After Seasons of Struggling, Things Are Sunny for Bono

For a third-string quarterback who almost quit pro football to become a stockbroker, Steve Bono’s stock has suddenly risen.

The former UCLA player has a 2-1 record with the San Francisco 49ers as a replacement for injured Joe Montana and Steve Young.

“He’s got a great arm, good touch, and he can also drill the ball in,” 49er wide receiver Jerry Rice told the San Francisco Chronicle. “He’s the type to hang in the pocket, wait on his receivers to really get open. He’s similar to Joe.”

If so, why was he so seldom used earlier by the Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers?

Trivia time: Which Pacific 10 Conference football team holds the league record for most ties in a season?

Costly repair: In the 16th Southeast Asia Games in Manila, a swimmer on the host country’s 100-meter medley team was literally caught with his trunks down.

Anchor-man Leo Najera was penalized for causing “undue delay” when he changed his torn swimming trunks.

The Filipinos finished first, but the gold medal was awarded to Indonesia.

Hawaiian hunk: A 524-pound Hawaiian, who competes under the name Konishiki, is the largest combatant ever recorded in the centuries-old history of sumo.

To put Konishiki’s weight in perspective, the Chicago Bears’ William Perry weighs only 350 pounds.

Perry is known as “the Refrigerator.” The quarter-ton Konishiki is “the Whole Kitchen.”

Did they sneeze?The Miami Dolphins credited their 16-13 overtime victory over Chicago last Sunday in four-degree weather to cayenne pepper.

Wide receiver Jim Jensen read a story about how fishermen in Alaska said they keep warm by putting pepper in their shoes. He bought a supply, and the Dolphins used it.

A trend? Doubtful.

No touch of class: In a recent Utah Jazz-Detroit Piston game, Piston forward Dennis Rodman and Utah Coach Jerry Sloan got into a heated exchange.

Sloan was upset because Rodman had pulled Jazz guard John Stockton to the floor.

When Rodman went to the free-throw line later, Sloan blew him a kiss and got a technical foul for his gesture. Then Rodman taunted Sloan, getting his second technical.

On the way to the locker room, Rodman tried to shake Sloan’s hand. The coach refused, saying: “I wasn’t going to shake his hand. I guess I don’t have a lot of class.”

Trivia answer: UCLA with four in 1939, including a 0-0 deadlock with USC. This is also an NCAA Division I record shared with Temple (1937) and Central Michigan (1991).

Quotebook: Denver Post writer Woody Paige commenting on the number of sacks that John Elway has endured: “In nine years, Elway has been dumped like a blind date 307 times. Jake LaMotta wasn’t knocked down that many times.”