Tennis star Rafael Nadal is known for two things – his spirited run to the top of the world tennis rankings and his bizarre fashion sense.

British Olympic hero Bradley Wiggins, a double gold medal winner in cycling, offered some insight into Nadal’s unique look. He ran into Nadal at the Beijing Olympics.

“I was in the laundry and standing right next to Nadal,” he told BBC Sport. “I didn’t bother him, but he was shoving all his colors and whites in together.

“I really wanted to say, ‘Dude, you’re going to have a nightmare with that. You can’t just put the whole bag in — there are reds in with whites.’ But what can you do?”

Sorry about that slideshow soundtrack. Yikes!

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while Chris Carpenter prepares to crank back up to full speed:

• How much could a healthy Josh Kinney help the Cards bullpen in September?
• Say, wasn’t Roger Federer earning Tiger Woods comparisons just a year ago? Whatever happened to his massive edge over the competition?
• Did Matt Leinart head back to the beer bong after learning he would open this season on the Gridbirds bench?

ROMANCE AT THE POOL?

Many Michael Phelps rumors have made the Internet rounds since his heroic Olympic performance. Among the most interesting:

That he had a fling with Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice, who dated fellow swimmer Eamon Sullivan until their pre-Beijing break-up.

And speaking of the Summer Games, why is this not an Olympic sport?

HOW THEY SHOULD HAVE CONTAINED MCENROE

QUIPS ‘R US

Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel: “I love girls in bikinis as much as the next guy, but enough with NBC’s beach volleyball coverage already. You’d think this was a real sport or something. And, by the way, why is beach volleyball in the Olympics? What next — skimboarding, body-surfing, sand-castle building?”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “In boxing, Dzhakhon Kurbanov of Tajikstan was disqualified for biting Yerkebulan Shynaliyev of Kazakhstan. Or was it Kazakhstan Yerkebulan of Shynaliyev biting Kurbanov Tijikstan of Dzhakhon?”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoSports.com: “The International Olympic Committee says there’s no evidence that Chinese gymnasts are not old enough. Then again, it’s hard to prove a negative, although there isn’t much more negative than the way the Chinese have been shown to do business, and there isn’t much more negative than the way the IOC has been shown to do business, so the last thing the IOC wants to prove is something’s wrong with a host country that is generating a bunch of money for the rich fops in charge.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “The American men and women got it right in the 4×400-meter relays  . .  . I only hope their batons don’t test positive for pine tar.”

Rick Chandler, Deadspin: “It all began when five terrifying mascots were introduced to the world in November of 2005, and now, with the extinguishing of the Olympic torch, the games of the 29th Olympiad have concluded. Whew. OK China, you’ve got some sweeping up to do, so we’ll leave you to it. But before we depart, may we just say that your closing ceremonies were just as overblown and nonsensical as the ones that opened the proceedings? . . . Why are the men suspended in midair banging on wheels of cheese? And what exactly are ‘lucky cloud yarn strips?’”

MEGAPHONE

“You go to Wrigley Field, you have a beer, beautiful people up there. People aren’t watching the game. It’s not serious. White Sox, that’s baseball.”

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, upsetting Northsiders during an interview with ESPN.