With Name Like Zizzers, You Know It’s Good

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that in a sports world cluttered with Panthers, Tigers and Wildcats, it’s nice to see a little originality in high school sports nicknames.

A sampling: “Hoopeston Area (Ill.) Cornjerkers--Nickname dates to the 1920s when students would jerk corn from stalks before attending class in the morning. And, yes, jerking is different than husking.

* “West Plain (Mo.) Zizzers--There is no such word. When the National Federation of High Schools inquired about the nickname, they were told, ‘It’s just a word a teacher came up with a long time ago.’

* “Glenville Tarblooders--The nickname honors the hard-working and proud citizens of the Cleveland neighborhood who used to haul tar from the tar pits to the railroad tracks.”

Trivia time: Which team holds the NBA record for turnovers in a playoff game?

Trojan ace: Pete Aldrich in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “USC baseball player Bill Peavey might want to try out for the Trojans’ golf team. In a recent victory at Washington State, Peavey homered twice--with the second long ball bouncing onto a golf course near Bailey-Brayton Field.

“When a Washington State manager went to retrieve the ball, golfers showed him that it landed in one of the cups on the putting green.”

No they didn’t: First baseman David Segui returned to the Baltimore Oriole lineup recently, still unsure about the status of his injured left wrist.

“If it blows out, it blows out. Somebody will be there to fix it. They put Humpty Dumpty back together again, didn’t they?”

His standards: In Marty Ralbovsky’s 1976 book, “The Namath Effect,” Joe Namath describes being recruited out of high school: “I went to Notre Dame, and I nearly had a heart attack when I found out they didn’t have women [the first were admitted in 1972].

“They said, ‘There’s a girls’ school across the lake.’ I said, ‘Man, I don’t swim after my women.’”

Wah, wah! The Maple Leafs’ penchant for criticizing officials drew criticism from the Toronto media.

Wrote Toronto Star hockey columnist Damien Cox: “Under the guidance of Pat Quinn, the Leafs have gained the reputation as hockey’s most unrelenting whiners, a group that starts bellyaching as soon as they get to the rink if their cafe lattes aren’t warm enough.”

Looking back: On this day in 1970, Atlanta knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm became the first pitcher to appear in 1,000 major league games.

Trivia answer: The Chicago Bulls, 36, in a game at Portland on April 17, 1977.

And finally: Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban usually wears a T-shirt and jeans to games to show he’s “one of the people,” says Norman Chad in his column for America Online.

“Let’s see--he bought a 24,000-square-foot home in Dallas for $15 million. He bought Gulf Stream 5, the fastest corporate jet in the world, for $41 million on the Internet. And he bought the Mavericks for $280 million. But, hey, I just might see him standing in line in front of me at Target this weekend, with a coupon for the 42.2-oz. tub of Metamucil.”