Backus

You have to wonder whose idea it was to bring Mr. Magoo, the lovable, totally unawares cartoon character, to life.In the 1960s animated version, Jim Backus' Mr. Magoo, who didn't realize he was going blind, wasn't dumb, just too good-hearted. His life was so charmed that, no matter the mishap, he always landed safely.Enter veteran actor Leslie Nielsen of "Naked Gun" fame and director Stanley Tong, whose filmography highlights include "Stone Age Warriors" and the Jackie Chan vehicles "Rumble in the Bronx," "Supercop" and "First Strike."

Charles Goren, 90, who developed a point system that popularized the game of contract bridge and wrote a widely syndicated column on the game, died April 3 in Los Angeles of a heart attack. Mr. Goren, a Philadelphia native, learned to play auction bridge as a college student at Montreal's McGill University. He first took a hand in a game organized by a girlfriend, and, by his description, "made an ass of myself." He immediately found a book on bridge and memorized it from cover to cover, vowing never to be so humiliated again.

BaseballOrioles -- Signed IF Bobby DeJardin. Re-signed IF Edgar Alfonzo.Atlanta Braves -- Traded OF Ramon Caraballo to the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named.Boston Red Sox -- Named Tommy Barrett manager and Jeff Gray pitching coach at Single-A Sarasota. Named Bob Geren manager at Single-A Utica. Named Steve Braun minor-league hitting coordinator and Sammy Ellis minor-league pitching coordinator.Colorado Rockies -- Named Brad Mills manager, Frank Funk pitching coach and Amos Otis coach at Triple-A Colorado Springs.

Helped a friend move into a new old house last week, just like we used to do back in college, except there was no case of beer and no radio blasting. Hauled in 50 boxes, one by one, and felt like an ant carrying grains of sand to build up the anthill. The tedium of it was blissful. Though I did remember those helpless ants of my childhood, when my great shadow fell on them and they looked up and shook their minuscule fists, and then - WHUMP - it was all over. It was a lovely, violent boyhood back during the Cold War. We boys ran around on the playground, machine-gunning each other, and we discussed nuclear holocaust, especially if girls were around.

As the curtain descends on Maria Smear's once-promising basketball career at Yale University, one thing is certain. The senior shooting guard's ability to shoot three-pointers won't soon be forgotten around Yale and the Ivy League. "She sure could hit the threes no matter what injuries she had," said Yale coach Amy Backus yesterday as she thought about what might have been for Smear. "It's unfortunate that she didn't have a chance to take her game to the next level. I give her a lot of credit this season for accepting her limited role on the team due to her leg problems and other injuries."

You Generation X'ers can let fly now. You can chortle and point and remind us that it's our turn to be painted as inept, self-consumed parents. You can even say: "Don't look now, but you've become exactly what you detested in the movies of your youth."As proof you can point to Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in "North," Ted Danson in "Getting Even With Dad," Jabba-the-Mom in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" (new to video), and, of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the world's least fit secret-agent dad in "True Lies."

Baseball Rangers: Placed P Kenny Rogers on 15-day DL with circulatory problem in left shoulder. Purchased contract of P Justin Duchscherer from Tulsa. Recalled P Aaron Myette from Double-A Tulsa. Reds: Purchased contract of P Scott MacRae from Triple-A Louisville. Sent P Frankie Rodriguez and OF Robin Jennings outright to Louisville. Basketball Cavaliers: Named Ron Ekker assistant coach. Hornets: Signed free-agent G Bryce Drew, who had been with Bulls. Pistons: Re-signed F Corliss Williamson to six-year contract.

Television's most famous castaway, the hapless crewman Gilligan of the tour boat S.S. Minnow, was once rescued in real life while adrift on the briny, actor Bob Denver revealed yesterday to Baltimore radio listeners.Denver and fellow "Gilligan's Island" players Russell Johnson (the Professor) and Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) were in town this week as a promotional stunt for radio station WYST-FM 92.3.They took the symbolic "three-hour tour," for example, aboard the Lady Baltimore Wednesday night with some 500 listeners who responded to 92 Star's free ticket call.

WASHINGTON - Bill Clinton's presence on the campaign trail has been kept to a minimum, but under the radar, the president has begun an array of unusual efforts to mobilize the Democratic Party for an election just a week away. From telephone calls to millions of answering-machine messages, the president is letting his presence be known to key Democratic Party constituents, especially to minority voters and city dwellers. Last night, Clinton held court in an invitation-only conference call with hundreds of mayors, state legislators and county officials, the fourth such call since Saturday.

WASHINGTON - Doug Hattaway, a spokesman for Vice President Al Gore, was sitting down for a haircut in Tallahassee yesterday morning - anything to distract him from the agonizing wait for word from the U.S. Supreme Court - when his cell phone rang with news that a ruling was imminent. Hattaway jumped from the chair and rushed to the campaign's headquarters in the Florida capital. It was just a rumor, but Hattaway had learned his lesson, refusing to leave the office the rest of the day. "Fortunately," he said, "I didn't get my hair half-cut."