-- Did you know China dispatched more than 33,000 exterminators to hold off a locust swarm outside Beijing? ... Olympics prez Jacques Rogge: "We have absolutely (cough, cough) no concerns about our organization" as he peered through the haze to see if reporters were still present ... Croquet was an Olympic sport at the 1900 Games in Paris. Ticket lines were short. Number of tickets sold--one ... Former gold medal gymnast Paul Hamm of the United States withdrew because of injuries. Shouldn't Hamm be competing with Turkey? ... Ex-sprinter Marion Jones has asked President Bush to commute her prison sentence. Bush will probably say no. His advisors have told him that Jones harbors weapons of mass destruction.
-- According to Suzanne MacNamee, in some countries, the penalty for shoplifting is marriage.
-- Is Brett Favre a drama queen, just loving attention? ... We hear the Rays are soon having a Favre Nite and giving flip-flops away to the first 10,000 fans ... Cowboys' Pacman Jones wants to be known as Adam, Mr. Jones and occasionally The Defendant ... Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez was praised for recently saving a choking man. Nobody even knew Gonzalez was at the British Open in Greg Norman's gallery.
-- University of Florida last month was named USA's #1 party school by the Princeton Review. Does this mean this fall we may see their football helmets with little lampshade decals?
-- Is Madonna secretly planning to adopt Alex Rodriguez?
-- Now with the Dodgers, Manny Ramirez said he felt like he had taken "5,000 pounds off my back." No wonder he had trouble getting down the first-base line with Boston.
-- Instant replay will be used at the Little League World Series and it should also be used to double-check birth certificates.
-- Many of the top Tour de France cyclists were eliminated after drug testing positive. The race was eventually won by a 73-year-old guy who happened by on a Schwinn!
-- In closing, Nick Fritsch doesn't sit at the dinner table anymore. His doctor told him he could stand to lose a few pounds.
(Some of the information in this column was obtained from other news organizations)
