Wrestler Doesn’t Have a Hold on NFL Yet

Former World Wrestling Entertainment champion Brock Lesnar is finding the transition to pro football a little difficult.

As Lesnar worked on beating chop blocks during Minnesota Vikings’ practice Tuesday, line coach Brian Baker got on Lesnar for improper technique. As the blockers went low, Baker wanted the rushers to stay low. When Lesnar didn’t get it right, Baker said, “You just stood up and did exactly what I said not to do.”

How much of his task is mental? “Everything,” the 6-foot-2, 285-pound Lesnar told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “There are hours and hours of film to watch, and there’s the playbook. I’m not even a quarter of the way through that thing.”

Trivia time: What two things do 2003 PGA Championship winner Shaun Micheel and 1956 U.S. Open winner Cary Middlecoff have in common?

Needling China: A gambling website,wageronsports.com, has tabbed China a 5-1 favorite to be the first country to have an athlete banned for failing a post-competition drug test in the Athens Games.

The odds on the U.S. being the first country are 15-1. Russia is listed at 8-1.

A Kenyan boxer was disqualified before the Games began.

Their only shot: NBC Olympic host Bob Costas had a memorable line in 1992 at Barcelona when a delegation from Brunei came into the stadium.

After it was announced that the country located in Southeast Asia was not competing but had nonetheless sent a delegation of officials, Costas said, “Perhaps they can medal in the buffet.”

Perfect description: One of ABC host Jim McKay’s most memorable lines from the 1984 Olympics was one he borrowed from Alfred Hitchcock: “Los Angeles is seven suburbs in search of a city.”

Going for the record: When the Olympics officially begin Friday night, a group of 22 contestants who entered an NBCOlympics.com contest will be shooting for the Guinness world record for consecutive hours of television watching. The current record is 50 hours 5 minutes.

The winner of the contest being held at Universal Orlando Resort gets a trip for two to the 2006 Winter Games at Torino, Italy, and another prize he or she definitely will use -- a high definition home theater.

Fishing line: “BassCenter,” a “SportsCenter” for bass-fishing enthusiasts, is scheduled to begin airing on ESPN2 next year. Says Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “No word who the bass show anchors might be, but Chris Berman and Stuart Scott are the obvious choices to handle any large-mouth segments.”

Trivia answer: They attended the same high school in Memphis, Tenn., and won their respective titles at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y.

And finally: Reader Bob Todd of Bishop, Calif., on Smarty Jones’ recent retirement: “If ‘No Host Bar’ are the three worst words in the English language, then ‘retired to stud’ are the three best.”

And here are three other good ones: “No new messages.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].