Sideline Chatter: The worst part was the crick he got in his neck from looking over the seat

Other Sports, Sports Seattle

This guy was going backwards, but it was worth it.

Chandramouli, 35, broke the world record for driving 16 kilometers (10 miles) in reverse by covering the distance in 29 minutes 10 seconds in Tamil Nadu, India.

Or roughly minus-20 miles per hour.

Headlines

• At TheOnion.com: “Brett Favre defends use of state welfare money to build shelter for homeless volleyballs.”

• At Fark.com: “Cole Beasley finally getting a shot.”

Husk is off the corn

Nebraska fired football coach Scott Frost, he of the 16-31 record — 5-22 in one-score games.

Fixed that problem: Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 14.

Hurts go good

Mets hitters set a major-league record by getting hit with pitches 106 times this season.

Suddenly they have their pick of sponsorship offers — Target, Ben-Gay, Hamburger Helper …

Stat of the Week

On his successful two-point conversion scramble against the Raiders, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray covered 84.9 yards to net 2 yards, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

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Sports quiz

It’s a few decades late, but No. 99 will be fittingly retired by the:

a) Lakers (George Mikan)

b) Guardians (Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn)

c) Dodgers (Herman Munster)

Non-starters

Gentlemen, can’t start your engines.

Unfinished Ford trucks — 40,000 or so — are glutting Kentucky Speedway’s auxiliary parking lots in Sparta, a victim of the semiconductor shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, TheDrive.com reported.

Academy Awards

Army gained 472 yards — all on the ground — in a Week 3 romp over Villanova, but Air Force netted just 101 through the air in a loss to Wyoming.

Still awaiting word from Navy’s swim meet.

Bad show of hands

A Raiders fan smacked Cardinals QB Kyler Murray in the face while Murray was celebrating his team’s 29-23 overtime win.

Given the Raiders blew a 20-0 halftime lead, that might’ve been their only hit on the quarterback in the final two-plus quarters.

Tweet of the Week

It had been 3,934 days since the Jets, Jaguars, Lions & Giants all won on the same day. — @FanDuel

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Next time, try vegan

And from the Sometimes These Stories Write Themselves file comes word that Doug Ramsey faces felony battery charges for allegedly biting a man’s nose in a parking garage after the Arkansas-Missouri State football game.

The accused carnivore is a top executive at Beyond Meat, a plant-based food company.

Cue the music

“If MLB hitters have walk-up songs, they should also be required to have slink-back songs for when they strike out,” wrote Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle, “songs to be chosen by the opposing team’s pitching staff. Some possibles: ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,’ ‘I’m Missing You,’ ‘Heat of the Moment,’ ‘Walk Away, Renee’ and ‘Blue Bayou’ (blew by you).”

Stat of the Week II

Greg Maddux faced 20,421 batters and reached a 3-0 count 133 times … 0.6%. — @OleTimeHardball

Talking the talk

• RJ Currie of SportsDeke.com, after archaeologists in Georgia found a 1.8 million-year-old human tooth: “They believe this cements the region as home to Europe’s earliest prehistoric hockey team.”

• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, on the Miami Hurricanes playing home football games in a half-empty NFL stadium 20 miles from campus: “All the atmosphere of the waiting room at Aamco Transmissions.”

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• Jack Finarelli of SportsCurmudgeon.com, on UCLA’s football crowds: “The Bruins really need to up the quality of their out-of-conference home games to avoid having the crowd in the Rose Bowl rattle around like a BB in a boxcar.”

• Bob Molinaro in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, on the Aaron Judge vs. Shohei Ohtani MVP argument: “For what it’s worth, Babe Ruth didn’t win the 1927 MVP after hitting 60 home runs. His teammate Lou Gehrig did.”

Penalty of the Month

Bears holder Trenton Gill was penalized 15 yards for wiping off a spot of soggy Soldier Field with a towel, taking Chicago out of field-goal range against the 49ers.

Somewhere in New England, a snowplow driver is chuckling.