Ten years ago in the Rose Bowl, Texas beat Southern California in one of the best college football championship games, and a 12-year-old in Dallas was watching.
Just don't get the idea Jordan Spieth was flashing the "Hook 'Em Horns" sign.
"At the time, I was looking into visiting both schools on unofficial visits once I was really a sophomore in high school," he said Tuesday. "No, that didn't convince me to go to either. I was still equally considering, but I was rooting for Texas given I was in Dallas with a lot of family and friends who are obviously Texas fans."
Spieth wound up going to Texas for three semesters before turning pro, but the appeal of USC was strong.
"A huge thing for me with USC was I heard that they had four playing memberships at Riviera," he said. "So when I came out on my visit, I was offered one of the memberships at Riviera for the time you're at USC. And that's a pretty awesome perk."
But it wasn't amazing enough to turn down Texas, and he still got to play Riviera as a freshman when the Longhorns won the national championship there in 2012.
Uncommon injury
A high school basketball player in southern Wisconsin is expected to return to the court soon after she was impaled by a piece of a gym's wooden floor.
The 14-year-old Wisconsin Heights High School player was running down the court during a basketball tournament in Middleton on Sunday when she fell and slid along the floor .
Tournament organizer Perry Hibner said the girl told the referee that she couldn't get up because there was a piece of wood stuck to her. Hibner said splinters from the broken piece of wood had pierced the girl's stomach region.
Spectators were asked to temporarily leave the tournament as paramedics treated the girl and rushed her to a Madison hospital where she spent the night. Hibner told WISC-TV the girl suffered no internal organ damage.
Malnati's theory
Pro golfer Peter Malnati has an endorsement deal with MLB.com, and he uses the popular app to justify the amount of rest he gets during baseball season.
"It's really important in any line of work, especially in what I do with golf, to be well rested," Malnati said during a visit to MLB.com studios in New York. "Sleep is really important. But I have this theory. As long as I'm all ready for bed -- teeth brushed and everything -- and I'm tucked in bed, everything I do from there still counts almost as sleep. So I watch the Royals on my iPad a lot."
And if he wasn't in bed watching baseball on TV.
"I would feel bad staying up so late watching some of the games that I do," Malnati said. "That way it's just completely justified."
No d in defense
Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, on who played better defense -- the 2016 NBA All-Stars or 2015 Browns: "The Browns. But then again, they were trying. I think."
Sports on 02/18/2016