Christoph Athmann, a German chicken farmer, is laying claim to a world record after one of his 35,000 hens produced an 8-ounce egg nearly 3½ inches long, ananova.com reported.

Confounded experts say they haven't seen anyone lay an egg this huge since, well, the $188 million Yankees in last year's playoffs.

Bowlin', bowlin', bowlin'

According to Lycos.com's figures, the Rose, Fiesta and Sun have been football fans' three most-searched-for bowls this holiday season.

Just a guess here, but during the commercial breaks the Porcelain Bowl is still the runaway No. 1.

Worth repeating?

The 2002 World Series champions have announced that they will henceforth be known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The winning name suggestion, rumor has it, came from a repeat-freshman marketing major at the School of Redundancy School.

National Flying League

The NFL's haves and have-nots, wrote Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, fit nicely into an airplane analogy.

"The 12 playoff teams will be seated in first class, sipping champagne," Cote wrote. "The 20 eliminated teams will trudge ashamedly past them into coach, carrying a bawling infant and rolling a suitcase that won't fit into the overhead bin, and headed for an assigned middle seat between an old lady complaining of nausea and a snoring 473-pound man in a tank-top."

Rafer madness

Rafer Wilson recorded a blood-alcohol reading of .462 after police found him inside his crashed car not far from his home in Sydney, Australia, The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Based on a lot of medical books, he should not be alive," forensic toxicologist Allan Hodda told Rupert Murdoch's Sydney tabloid.

Not only that, Randy Turner of the Winnipeg Free Press noted, "Experts agree Wilson will go into the record books as the first man since Ted Williams to hit over .400."

Talking the talk

• Jets coach Herman Edwards, as quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, on the thought of making the NFL playoffs and losing in the first round: "Why even go? That's like going to Disneyland and not riding any of the rides."

• Jack Finarelli of sportscurmudgeon.com, seeing honors in Jim Jackson's future after he got traded to his 11th team in 13 NBA seasons: "Man of the Decade by the National Association of Realtors."

• Bud Geracie of the San Jose Mercury News, recalling one of his favorite memories of 2004: "The Cleveland Indians traded infielder Stubby Clapp for a player to be named better."

• Mickey Porter of the Akron Beacon Journal, on the veterinarian in Manchester, England, who discovered that a German shepherd had swallowed 28 golf balls: "This could explain Craig Stadler."

I've got you, Babe

Johnny Damon, Boston's hirsute center fielder, married talent agent Michelle Mangan in ceremonies at an Orlando, Fla., hotel last week.

Veteran observers exclaimed you just can't imagine how good it felt to finally attend a Red Sox wedding without having to hear the words: "You may now curse the bride."

Dwight Perry: 206-464-8250 or dperry@seattletimes.com