Remember when then-Saints running back Ricky Williams posed in a wedding dress on the cover of ESPN The Magazine?

Remember how uncomfortable his then-coach, Mike Ditka, looked standing next to him in a tuxedo?

That illustration was Williams’ idea – or so he tells Playboy in an upcoming profile.

“In 9th grade, I dressed as a cheerleader on Halloween,” Williams told the magazine. “It was my idea to wear the wedding dress. I didn’t think it would offend anyone. I just wanted to show my relationship with Ditka. I was looking at myself, not as a football player, but as an open, interesting person.

“The reaction from reporters and fans was shocking. I didn’t see why it was such a big deal for a football player not to be afraid to be in touch with that side of himself. It doesn’t make sense that a football player is supposed to be fearless but should be afraid to be in touch with his feminine side.”

Here is an old NFL Network profile that covered his second career as a yoga instructor:

MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE

Questions to ponder while wondering when the Blues will win their next game:

• Will Steven Jackson ever play another football game? Or will he spend the rest of his NFL career standing on the sidelines in street clothes?
• Does Jerry Jones “absolutely” believe the Cowboys will make the playoffs? Or is he just trying to put on his best face (as much as that is possible these days, after all the nipping and tucking)?
• Why would the Cubs pursue a Jake Peavy deal when the club apparently can’t afford to make Kerry Wood a long-term contract offer?
• Won’t it be weird to see Wood depart Chicago as a free agent?
• Does anybody really want to see what’s left of Evander Holyfield fight Nikolai Valuev for the WBA heavyweight title?

GRATUITOUS WILL FERRELL CLIP

Hope this brightens your day.

QUIPS ‘R US

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

Dan Daly, Washington Times: “A story out of New York says the FBI kept tabs on David Halberstam for more than two decades. Is anybody shocked by this? I mean, before he died last year, Halberstam wrote two books about Ted Williams (‘Summer of ‘49’ and ‘The Teammates’). Agents were probably hoping he’d lead them to Teddy Ballgame’s missing head.”

Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: “The Tampa Bay Rays were the first sports team to experiment with ballpark smells, or so they think. The Rays hired a company to mist fans with a ‘citrus burst’ aroma. Actually the 49ers beat them to the punch. They’ve smelled like a lemon most of the season. The Raiders, not to be outdone, treat their fans to ‘Eau de Rotting Corpse.’”

Bill Simmons, ESPN.com: “Apparently last month during a Capitals game, the Caps raised a banner to commemorate their 2007-08 Southeast Division title. If you came up with some sort of formula to determine the worst four-sport city in America that included things like ‘sweeping lack of success,’ ‘general apathy,’ ‘ability of opposing fans to overwhelm your home crowd,’ ‘lack of tradition,’ ‘most transplants living in the city and rooting for other teams’ and everything else, wouldn’t Washington and Atlanta end up battling it out for the title like Sebastian Coe and Steve Scott in the ’80s, like, they’d be so far ahead of the pack that it would be foolish to even mention the other contenders?”

Dwight Perry, Seattle Times: “The Chicago White Sox are already making plans for Barack Obama Bobblehead Night next season, featuring a doll of the president-elect wearing the cap of his favorite Sox.
So what’s next, Sarah Palin Field-Dressing Night at a Manitoba Moose game?”

Greg Cote, Miami Herald: “The Marlins might be interested in reacquiring pitcher Carl Pavano, a flop with the Yankees, who won only nine games in four years despite making $39.5 million. If he had earned any more for doing even less in New York, they’d call him Stephon Marbury of the Knicks.”

Steve Rosenbloom, ChicagoTribune.com: “So this is how it ends for Kerry Wood and the Cubs. After the 20 Ks, the playoff games in Atlanta, and all the injuries — ALL the infuriating injuries — Wood delivered a great season as a closer for a team seemingly always searching for that guy, and now it’s over. The ATM at Clark and Addison is broke. Out of cash. The kind of contract that Wood wants doesn’t live there anymore.”

T.J. Simers, Los Angeles Times: “The Pac-10 is just dreadful, easy pickings for such a powerhouse as USC, and yet the Trojans lost to Oregon State, struggled against Arizona and did nothing to make their case with BCS observers with their performance against Cal. Style points mean everything under the BCS format, human voters weighing in along with computers, and the Trojans didn’t do enough against Arizona and Cal. The Trojans don’t belong in the national championship argument any longer, which is such a letdown after the way they began this season against Virginia and Ohio State. But they should be favored in the Holiday Bowl.”

MEGAPHONE

“Liquid crystal, bro. I am liquid crystal. I was born to make money.”

Former big leaguer Lenny Dysktra, to the Philadelphia Daily News, on his second career as an entrepreneur.