He’ll Never Be Called ‘Throwing Samoan’

When Shaka Sola missed his flight and arrived late at the world championships at Helsinki, Finland, he was saddened to learn that he had also missed the shotput competition.

The Samoan was offered a chance at javelin instead and finished last with a throw that was entertaining to everyone but him.

“You will not see me with a javelin again unless you come to Samoa and I catch you a fish,” Sola told Reuters.

His best toss of 41.18 meters was 46 meters behind that of the winner and prompted the track announcer to ask those in the stands who had thrown more than 40 meters to raise their hands.

Even Sola was amused.

“I loved it,” he said. “You could not get a better crowd.”

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Trivia time: Who was the oldest winner of the PGA Championship and how old was he when he won?

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America’s team? While most football teams are focusing on offensive and defensive schemes, the University of Arizona is stuck on color schemes.

The Wildcats are getting new uniforms and trying to choose between blue on blue, blue on white, white on blue, white on white, and red on white.

Coach Mike Stoops is flustered because the scheme he really likes isn’t in the mix.

“I like red, white and blue,” he told the Tucson Citizen. “It’s hard not to make those colors good. It’s the very best combination you can have.”

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Unlucky 13: Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post writes that the Sports Illustrated cover jinx is not nearly as powerful as the Rockies’ media guide cover jinx.

“The Rox, as part of their Gen-R promotion, decided to put a montage on the cover featuring 13 players,” Armstrong explains.

“Of the 13, seven have landed on the disabled list, two have been traded and one was demoted to the Colorado Springs.”

Presumably, the other three are too paranoid to be of much good.

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Dazed and confused: It’s common knowledge that Ricky Williams has experimented with marijuana, but just how strong was the stuff?

That was the obvious question among reporters this week after the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, when the Miami Dolphin running back, fresh from his yearlong hiatus, told them: “It’s funny [that] people say ‘Welcome back’ when I haven’t gone anywhere.”

What’s not funny is that he was serious.

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Trivia answer: Julius Boros was 48 years 4 months 18 days when he won the major championship in 1968.

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Shayme on him: Victor Chi of the San Jose Mercury News writes that it should surprise no one that an arbitrator reduced Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers’ suspension from 20 to 13 games.

Chi points out that years ago the same arbitrator, Shyam Das, reduced John Rocker’s suspension from 28 to 14 days after the pitcher’s derogatory comments regarding gays, minorities and foreigners.

“Ron Artest has got to be wondering,” Chi writes of the Indiana Pacer forward, who was suspended for the season after brawling with Detroit Piston fans, “ ‘Where was Shyam Das when I needed him?’ ”