Whole Truth Wouldn’t Sell Many Tickets

Ads touting the Disney movie “Cool Runnings” claim that the film was inspired by the “true story” of the Jamaican four-man bobsled team that competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

As is often the case when Hollywood gets onto something, that statement must be taken with a large grain of salt.

In the movie, the Jamaicans had a poor first run, but then turned in an outstanding second run and moved into medal contention. In reality, the Jamaicans had a dismal first run and an equally dismal second run, putting them 24th among 26 teams.

About the only thing Hollywood and the record book agree on is that the Jamaicans’ third run ended with a crash.

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Add bobsled: The movie makes no mention of the two-man event, a competition in which the Jamaicans actually had some success. They finished 30th in a field of 41, beating sleds from the United States and Japan.

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Trivia time: What do Terry Miller, Joe Cribbs and Curt Warner have in common?

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Real men wear red? David Williams, the Houston Oiler offensive lineman who gave up a $111,111 game check to be with his wife during the birth of their first child, won’t find a lot of support in the Phoenix Cardinals’ dressing room.

According to Jack Magruder of the Arizona Daily Star, three Phoenix players--Greg Davis, Mark May and Keith Rucker--have become fathers since the start of the season and none missed a game as a result.

May’s wife, Kathy, gave birth to the couple’s second child two days after a game at Detroit in September. Despite the approaching due date, May said he wasn’t about to miss the game.

“The wants and needs of the many outweigh the wants and needs of two people,” he said.

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Add Cardinals: Of Williams’ decision to forfeit the $111,111, May said: “In Phoenix, you can get a hell of a house for $115,000. In San Diego (where May makes his off-season home), you can get a quarter-acre. In Arkansas, you can probably get half the state.”

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Cheers all around: John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun wrote that NFL owners long ago had their eyes on Charlotte and St. Louis as expansion cities, but created a false bidding war involving Baltimore, Memphis, and Jacksonville.

“It was a cynical, unethical blackmail job set up strictly for the owners to make more money,” Eisenberg wrote. “Here’s hoping they get sued.”

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Unfortunately, he means it: From Mike O’Hara of the Detroit News: “Here’s hoping that somebody in the NFL has the imagination to come up with a name as imaginative as the Mighty Ducks.”

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No bull: Whit Canning of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram wrote that Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill might have finally gone around the bend with his latest escapade--an unsuccessful attempt to prove that Auburn punter Terry Daniel has been kicking footballs inflated with helium.

Wrote Canning: “If (Sherrill) spots another football that acts suspiciously, he may castrate it.”

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Trivia answer: All three rushed for more than 1,000 yards as NFL rookies on teams coached by Chuck Knox.

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Quotebook: Rookie Chris Webber of the Golden State Warriors, on entering the NBA in the first year of the post-Michael Jordan era: “At least now I know I won’t be in a poster with him with my eyes wide open.”