UTAH SAFETY HAROLD Lusk, who has never been shy about admitting he loves to grandstand, made his record-setting 18th career interception, last Saturday against Tulsa.
The record didn't come without a long wait, though. Lusk hadn't made an interception since the Fresno State game, more than a month ago. He arrived in the postgame interview room Saturday, with the game ball safely tucked under his arm. "It's right here. That's all I wanted to do was get the ball," he said, "and I'm not going to give it away."Lusk said he knew providence would intervene somewhere to deliver the record catch, and indeed that seemed to be the case. His interception came on a directionless lob that landed right in his chest; he barely had to move.
"It was like I was handed the ball - `Here's the interception; if you drop it, it's your fault,' " he said.
So after a month-long wait to reach the record, Lusk wasn't complaining that it was on a rather pedestrian play. He was only too happy to accept what was handed to him.
GROWING INDUSTRY: The rise of snowboarding has been phenomenal, and if the first weekend of ski season is any indication, the sport isn't going go away any time soon.
Though national figures show about 14 percent of skier days are logged by snowboarders, when Park City opened last weekend, fully half the people were there for snowboarding.
The resort is open for snowboarders this year for the first time.
Park City officials are only too happy to have anyone on the slopes this early in the year. As far as they're concerned, any snow - and anyone who loves snow - is fine with them.
"I'm sure everyone was elated," said Park City spokesman Charlie Lansche. "It's snow in the bank, so to speak."
APOCALYPSE NOW: The worst news for the Ute football team is that due to the injury to running back Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, backup Omar Bacon was forced to scrap his redshirt season by playing last weekend. Utah coach Ron McBride couldn't help but wonder if three years from now he will regret using up Bacon's eligibility. Then again, you can't look too far in to the future.
"Who knows?" said McBride. "Three years from now the world could be over."
Now that's a cheery thought.
IMAGE MAKEOVER: Disgraced skater Tonya Harding made a move toward recovering her reputation when she saved a woman's life this week.
It has been widely reported how Harding was at a suburban Portland bar when an 81-year-old woman stopped breathing. Harding called 911 on her cell phone, then administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After a few minutes, the woman revived and credited Harding for saving her life.
All of which goes to show that nobody's all bad. And that just because someone might break your legs, that doesn't mean she wouldn't save your life.
IRISH EDUCATION: With Notre Dame playing Navy this weekend in Dublin, Ireland, the Emerald Isle will get a close look at American football and its attendant pageantry.
That doesn't mean anyone in Ireland understands American football. "The rules and intricacies of the American college game is not something they know," Notre Dame publicist John Heisler told reporters. "It's more of a human interest story. They're as interested in the cheerleaders and the band as they are the football team."
Which really isn't so unusual. The same could be said about the fans at Rice . . .
HUMOR HIM . . . PLEASE: As if we hadn't heard enough from Magic Johnson in the last few years, he's back in the news again.
Johnson, who isn't eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame until 2002, now wants to get an exception so he can be inducted in 1997, along with his old rival Larry Bird. Johnson would have been eligible at the same time as Bird had he not made that 45-game comeback last season. Thus, he sent a letter to the Hall of Fame asking for a special exception.
The suggestion here is to give it to him. First, Johnson is a shoo-in for the Hall, anyway. Second, the sooner he's in, the less likely he is to try another comeback.
QUOTEFILE: Indianapolis quarterback Jim Harbaugh on his broken nose: "My wife likes my look. She's tired of me being the best-looking quarterback in the NFL."