It’s a Straight Flush, but They Must Play Hand They’re Dealt

Sometimes even the best precautions are flushed away.

A 1983 cold snap in Jacksonville, Fla., caused about $400,000 damage in broken water pipes at the Gator Bowl. So, when record cold moved into the area last week, officials hired a brigade of toilet flushers to keep water moving through the plumbing.

From dusk Friday until noon Monday, the 23-member crew flushed toilets. Each person was responsible for an average of 21.8 toilets.

Everything went fine until a power outage shut down stadium water pumps Saturday and Sunday. The stadium sustained about $5,000 damage to plumbing.

“When the pumps weren’t working and the water pressure was bad, there wasn’t much you could do,” sports complex manager Richard Fagan said.

Trivia time: Who ran second to Spectacular Bid in the 1980 Woodward Stakes at Belmont Park?

Magic moments: For Ken Denlinger of the Washington Post, the sports performance of the decade was provided by the Lakers’ Magic Johnson on May 16, 1980.

Denlinger writes: “I had sensed, hoped even, that while Magic was leading Michigan State to the NCAA championship as a sophomore he also was elevating point guard to an unimagined level. Hundreds of college hotshots can’t play a lick in the pros, however, and a respected NBA judge of talent had asked: ‘Where’s he going to play?’

“Anywhere he chooses, as it developed in Philadelphia, on that night of nights against the 76ers. With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar across the country nursing a sprained ankle, Magic played all five positions at various times and amassed numbers that included 42 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, one blocked shot. And a smile.”

Down in front: New York Knick rookie Brian Quinnett, fined $500 for simply walking onto the floor to observe the fight between the Seattle SuperSonics’ Xavier McDaniel and the Knicks’ Charles Oakley at Madison Square Garden Dec. 16, said: “I would have been better off spending it on a ringside seat for a Mike Tyson fight.”

Add NBA: Doug Moe, coach of the Denver Nuggets, on rising NBA salaries: “The players now play harder than they ever did. They are more competitive. The games are tougher. Defense is tougher. They get after you more. Before, guys weren’t in shape and if you ran against some teams, it was an automatic win. The players are better than ever and working harder than ever.”

Last add NBA: Carl Scheer, general manager of the Charlotte Hornets, on last year’s cheers turning to boos: “I think everyone else in the organization is disillusioned a little bit, but I knew this day would come. I told the staff last year to enjoy it, because the fantasy would be over.”

Trivia answer: No other horses were entered.

Quotebook: Peter Vecsey of the New York Post, after watching the shooting form of the Golden State Warriors’ Manute Bol, from Sudan: “Now I’m certain he killed that lion with a free throw.”