He Keeps His Walking Shoes Close at Hand

Gary Myers in the New York Daily News: “Bill Parcells knows how to walk away. He just can’t stay away. And then he walks away again.

“The meter is running on how long Parcells and Jerry Jones can handle each other in Dallas. These two huge egos, used to doing things their own way, will find a middle ground to make this work for the next few years before they get sick of each other. Then Jones will pay him to leave, just as he did with Jimmy Johnson.

“But why couldn’t Parcells stay away? Why, at age 61, and three seasons removed from when he insisted he was done with coaching when he quit the Jets, is it still so much in his blood?

“ ‘I just can’t explain it to you. It’s too difficult to explain,’ Parcells said. ‘You have to be in my shoes.’ ”

Trivia time: Which school holds the Pacific 10 Conference record for kickoff return yardage in a bowl game?

Sad finale: Steve Kelley in the Seattle Times, commenting on Washington State quarterback Jason Gesser, whose Cougars were routed, 34-14, in the Rose Bowl by Oklahoma: “Jason Gesser has the most wins of any quarterback in Washington State history. He was 20-5 over the past two seasons. He won 24 games in his career. Before he arrived, Coach Mike Price’s overall record at the school was below .500.

“But on the final day of his college career Gesser had the worst day of his career. Playing with a plastic brace on his sore right knee and hobbled by a lingering high right ankle sprain, Gesser couldn’t escape the tsunami of Oklahoma blitzers who came at him from the blind side and landed upside his face.”

Ugly scene: Jeff Gordon of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the worst father-son act of 2002: “The tattooed Ligues came flying over the rail at Comiskey Park and attacked Kansas City Royal first-base coach Tom Gamboa.

“Not exactly a Norman Rockwell moment for William Ligue Jr. and his 15-year-old kid.”

Same scenario: Rick Morrissey in the Chicago Tribune on North Carolina State routing Notre Dame, 28-6, in the Gator Bowl: “If Notre Dame was going to fall apart so completely, then it should have invited [former coach] Bob Davie to the sideline for some of his ritual forehead slaps. As everyone knows, all the Irish’s past problems began and ended with the permanently befuddled Davie.

“His replacement, Tyrone Willingham, was supposed to be immune to these sort of pratfalls.”

Looking back: On this day in 1920, Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold pitcher-outfielder Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 plus a $350,000 loan.

Trivia answer: UCLA, 259 yards in eight returns, while being routed by Illinois in the 1947 Rose Bowl game.

And finally: Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “News flash: Mariners’ star Ichiro [Suzuki] might owe $168,000 in back taxes regarding unreported income from television commercials in Japan, according to a Japanese newspaper.

“Sounds to us like the National Tax Office wants to scratch its itch with Ichy’s scratch.”