Could you have ever imagined Kim Jong Il coming up in a discussion about the race for the Heisman Trophy? (Hold up on Clausen for a second, let me finish …)

(Ingram claims he shot a 69 in 8th grade, still 35 shots shy of Kim)

Don Kausler Jr. of the BIRMINGHAM NEWS has a report today on Alabama running back Mark Ingram that reads like it was ripped straight from THE ONION:

How athletic is Alabama’s sophomore running back, who now is a front-runner for the Heisman Trophy?

He once bowled a 248.

And he once shot a 69 in golf.

As an eighth grader.

So, like the North Korean news agency that once reported Kim shot a round of -38, how did Kausler happen on this magnificient discovery and what exhaustive measures did he take to lock down the information as legitimate before publishing it in Alabama’s largest daily newspaper?

Ingram told Kausler and the reporter took his word for it.

How delightful:

“I was real good back in middle school,” said Ingram, who put down his clubs when he got to high school because golf was a fall sport. By the time he was senior, the high school golf season had moved to the spring, but Ingram was a standout sprinter and stayed on the track team to pursue a state championship.

Ingram said he hasn’t played a round in two or three years, “probably when I was in high school.”

But, he said, “I’m sure if I picked up the clubs and got to go to the range a few times and knock the rust off, I’d be good again.”

He shot the 69 in a tournament qualifying round.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t shoot that good the next day,” he said. “I shot like an 81. That was kind of depressing.”

My hope from here is that Ingram gets the justifiable publicity that he deserves for such an astonishing feat. And in order to fully appreciate Ingram’s golfing greatness, someone drills down on the where and when of Ingram’s fantastical fairway performance so he gets the full credit he deserves.

Ingram’s incredible round needs to be more fully recognized and woven into the tapestry that is Alabama’s rich, historical athletic lore.

In other words, Auburn media, get on it.