If Steelers Win, They’ll Make Him Watch Tape

Here’s a case of the punishment fitting the crime.

Nathan Mallet, 24, a fan of the Cleveland Browns, was sentenced Tuesday to three days in jail for running onto the field during the Browns’ 41-0 loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 24.

Considering Mallet could have been jailed for 30 days and fined $250, it might appear that he got off lightly.

However, Cleveland Municipal Judge Joan Synenberg ordered that Mallet’s jail term begin Feb. 3, and that he not be allowed to watch or listen to the Super Bowl on Feb 5.

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Trivia time: Which player holds the NBA record for points scored in one overtime?

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Mistaken identity: Doug Krikorian, Long Beach Press-Telegram sports columnist and former sports talk show host on radio, is apparently not too well-versed in horse racing.

Krikorian said he thought Stevie Wonderboy, who was upset as the heavy favorite in the San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita on Saturday, was a nickname for public-relations guru Steve Brener.

As for T.J. Simers’ calling the racehorse “Stevie Whatadisappointment,” Krikorian said, “I still thought it was a nickname for Brener.”

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All in the family: Former King Ray Ferraro is a studio analyst on NBC’s NHL coverage, and his wife, Cammi Granato, former captain of the U.S. women’s Olympic hockey team, is an “inside-the-glass” reporter.

Dick Stockton and Lesley Visser are another husband-and-wife team in sports broadcasting. “But Cammi and Ray are twice the athletes we are,” Visser said.

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A formal relationship: Stockton, now with Fox and TNT, and Visser used to work the same events when both were at CBS.

Once when they were working a baseball game, Stockton as the play-by-play announcer and Visser as the field reporter, commentator Jim Kaat asked Stockton, “Why do you always say, ‘Let’s go down to Lesley Visser?’ Why not just say, ‘my wife’?”

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The law at work: Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “Lawyers for the suddenly sidelined Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, citing the Michelle Kwan precedent, have petitioned the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. to give their clients a free pass into the Super Bowl.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1976, the Pittsburgh Steelers, led by Terry Bradshaw and Lynn Swann, won the Super Bowl for the second straight year, beating the Dallas Cowboys, 21-17, at Miami. Swann, who had four receptions for 161 yards, was named the game’s most valuable player.

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Trivia answer: Earl Boykins, who a year ago today scored 15 of the Denver Nuggets’ 21 points in overtime of a 116-110 victory over Seattle. The 5-foot-5 Boykins broke the record of 14, set by Butch Carter of Indiana against Boston on March 20, 1984.

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And finally: “Early over/under on the Pittsburgh Steelers-Denver Broncos AFC title game is 41,” wrote Greg Cote of the Miami Herald. “That’s not points. That’s TV sideline shots of Bill Cowher’s angry, jutting jaw.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].