Photo by SANDI FAHY
Pro-Football Hall of Famer and former Dolphin coach Don Shula greets fans during an autograph session in Clearwater a few years ago.
-- Legendary Dolphin coach Don Shula was recently on a USO tour in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fighting in both countries stopped when al-Queda and Taliban fighters were ordered by Shula to run wind sprints ... USA Today asked fans if they would like to see Brett Favre become a TV analyst. 68 percent responded "No, I'm sick of him" ... Saints' Reggie Bush and Kim Kardashian have broken up. Bush will concentrate on football and Kardashian on the N.Y. Giants ... Ex-Buc, now a Patriot, fragile and overpaid Joey Galloway tweaked his groin last week while picking up his paycheck ... When Bengals coach Marvin Lewis told his team that "to make the playoffs, we need a much better defense," eight players said they knew a good attorney ... One of the world's most powerful telescopes (Gran Canarias), at a cost of $185 mil, became operational last month in Spain. More bad news for reporter Erin Andrews ... NFL favorites: Steelers and Patriots. We like the Chargers.
-- According to Phil Coraccio, a giant panda (275 lbs.) weighs three ounces at birth.
-- Dodgers' Manny Ramirez, returning from his female fertility drug suspension, then gets hit in the hand by a pitch. X-rays were negative but there were rumors Manny broke a nail ... Little Leaguer Noah Johnson, 10: "If I was the big league commissioner, I would make anyone caught using steroids eat my mom's meatloaf" ... Did you know Twins first baseman Justin Morneau has a strange superstition--in pregame he places two of his bats on the bench with the trademarks facing the field? "My bats have feelings and I want them to see the field", says Morneau ... Baseball's highest beer prices: San Francisco, $8.75; Tampa Bay, $8; and Boston, $7.75.
-- Hockey tough guy Chris Nilan a while back was charged with stealing a bathing suit in Boston. He was ordered to pay court costs of $100, told never to return to the store and given a cute little beach pail and shovel.
-- Sherry Schulz, on a bear crossing her path and staring at her for about 15 seconds as she competed in Sadler's Alaska Challenge, a 267-mile race for wheelchairs: " I think he might've thought I was meals on wheels," she joked.
-- In closing, canine expert Diane Q. gives us the difference between bird flu and swine flu. For bird flu, you seek "tweetment". For swine flu, you use "oinkment".
(Some of the information in this column was obtained from other news organizations)
