Peanut Gallery Roasts Her for This Pitch

Bonnie Blair, speedskating gold medalist, was taken to task by Newsweek magazine for “using her Olympic success as a platform for gushy, unrelenting product endorsement.”

Blair, a spokesperson for a peanut butter company, “scored a 9.9 in shilling during an appearance last week on NBC’s ‘Today’ show,” the magazine reported. “The plugfest began when Blair appeared holding a jar of the sandwich spread and wearing a shirt with the (company) logo on its turtleneck--thus ensuring the brand name stayed on camera.

“During the TV spot, she . . . racked up six product mentions.”

Said “Today” host Katie Couric: “Honey, they are getting their money’s worth from you this morning.”

Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for most free throws made during the playoffs?

Sidney don’t surf: He wears No. 50 in honor of his native Hawaii and enjoys hanging out at the beach and scuba diving. But pitcher Sid Fernandez of the Baltimore Orioles no longer body surfs after surviving a brush with disaster at the famous, but precarious, break known as Sandy Beach on Oahu seven years ago.

“I tried to kick out of a wave, and it slammed me right into the ground,” Fernandez told the Baltimore Sun. “I crashed headfirst into the sand, and I thought for sure I had broken my neck. I thought that was it. It really scared me, and I haven’t surfed since.”

Chow time: Jay Leno, on President Clinton’s excitement over the Olympic team’s recent visit to the White House: “He saw those red, white and blue jackets and he thought--’Oh! The Domino’s Pizza guy is here!’ ”

Swept away: Wrote Lyle Spencer of the Riverside Press-Enterprise, after opening night at The Diamond, home of the Lake Elsinore Storm of the Class-A California League: “This cozy little ballpark by the lake is part Ebbets Field, part Fenway Park and all joy. Shelter for the Storm is sanctuary for the public.”

Oxygen debt: Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe wrote of the surprising success of the Chicago Bulls: “For Chicago, winning the East would be a stunning statement: You can keep on breathing without Air.”

Trivia answer: Jerry West, with 1,213, 163 more than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Quotebook: Shawn Boskie, traded recently from the Chicago Cubs to the Philadelphia Phillies and owner of a 19-30 record: “I fully expect to some day be the best pitcher in baseball.”