A: A conundrum is a question or problem having only a conjectural answer.

The May 10, 2006 issue of the Daily Dunklin Democrat had a well written letter to the editor in which Linda Holt describes a hair raising encounter with a pit bull dog.

It is not difficult to understand the trauma of Linda Holt's situation, and why she is justifiably concerned about some future incident that could have more tragic results.

The conundrum in this case is in measuring the bad reputation of the pit bull versus the opinion of people who say the pit bull is actually a convivial animal that makes a good pet, and loves children.

A brief scan through the internet will give you no satisfactory answer. The pit bull defenders say this animal is of no more threat to human beings than other breeds; though they admit the pit bull is a tenacious fighter when pitted against another dog. The dog that turns a submissive underbelly to a pit bull is making a bad mistake.

Those who defend the pit bull say that the dog's muscular body encourages bad owners to train the pit bull to be aggressive, and therein lies the problem.

This brings up another conundrum: Why would anyone want to own an aggressive dog, and sometimes train it to be vicious?

Protection, some might say. Protection from what? If a person is so paranoid about some real or imagined fear, then common sense should tell them that a deeper reason for fear would be the possibility of injury to a human being, resulting in sorrow and litigation. Regular people and judges do not take kindly to attacks by a biting dog. Litigation can mean heavy fines, or possible imprisonment.

Pit bulls have a bad reputation, and are even banned in some countries. Is it the breed, or is it the human owners who deserve the reputation. Presently this is a conundrum.

Q: In what area do the most trivia questions abound?

A: The entertainment world may be first, but for men it's sports.

Did you know, for instance, that Yale has won more national football championships than any other school.

Yale won their first championship in 1869. They won 18 in total, with their last one coming in 1927. That was only 79 years ago. Princeton is second in national football championships with 17.

The Ivy League has dropped a notch or two since then. Their football games today are reported on the society page.

The first Associated Press poll for a national football champion was taken in 1936, with Minnesota emerging the champ. Notre Dame has won eight national titles since then. Alabama & Oklahoma are tied for second with seven.

The University of Southern California Trojans have won the most national titles in all men's sports. But here is the big one for this modern world: UCLA has won a combined 99 team championships in men's and women's sports.

Where does Mizzou fit in this parade of champions?

Mizzou has never won a national championship in either football or basketball. As devoted fans, we long for justice to be served.

For those privileged to remember, Missouri won the 1954 NCAA baseball championship. Not only that, they have been recognized as the 16th best program ever to appear in the college baseball world series. Mizzou has played in the college world series six times.

That last national championship was only 52 years ago. We are fresh compared to Yale, and coming on strong!!!

The Answer Man will appear on occasion in the Daily Dunklin Democrat, and will provide answers to various and sundry questions about local people, etc. Readers are invited to submit their queries to The Answer Man by e-mailing them to bhunt@dddnews.com.