Landing Smalley was big

John Sciarra, who as a quarterback led UCLA to a 23-10 upset victory over Ohio State in the 1976 Rose Bowl game, was a guest at a recent Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon. So was Justin Dedeaux, son of the late, legendary USC baseball coach Rod Dedeaux.

Justin Dedeaux said he saw Sciarra play baseball at Bishop Amat High and tried to get his father to recruit him to play baseball at USC. But Sciarra decided to play football at UCLA.

So what did the elder Dedeaux do when he lost out on Sciarra?

“He went out and got Roy Smalley [Jr.],” Justin Dedeaux said.

And that was no small feat. After an outstanding career at USC, Smalley played for 13 years in the big leagues and became an American League All-Star shortstop while with the Minnesota Twins.

--

Trivia time

The Times’ Jerry Crowe noted Monday that Karl Dorrell caught two touchdown passes from Rick Neuheisel in UCLA’s 45-9 upset victory over fourth-ranked Illinois in the 1984 Rose Bowl game. Name the UCLA receiver who scored on a 53-yard pass play in that game and led the Bruins in receiving with five catches for 129 yards. (Hint: He played 10 seasons in the NFL.)

--

Cover story

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. And sometimes covers can be downright misleading. One example is the cover on NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen’s new book, “Total Access.”

Eisen, dressed in a suit, is shown running a 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis last February. He has been doing that since the network began covering the Combine in 2004.

Eisen’s form looks great on the cover, but what readers learn on page 130 is that Eisen ended up pulling a hamstring at about the midway point and required medical attention.

--

Film fanatic

Dorrell was a guest Tuesday on a Fox Sports Radio network show with former Bruin James Washington and Craig Shemon. Asked about the previous night’s NFL game in which Pittsburgh defeated Miami, 3-0, Dorrell said he wasn’t able to watch the whole game. He was too busy watching game film.

“That’s all we do,” Dorrell said. “We try to burn out every TV, every projection screen, you name it. We just try to burn ‘em all up. They’re making better quality ones that take 500 hours to burn out, but we try to burn all those screens out.”

--

Valid reason

NBC aired a half-hour special, “Every Man a Tiger: The Eddie Robinson Story,” on Saturday, although it was preempted in Los Angeles by news reports of the Malibu fire. Among those interviewed about the legendary Grambling State football coach was Newark (N.J.) Star Ledger columnist emeritus Jerry Izenberg, who told the story of how the school got its name in 1946 through the efforts of its president, Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones.

According to Izenberg, Jones went to the Louisiana state legislature and said, “You know, the other team is on the two-yard line and our cheerleaders are saying, ‘Hold that line North Louisiana Agricultural and Industrial Institute.’ By the time they’re finished saying that, they’re in the end zone.”

--

Good advice

Jockey Garrett Gomez, who lives in Duarte but often rides on the East Coast, was asked by the Thoroughbred Times, “What is the best tip for handling travel?”

Said Gomez: “Getting a charter.”

--

Trivia answer

Mike Young, who became Michael Young after leaving UCLA.

--

And finally

Auburn cornerback Jarraud Powers suffered bites on his hand when he broke up a pass in Saturday’s victory over Alabama and strayed too close to a police dog just outside the end zone, the Birmingham News reported.

Noted Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “K-9 handlers say they’ll have to study game films before determining the snap count.”

--

larry.stewart@latimes.com