"Make sure you read the fine print."

We've all heard it before. The details are in the fine print. That's where the real important stuff is, all the information you really need to know. There's fine print in contracts, leases, purchase agreements, warranties and lots of other documents.

The world of sports also has its fine print. It's called agate. Every sports page in the country has it. A page somewhere with all kinds of stats and information about things you may never find elsewhere.

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading the fine print of our local newspaper. At the rate we're going, pretty soon that newspaper will only be fine print. By reading the fine print, you can find out all kinds of stuff -- some interesting, some curious and some neither.

Sacramento is in last place in the Western Conference of the WNBA. Who knew? Not who knew that Sacramento was in last place, but who knew that the WNBA was playing and that it still existed? Talk about a sport that doesn't make the radar screen, that's the WNBA. If David Stern had half a brain in his head, he'd cut the umbilical cord that keeps this league alive and let the women go back to soccer, golf or tennis or, God forbid, the kitchen.

Somebody named Susan Lee Kolbe is one of the best amateur golfers in Milwaukee. During the season, there's a thing in the agate called Honor Scores. You get your name in the honor scores if you break 80 (for a man) or 90 (for a woman). Susan Lee Kolbe is in the honor scores a lot. I mean a lot. Last week, she shot 80 at Brown Deer.

Talk about your great names, the Cleveland Browns waived a wide receiver named Syndric Steptoe. You'd never know his name if you didn't read the fine print.

In the Waukesha Gun Club's trap shooting tournament (I'm not sure you call it a tournament), the top two finishers in the youth / adult category look like father and daughter. Julie and Eric Goodlad came in first and Tom and Tara Kelley came in second. Girls with guns. Hmmmmmm.

In one of the least surprising results of the season in the Milwaukee Muni Softball Tournament, the SOB's (guys who drink beer and swagger and spit) beat Rockwell Automation (nerds with pocket protectors), 20-1. Come on Rockwell, step up.

I never would have guessed it, but the money in NASCAR is just about the same as money on the PGA Tour. The top money guy in NASCAR is Tony Stewart with just more than $5 million. In golf, it's Tiger Woods with just more than $6 million. Number 20 in NASCAR is Martin Truex, with just more than $3 million. His counterpart on the PGA Tour is John Rollins, who is just above $2 million.

There is a women's professional soccer league. One of the teams is named Sky Blue FC.

In case anyone is thinking about learning a foreign language, here's a sample paragraph from the fishing report you can find in the fine print:

"A small jog or hook baited with a giant redworm, waxworm, leafworm or small leech has worked best. Jig and plastic combos, along with black ant flies, tipped with a waxwork also have produced. Vertical jigging or a slip-bobber rig is the best way to present these baits."

I bet you really have to watch yourself if you are vertical jigging.

I also discovered that ESPN televises a lot of Little League baseball. I'm not sure that grade school kids ought to be on television playing sports. Could be a little bit of a perspective problem here.

The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh announced that Deb Vercauteren is stepping down as the women's track and field coach to be the women's assistant track and field coach. There's got to be a fascinating story with that one. Maybe angry alumni called for her head on a plate.

And finally, something everybody could fall in love with -- The Ironman Football League. Never heard of it? Neither have I. But Wauwatosa is leading the American Conference and Madison is unbeaten and leads the National Conference. Shorewood is 1-8 in conference play.

The Shorewood High School team has recently also proven to be an all-time losing football team. What is it about the water in Shorewood? By the way, the conference championship games for the league are scheduled to begin Aug. 29. I say pack up the family and go. This sounds like a lot of fun.

There you go, straight from the fine print.