At Least the Football Team Got One Win

Oregon State football’s off-field problems won’t go away. A case stemming from a Dec. 18 incident involving student Ben Arends and players Adam Speer and Bryan Payton was decided this week on “Judge Judy” and will air in the fall.

Speer was awarded $1,500 in damages from Arends, who Speer claimed punched dents into his car. Payton said he was protecting his friend’s property when he slugged Arends, giving him a concussion. But reality TV judge Judy Sheindlin ruled that Payton had no right to hit Arends and must help pay his medical bills.

“Judge Judy” researchers found the case in small-claims court, to the chagrin of Oregon State Athletic Director Bob De Carolis, who told the Portland Oregonian, “This is a bad nightmare that we can’t wake up from.”

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Trivia time: Phoenix Sun Coach Mike D’Antoni was recently chosen NBA coach of the year. How many times did Phil Jackson receive that honor?

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Golden opportunity: Onterrio Smith was found by airport security last month to be in possession of a kit used to fool drug testers. Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle says the Minnesota Viking running back can use this to his advantage.

“Maybe Smith, who has cost himself millions of dollars by flunking several drug tests over the years, can pick up a lucrative endorsement deal with Whizzinator,” Ostler wrote, in reference to the name of the kit. “Joe DiMaggio was Mr. Coffee; Smith could be Mr. Whizzy.”

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Rare breed: From syndicated columnist Norman Chad: “You think NBA types could learn a lesson from Andy Roddick? At the Rome Masters last week, his opponent, Fernando Verdasco, had double-faulted on match point. Except Roddick checked the ball mark and told the umpire the serve was in. Verdasco then rallied to beat Roddick.

“This is called ‘sportsmanship’ -- you can find it in the dictionary, a good ways back from ‘McEnroe.’ ”

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Looking good: San Francisco 49er Coach Mike Nolan likes what he sees in rookie offensive linemen David Baas and Adam Snyder. Nolan told Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News, “They’re ugly, which is nice.”

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Say it ain’t so: The Yankees have George Steinbrenner. Japanese baseball has Hiroshi Mikitani, owner of the expansion Rakuten Golden Eagles, who responded to his team’s 6-22 start by demoting the general manager to director of fan services.

Wrote Dave Wiggins in Tokyo’s Asahi Shimbun: “One can only hope that Mikitani, like Steinbrenner, mellows over the years and goes from out-of-his-element buffoon to mere hot-air balloon.”

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Trivia answer: Once, in 1995-96, when the Chicago Bulls posted an NBA-record regular-season mark of 72-10 and went on to win their fourth of six championships under Jackson.

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And finally: NFL.com reported a record 6 million site viewers during the 72-hour draft period, prompting the Seattle Times’ Dwight Perry to remark: “It would’ve been even more hits, we hear, but Maurice Clarett, who bombarded the site to see if he’d been drafted, couldn’t get his dial-up connection to run any faster than 4.73 seconds.”