Is this dead guy generous? You bet

Nicholas Newlife, true to his surname, is a gift that keeps on giving — even in death.

Newlife, a Brit who died at 69 last year, bequeathed a bunch of longterm betting slips placed between 2000 and 2005 to the charity Oxfam. And one of them — that Roger Federer, at 66-1 odds, would win 14 Grand Slam tennis titles before 2020 — has already come in, to the tune of $25,000. And there's a few more still pending over the next 10 years.

"Cool if he wins," reader G.M. e-mailed Len Berman's ThatsSports.com, "but if he loses it gives new meaning to 'getting stiffed.' "

Shouldn't-see TV

Some TV watchers in North Carolina got quite a shock when a children's channel somehow got pre-empted by two hours of the Playboy Channel.

"It could have been worse," noted Cam Hutchinson of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix. "Time Warner could have broadcast Tiger Woods' text messages."

Daddy and the Jets

Sure, cornerback Antonio Cromartie had to get a $500,000 advance from the Jets to get his child support — for seven kids, via six women — up to date, but look on the bright side.

One more progeny, and he can bill himself as The OctoDad.

Going digital

The Limca Book of Records — India's equivalent of the Guinness book — has unearthed Haramb Ashok Kumthekar, 24, who boasts 12 fingers and 14 toes.

The Oakland Raiders, not be outdone, nominated a receiver who's all thumbs.

Making hoopie

March Madness: an American love story?

"It's like a miniseries, with twists and turns along the way," Bob Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse, told USA Today. "The Super Bowl is this huge winner-take-all, one-game event, this extraordinary one-night stand.

"The NCAA tournament is more like a short relationship — short enough to not be bored, long enough to be fulfilling."

Something about Mary's

Here's to you, St. Mary's, for reaching the NCAA tournament's second round for the first time in 51 years.

"I've had tons of e-mails and text messages, 'I can't believe you won, you messed up my bracket, but that's great,' " cracked Gaels center Omar Samhan. "And that's from my mom."

Talko time

• Roger Federer, to the L.A. Times, on fellow tennis retirees Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi getting into a tiff during a charity match: "I'm a father now, so I thought about giving them a timeout."

• Janice Hough of LeftCoastSportsBabe.com, on the definition of eternity: "Brett Favre trying to finalize his NCAA tournament brackets."

• Ozzie Guillen, the White Sox's Venezuelan manager, to USA Today on the growing numbers of Latin-American baseball players: "In 10 more years, American people are going to need a visa to play this game."

Icing on his cake

Happy birthday to hockey great Bobby Orr, who turned 62 last week.

And to his knees, which don't feel a day over 90.

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