Notre Dame coach is reminded nothing is permanent

As if Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis hasn’t been reminded enough, a billboard a half mile from his office provided another indication of his on-the-hot-seat status.

It reads: “Best wishes to Charlie Weis in the 5th year of his college coaching internship. -- Linebacker Alumni.”

“Everything was great until the last word,” Weis said, laughing with reporters. “So tell them, ‘Thanks a lot for wishing me best wishes.’ ”

That won’t happen yet. Though the billboard sits above the Linebacker Inn near the Notre Dame campus, the hotel’s general manager told WSBT of South Bend, Ind., they had nothing to do with the sign. Burkhart Advertising, which owns the billboard space, didn’t return calls to the station.

Summed up Weis about the billboard: “Welcome to my world.”

Trivia question

Who was the first player to go from Little League to the major leagues?

Romo’s replacement

If Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo underperforms this season, he can still expect his girlfriend to attend the games.

Numerous celebrity gossip sites are reporting Romo is currently dating Candice Crawford following his breakup with Jessica Simpson. Besides being the sister of “Gossip Girl” star Chace Crawford and 2008’s Miss Missouri, Candice also is the host of the Cowboys’ weekend sports show, “Special Edition.”

So even if her presence causes Romo to lose another playoff game, Crawford may be nice enough not to ask him about it in postgame interviews.

Money talks

When it comes to outrage over Michael Vick’s and Brett Favre’s return to the NFL, the latest jersey sales numbers prove that being a polarizing figure may enhance their popularity.

NFLshop.com says Favre’s Vikings jersey has been the top seller, while Vick’s Eagles jersey finished fourth.

Wrote Matt Snyder of Fanhouse: “These guys also have plenty of support in addition to all the intense hatred . . . unless people are buying these up to burn them?”

Trivia answer

Pitcher Joey Jay, who joined the Milwaukee Braves in 1953, and later played for the Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves.

(Question and answer provided by reader Ted La Mothe of Long Beach).

And finally

Michigan has launched an investigation after current and former football players alleged in a Detroit Free Press story that Coach Rich Rodriguez forced them to exceed the 20-hour-a-week limit set by the NCAA for football activities.

Free Press columnist Drew Sharp then weighed in on the NCAA:

“These accusations cut to the core of the NCAA’s biggest hypocrisy -- the idyllic illusion of the student-athlete, at least as it pertains to football. And that should be Michigan’s greatest worry at the onset of the any inquisition.

“The NCAA might have no alternative but to stain the sainted image of Michigan football if it means protecting the greater fallacy of major college football as a part-time academic diversion.”

--

mark.medina@latimes.com

twitter.com/latimesmedina