United We Stood, Divided They Fell

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle ponders revisionist history and how different the sporting world would be had the rest of the country followed Mississippi’s lead in 1948 and elected segregationist Strom Thurmond president, as disgraced Senator Trent Lott recently advocated.

“Prez Strom would have reversed the damage done to the national pastime a year earlier by Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey,� Ostler wrote, tongue in cheek. “And the NBA’s ruinous flirtation with integration would have been nipped in the bud.

“The LUSA (Loosely United States of America) would have separate-but-equal leagues in all sports, the champions of which would meet on postseason barnstorming tours.�

More Ostler: “Some things would be the same. Tiger Woods? Still a golf star, recognized as history’s greatest caddie.

“So this might be a good time for sports fans to thank ol’ Strom and his ilk for being so disgusting that they frightened the country down the correct path when it was at the crossroads, and to thank Trent Lott for reminding us that we’re still a work in progress.�

Trivia time: Which was the first expansion team to win an NFL championship?

Looking back: On this date in 1958, Alan Ameche’s one-yard touchdown run at 8:15 of overtime gave the Baltimore Colts a 23-17 victory over the New York Giants, the first NFL championship game to go to overtime. Many believe this game established the NFL as a challenger to baseball as the national pastime.

Looking back again: On this date in 2000, Robby Portalatin became only the fourth bowler to roll a 900 series, according to the American Bowling Congress. Portalatin, a 28-year-old worker for an auto parts company, bowled his perfect series in Jackson, Mich.

Thug Mansion: The jailhouse ambience in the stands pales in comparison to what goes on down on the field when the Oakland Raiders are home, according to Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Breton:

“The Raiders pounded the Denver Broncos into submission in a game of animal blood-lust and Darwinism distilled to its purest form. A game of twisted knees, ravaged ankles -- of shrieks and hollers and vicious blows that knocked the wind from brutal men sadly reduced to writhing on the Oakland Coliseum turf while black-clad bands of Raider fans drooled in ecstasy.�

Sounds lovely.

Trivia answer: The expansion Minnesota Vikings, who began play in 1960, won the NFL title on Jan. 4, 1970, with a 27-7 victory over the Cleveland Browns. The Vikings, though, went on to lose Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-7, in the last NFL-AFL Super Bowl.

And finally: The Denver Post’s Jim Armstrong hinted that former pro athletes suspected of heinous crimes have more in common than the obvious.

Wrote Armstrong: “Jayson Williams asked a judge the other day to dismiss all those charges against him in the shooting death of his limo driver. Williams reportedly also has hired O.J. to find the real killer.�

-- Paul Gutierrez