TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

Lacrosse, which was an Olympic event in 1908, isn't any more. Bowling was an exhibition sport in '36 and '88, but didn't strike a chord. Ballroom dancing had the numbers, but the IOC couldn't figure out what to drop for it. (Suggestion: anything with the word "synchronized").

How 'bout Texas Holdem poker?

An online gaming Web site known as Full-Tilt Poker sponsors a new site called "Poker in Athens," to promote the card game's involvement in future Olympics. They've even been taking out TV spots during Dodgers broadcasts and promoted the idea with fliers at an AVP beach volleyball event in Hermosa Beach recently.

With the Greek organizers scrambling to finish building venues for the Games that start this week, the Texas Holdem poker guys hold out some hope of breaking through, even if the TV schedule has already been drawn up.

"We'd be completely low maintenance," someone named Bruno Nutt of "Poker in Athens" is quoted on the Web site. "We don't need our own Parthenon. Hell, if they'll let us in the games, I'll bring my own arena. Cards, chips, even my buddy Frank's card table. Just lather that sucker up with some spackle, and BOOM -- instant Greek poker table."

And what about security concerns?

"Please, we're not a bunch of sissies," Nutt says. "I'm from the Bronx."

Eyes on the prize: The Guinness Book of World Records credits five attention-deficit disorder Euros with establishing the mark last May for consecutive television watching at 50 hours, five minutes.

That'll be the time to beat when 22 more insomniacs compete in NBC's Olympic viewing marathon at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Although the network plans to carry 1,210 hours on five channels between Friday and Aug. 29, this event only requires that the dopes stay glued to the set from Friday's opening ceremonies through Monday, Aug. 16.

Some of the rules: A contestant will be DQ'd if his or her eyes are closed longer than a natural blink, or two seconds. They can look away from the TV, but only to sneeze. No controlled substances allowed. If someone has an "accident," it's OK if the judges rule so. There are five-minute breaks each hour and 15-minute breaks every eight hours for cell phone use and restroom requirements.

The reward is a trip to the 2006 Winter Games in Italy and a new high-def home theater to enjoy, providing he or she still has functioning retinas.

Viewing pleasure: All the Olympic preview issues are thorough, interesting, chock-fulla pertinent info.

Then there's FHM's "Sexy Olympic Special" issue. It makes everyone want to root harder for Logan Tom, Amanda Beard, Haley Cope, Jenny Adams and Amy Acuff. And Adams, a 60-meter hurdler, didn't even qualify.

Oh brother: As cool as it may be for Jim and Randy Wolf to be working on the same big-league diamond together -- as the umpire and Phillies pitcher did again Friday, when Randy pitched and big brother Jim worked third base at Dodger Stadium -- not everyone's so enamored with the situation involving the grads of El Camino Real High in Woodland Hills.

Going back to last season, when the Phillies and Marlins were fighting for the NL wild-card spot, Florida pitcher Mark Redman admitted there's a problem of perception when the Wolf boys happen to be on the same field, even if MLB doesn't let Jim be the home-plate ump when Randy's on the hill.

"I guarantee you it crosses every player's mind," said Redman after he questioned three of Jim Wolf's calls during a Marlins-Dodgers series last August.

Honestly, think of a situation where Jim's umpiring at third or first, and Randy throws a pitch where the batter checks his swing. Can the home-plate ump check with Jim, who just earned a full-time job as one of the major league's 68 full-fledged umpires, and be confident he's getting an unbiased opinion?

"When you make a call, you don't have time to think who's it for," Jim said in a recent interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I'll always fight (the perception of being unfair). There will always be someone out there looking for controversy. But they don't care about me or the game. I just want to get the call right."

Still going: Rickey Henderson, hitting .294 with nine homers, 27 RBI, 66 walks and 26 stolen bases in 65 games with the Independent League's Newark Bears this season, has nothing to prove by trying to make a big-league comeback.

But if the 45-year-old does sign on with someone -- the Dodgers gave him a brief shot last season -- Henderson wouldn't even be the oldest player in the majors.

Atlanta's Julio Franco, who last week passed Mickey Mantle at No. 94 on the all-time hits list, turns 46 in two weeks and is four months older than Rickey.