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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Sideline chatter

By: Dwight Perry

Posted: 03/17/2013 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Hank Martinez, top, Ed Magaletta, right, and Russ Nobbe, look into a sinkhole that golfer Mark Mihal fell into while playing at the Annbriar Golf Club. (CP)

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Former MLB star Manny Ramirez poses for media with an honorary baseball bat and new team jersey after signing a short-term contract to play on the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan's professional baseball league in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Tuesday, March 12, 2013. The EDA Rhinos say Ramirez will earn $25,000 a month to appear with the team during this year's March-November season. (AP Photo/Wally Santana) (CP)

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This undated photo provided by Golfmanna shows golfer Mark Mihal who fell into a sinkhole that opened up under him on the 14th hole of a golf course in Waterloo, Ill. Mihal was hoisted out safely with a rope after falling 18 feet into the 10-foot-wide pit and suffered a dislocated shoulder. (AP Photo/Courtesy Golfmanna) (CP)

Here's a golfing first: He holed in

Mark Mihal fell 18 feet into a sinkhole when the earth opened up on the 14th hole at the Annbriar Golf Club near Waterloo, Ill.

"I feel lucky just to come out of it with a shoulder injury, falling that far and not knowing what I was going to hit," Mihal, a 43-year-old mortgage broker, told AP. "It was absolutely crazy."

On the bright side, at least this drop didn't come with a one-stroke penalty.

It's not automatic

And from the Sometimes These Items Just Write Themselves file comes word that a woman is suing an Indianapolis church after its cemetery rejected her late husband's headstone because it had a NASCAR logo on it.

The dearly departed's name: Jason Carr.

Going Harbaugh

Indiana basketball coach Tom Crean apologized for his heated post-game exchange with a Michigan assistant, saying he especially regretted:

a) letting his intensity get the better of him.

b) channelling his inner brother-in-law Jim.

What, no blank cheque?

The NFL's next playpen? A proposed $1-billion stadium in Atlanta.

To prove his intentions to city officials were pure, Falcons owner Arthur Blank flashed an $800,000 Home Depot gift card.

Low tide

Which is somehow not on Alabama's football schedule this year?

a) Georgia State

b) Chattanooga

c) The College of Cardinals

Foreign trade dept.

Out-of-work slugger Manny Ramirez, 40, has signed to play for $25,000 a month with the EDA Rhinos in Taiwan. Or as Ramirez's marketing arm immediately spun it, Manny being Mandarin.

Talking the walk

Among the top 10 things you don't want to hear from your sneakers (from CBS's David Letterman):

-- "Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right... "

-- "You call this jogging?"

-- "Can you introduce me to your sister's pumps?"

-- "Who's stupid enough to buy talking shoes?"

Stat of the week

"Steve Stricker has made $1.82 million in three tournaments this year," wrote AP's Doug Ferguson. "Arnold Palmer made $1,861,857 in 734 career tournaments."

Quote marks

-- Adam Rank of NFL.com, on the Ravens-49ers trade: "There is a small part of me that believes John Harbaugh was forced by his parents to trade Anquan Boldin to his little brother after beating him in the Super Bowl."

-- Headline at Fark.com, on the Boldin trade: "Apparently you can both beat 'em AND join 'em."

-- Tweet from SportsPickle.com: "Percy Harvin to the Seahawks? Good luck not getting a migraine spending every day around Richard Sherman."

Getting a lot of bang

The Sportsman Channel announced that its new TV series -- NRANEWS Cam & Co. -- is already tops in the key male 18-to-49 and 25-54 demographics.

No. 1 with a bullet? No kidding.

-- The Seattle Times

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 17, 2013 A1

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