Now He Has Been Bitten Twice by Bulldogs

Gary Bernardi, a former assistant football coach at USC and UCLA, should cross his fingers that the next team that hires him doesn’t draw Fresno State in a bowl game.

Bernardi, who had coached tight ends and offensive tackles, was fired along with USC Coach Larry Smith after the Trojans lost to Fresno State in the 1992 Freedom Bowl, 24-7. Then Bernardi was dismissed as tight ends coach by UCLA’s Coach Karl Dorrell after the Bruins were defeated by Fresno State in December’s Silicon Valley Classic, 17-9.

“I’ve had a bad stretch against Fresno State,” Bernardi told The Times’ Eric Sondheimer.

Nothing a job as an assistant with the Bulldogs wouldn’t solve.

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Trivia time: North Carolina State defeated Maryland, 81-69, in men’s basketball Sunday, ending a 14-game losing streak against the Terrapins in College Park, Md. Who were the coaches when the previous time the Wolfpack defeated the Terrapins there, on Jan. 29, 1989?

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Ivan the Great: Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press is high on the Tigers’ acquisition of catcher Ivan Rodriguez, who could spearhead a turnaround for a team that finished last season 43-119.

“Baseball has been so comatose in Detroit, there were days when you wondered if it was being played at all,” Albom wrote. “And that’s if you were in the stadium.

“Does Rodriguez change that by himself? No. Nobody can do that. But he’s the toll fare the Tigers need to get on the highway. Not only will he make the players around him better, he may attract some other free agents who figure, ‘If it’s good enough for Pudge.... ‘ “

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Mo’ money: Rodriguez’s defection from the World Series champion Florida Marlins was viewed by Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald as little more than a cash grab. Rodriguez will make $40 million over four years.

“Where is the financial line? The sanity?” Le Batard wrote. “Pudge has made $60 million the past six years. He made plenty of millions the six years before that too. How much is enough? Does he need more statues of himself? More yachts?

“Post-career, the man can make more money signing memorabilia for a couple of hours than a guy tarring roofs will make all year. But he needs more.”

Horsing around: Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune considered the Super Bowl commercials must-miss TV.

“In one ad,” Rosenbloom wrote, “Budweiser gave us a Clydesdale with flatulence. In another, a donkey wanted to be a Budweiser Clydesdale, and golly, he finally becomes one. And then, I’m guessing, he goes on to write all the commercials for this year’s Super Bowl.”

Trivia answer: Jim Valvano coached North Carolina State, and Bob Wade coached Maryland.

And finally: Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle says Kobe Bryant has been selected for a dual role in the NBA All-Star game at Staples Center.

“Bryant not only has been voted a starter,” Ostler writes, “he has been asked to throw out the ceremonial first ball and chain.”