Even before that, winning was a habit. A quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys, he helped them to the post-season five times, including three NFC East championships. He's in four Halls of Fame. It's debatable if even Elvis Presley could get in that many halls. In college at Arizona State, he became the school and NCAA passing leader.

As with almost all success stories, he didn't become the second-winningest coach in AFL history without struggling. He had the unfortunate privilege of showing to play in Dallas right after Roger Staubach, which is a lot like taking the stage after Meryl Streep.

When White failed to get the Cowboys to the Super Bowl as a starter, he was considered a failure to many Dallas fans.

No wonder he developed a Lombardian attitude about winning.

At times it was downright odious to maintain. For instance, the time he got in a minor traffic accident with a 17-year-old kid, a few years after retiring as a player. When the kid realize with whom he had collided, he reportedly referred to White as "you choking dog."

Nice. Was that before or after they exchanged insurance information?

But on Friday, the bad times seemed far behind. The brand new Utah Blaze were still alive and kicking — and passing and running.

"You are officially introduced to Arena Football," said White to the media after the game. "We had to wait 'til the last game of the year to do it, but this was real typical Arena Football."

Indeed it was a close call for White and the Blaze. But to his delight, the season's not over. He now finds himself right where he usually is, come May. It may not be shocking news, but it's the only news White seems to tolerate.

Hef can only wish he were so predictable.

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E-mail: rock@desnews.com