Costas Has a Heavy Issue on His Mind

Golf World senior writer Tim Rosaforte, who worked with NBC on the U.S. Open, told Bob Costas that Jason Gore wanted him to know that he weighed only 230 pounds.

“Yeah, and tell Jason Gore I’m 6 foot 3,” Costas said.

But how’s his short game? Costas, on Peter Jacobsen: “A year ago he won the Senior Open at my home course, Bellerive in St. Louis, a course I recently mastered to the tune of 103.”

Trivia time: When Tom Watson made his miraculous chip shot on the 17th hole at Pebble Beach and won the 1982 U.S. Open by two shots, who finished second?

Faint praise: Terry Bradshaw, at the recent Cedars-Sinai Sports Spectacular dinner, said that Fox colleague James Brown has been called the best power forward in the history of Harvard basketball.

“That’s like saying Prince Charles is the best-looking of Queen Elizabeth’s children,” Bradshaw said.

The cruel truth: Tom Arnold was introduced at the Cedars-Sinai dinner as being part of the FSN “Best Damn Sports Show Period” cast.

Arnold explained that he is now a “special contributor” to the show, adding: “You know what special contributor means? It means they don’t want to pay you anymore.”

A good son: USC quarterback Matt Leinart, speaking at a recent Special Olympics breakfast at Long Beach State, said, “A lot of people have asked me why I didn’t go to the NFL, and I tell them my greatest accomplishment will be getting a degree. That makes my mom proud.”

This stinks: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, on the New York Yankees’ beleaguered Jason Giambi losing endorsement deals with Nike, Pepsi and Arm & Hammer deodorant: “You know you’re going bad when your deodorant lets you down.”

Stale humor: David Letterman, on the planned $800-million Yankee Stadium: “They say it will have the look and feel as though it has been around since the 1920s -- you know, just like the hot dogs.”

Also from Letterman, on the cost of the stadium: “For $800 million, the Yankees could buy a weak-hitting first baseman.”

Money matters: Comedian Alex Kaseberg, on Mike Tyson’s quitting after the sixth round of his fight with Kevin McBride: “Tyson refused to come out for the seventh round even though five of his creditors were pushing him to go back out there.”

Looking back: On this day in 1993, John Paxson’s three-point shot with 3.9 seconds left to play gave the Chicago Bulls their third consecutive NBA title with a 99-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 6 of the Finals.

Trivia answer: Jack Nicklaus.

And finally: Bay Area reader Janice Hough says, “And for everyone who wondered what the Giants would be without Barry Bonds, now we know -- the Colorado Rockies at sea level.”

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Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].