the House of Rickey, Rickey Henderson, that is, has left for the Dodgers.

A bummed-out former teammate, center fielder Mike Piercy, has noticed the difference, telling Johnette Howard of Newsday: “These last couple days, it’s been so quiet around here, you can hear the crickets chirp.� The Rickey stories, however, live on and on and on, Howard wrote.

“There was the night Henderson was sporting a fresh haircut and began tromping around the Bears’ clubhouse playfully grousing that he was unable to find a comb -- so he sauntered over to the postgame dinner spread and used a fork instead.�

Trivia time: How old was the horse Seabiscuit when he died?

Grounds crew: Crowd participation takes on a different meaning at polo matches, as Rich Hoffman of the Philadelphia Daily News found at the semifinals of the Jack Gannon Trophy in Midhurst, England.

“At halftime here, they fix the divots made by the beasts, which is pretty much the same thing they do at Giants Stadium on Sundays in the fall,� Hoffman wrote. “Except for this public-address announcement: ‘Ladies and gentlemen, if you could tread in, we have had a lot of polo on these grounds. It would be very much appreciated.�

Triple threat: Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, on Detroit forward Astou-Diatta Ndiaye having triplets, a year after Cleveland’s Helen Darling did.

“Alert statisticians immediately credited the WNBA with pro basketball’s first triplet-double.�

Briefing TV? Michael Ventre of msnbc.com, on Spike Lee’s lawsuit against Viacom, which was settled last week: “Lee is fighting to prevent Viacom from renaming its TNN cable network Spike TV because he feels the company is hijacking his image.

“I think it’s a frivolous lawsuit, and I just hope somebody doesn’t try and stop me from launching my new channel, LeBron TV.�

Dog-days: Josee Meehan of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council offered the positive spin -- apparently, there is one -- in the aftermath of the Pirates’ Randall Simon’s swat at a sausage mascot in Milwaukee.

“I think it probably raised awareness that there are all types of sausages out there,� she said.

Late Night: It was only a matter of time before The Home Office in Wahoo, Neb., turned its attention to Sausage-Gate on “The Late Show with David Letterman.� Here were the bottom five of the “Top Ten Excuses of the Baseball Player Who Beat Up the Sausage.� 10. “There hasn’t been a good bizarre ballpark attack in a while.� 9. “Always wanted to be on Marv Albert’s blooper reel.� 8. “Looking to land a big endorsement deal with Jimmy Dean.� 7. “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you blindside the opposing team’s costumed racing mascot.� 6. “It was a Brewers-Pirates game. Somebody had to liven things up.�

Trivia answer: 14.

And finally: “I think I may be the first cauliflower-ear guy ever to get to this level,� Iowa athletic director and former wrestler Bob Bowlsby, to the Des Moines Register, on his election as chairman of the 2004 NCAA men’s basketball selection committee.

-- Lisa Dillman