Are We Sure He’s Talking About Oakland?

Randy Johnson grew up in Livermore, near Oakland, and he remembers sitting in the stands with his Little League teammates, dreaming of pitching in the Oakland Coliseum.

“It’s the most exciting ballpark for me to pitch in because I used to come here and watch the Oakland A’s,” he told Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News. “I consider this home. I want to pitch well in front of my family and friends.”

In his last outing in Oakland, the 6-foot-10 Johnson struck out 13 in seven innings to win his 14th game for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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Trivia time: Who is Ann Wauters?

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Old blue eyes: Paul Newman is part owner of the CART car driven by Michael Andretti, a circumstance that Mario Andretti, Michael’s father, finds beneficial.

“Wherever he goes there’s a lot of pretty women,” Mario said. “He really improves the scenery.”

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Confidence: Spotted at the Olympic track and field trials in Sacramento: A competitor wearing a T-shirt that said, “If you want to finish second, follow me!”

No, it wasn’t Michael Johnson.

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Least they could do: Allen Lindbergh, a fan at the All-Star game last week, had his views on the absence of eight big-name players, including Ken Griffey Jr. and Mark McGwire:

“They should at least sign autographs during the game if they’re hurt. Don’t they make enough money that they could give us some autographs?”

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Dirty deal: When is a Dirty Bird not a dirty bird? When it’s an Atlanta Falcon, apparently.

The NFL can prevent Alan Weiss, a longtime Falcon fan, from using the popular “Dirty Bird” phrase, according to a consent order reached in federal court.

Weiss may continue to place his “DirtyBird Zone” banner on the wall near his seats behind the end zone at Falcon games, but cannot use the team’s nickname anymore on items he sells to a fan club composed of other ticket-holders near the end zone.

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Drink to it: Stewart Ginn is one of the Senior Tour’s newest names. When he won a tournament in 1974 it was a headline writer’s dream:

“Ginn wins Martini International.”

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The state of tennis: Pete Sampras may be the biggest winner at Wimbledon, but the accomplishment doesn’t impress Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse.

“Pete Sampras has won seven Wimbledon titles, 13 grand slam events overall, and he bores us. Some of it is his blah personality. More of it is how he wins--smashing serves with high-tech rackets past opponents futilely waving high-tech rackets in response.”

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Different days: Bo Schembechler, the old Michigan taskmaster, annually holds a golf tournament in his late wife’s memory. When Bo called the latest one off because of rain, Rick Leach couldn’t resist.

“You never called off practice because it was raining,” the former Wolverine quarterback said.

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Trivia answer: The No. 1 WNBA draft choice, from Belgium.

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And finally: When Vijay Singh won the Phoenix Open, he says he putted with his eyes shut.

“I was moving my head, so I closed my eyes. If you go into a room, turn out all the lights, you have a better feel of where you are and how you’re walking if it’s dark. If you close your eyes while you’re putting, it’s all feel. There’s nothing to look at, nothing to distract you.”