Is It Too Soon to Finger Him for Greatness?

New England Patriot quarterback Drew Bledsoe is accorded legendary status after another dramatic comeback, this time against Buffalo on Sunday--and with a broken index finger on his passing hand.

Jim Donaldson of the Providence (R.I.) Journal is a believer:

“You’ve got Willis Reed, limping out of the locker room to lead the Knicks to an NBA championship.

“You’ve got Kirk Gibson, hobbling out of the dugout to belt a pinch-hit home run and win a World Series game for the Dodgers.

“Bledsoe was like Roy Hobbs, hitting the game-winning homer in ‘The Natural.’ He was like Jimmy Chitwood, sinking the buzzer-beating shot in ‘Hoosiers.’ ”

OK, OK, enough already.

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Trivia time: Which NFL team holds the record for most consecutive road victories?

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Uh, no: Thomas Boswell in the Washington Post: “So far, the Orioles have subtracted Robby Alomar, Eric Davis and [Rafael] Palmeiro--arguably the three best hitters on the entire team--who had 85 homers and 266 RBIs last year. If [B.J.] Surhoff goes, increase those deficits to 107 and 358. Albert Belle’s great. And Camden Yards is cozy. But can he hit 107 homers?”

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Ticky-tack: During a hockey brawl between Buffalo and Florida that resulted in 70 minutes of penalties, Sabre goalie Dominik Hasek was given a bench minor for throwing his gloves on the ice.

Just rattling around: Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune on the slumping Bears: “The Bears are one of those hotel honor bars where the guest before you has put the empty cans back in before checking out.

“Looks full at a glance, but is actually all used up. Don’t you hate it when you get one of those bottles of water with a loose lid?

“The Bears are nothing but a bunch of loose lids.”

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Poverty case: From comedy writer Alan Ray: “Some of the rank-and-file players are starting to hurt financially as a result of the NBA lockout. The other day one almost had to fly coach.”

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He’s not sockless: White socks are among the items fans leave at the South Carolina grave site of baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson, the New York Times reported.

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, the Houston Rockets tied the NBA record for the best start of a season, improving to 15-0 with a 94-85 victory over the New York Knicks.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1950, USC defeated Notre Dame at the Coliseum, 9-7.

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Trivia answer: San Francisco 49ers, 18, 1988-90.

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And finally: In an interview with John Eisenberg of the Baltimore Sun, Art Donovan, former Baltimore Colt lineman, told of a recent nostalgic reunion of the 1958 team:

“The Colt band started playing and people were crying. I thought, ‘Jeez, how can people love a team that isn’t even here anymore?’

“That was a great night. I took 30 meatballs home in a box and ate them like peanuts. I was a little hungry.”