Correspondent Is in a League by Self

If you think you have problems, how about the people who work on the prep desk in The Times sports deparment?

A high school correspondent called in and said, “I have a basketball game to report.”

“What league?” asked the person on the desk.

“What’s a league?” said the correspondent.

Said Dallas Coach Dick Motta after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 30 points to lead the Lakers to a win over the Mavericks: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him play better offensively, and I’m an expert on him. He’s ruined my picnics a lot of times. I used to tell my centers to run him every time they got a chance. Everyone I told that to has retired, and he’s still running.”

If you’ve wondered why Cliff Johnson, recently signed by the Texas Rangers, is strictly a designated hitter, Jesse Outlar of the Atlanta Constitution recalled when the slugger played for the Houston Astros.

Bill Virdon was the manager of the Astros, and when they told him that Johnson had taken his bat to Baseball Chapel to have it blessed, Virdon said, “He should have taken his glove, too.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: The name of the director of the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission which ruled that vendors will not be allowed to sell beer at Stanford Stadium during the Super Bowl is Jay Stroh.

Wait a Minute: Said Chicago’s Michael Jordan after New York lost Bernard King to injury and was beaten by the Bulls: “Being a young team, it was hard for them to adjust to the change.”

Jordan, of course, is the grizzled veteran of 36 NBA games.

For the Record: A recent item in this space had Stephan Clark as the mayor of Miami. He is the mayor of Dade County, which embraces Miami. The mayor of Miami is Maurice Ferre.

Said San Antonio Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, when asked if it felt strange to be operating from the visitors’ bench when he returned to Kansas City: “If I felt funny to be coaching against teams I’ve coached for, I’d have to stay out of a lot of cities.”

Billy Paultz of the Utah Jazz, on life in the NBA: “The hours are good and the pay is good. For the most part you meet good people, you stay in shape, you get summers off and sometimes you get your name in the paper. That’s a lot of perks.”

Said 6-10 center Karl Malone when asked why he rejected offers from the big-name schools to play at Louisiana Tech: “When I visited here and saw how nice everyone was, I knew I couldn’t go wrong. And I wanted to see the ladies play, too.”

The Lady Techsters haven’t been out of the Top 5 the last five seasons and were national champions in 1981 and 1982. They are 10-0 this season.

John Robinson has promised there never will be a quarterback controversy on the Rams, but Tom Landry can manage to live with one in Dallas.

Revealing he would keep both Danny White and Gary Hogeboom, he said: “There’s nothing really wrong with having competition at quarterback. They’ve got a controversy in Los Angeles with the Raiders and they won a Super Bowl.”

Quotebook San Antonio forward Mike Mitchell, on hitting the key shots in a win by the Spurs: “I like to take the shots in tough situations. As a matter of fact, I like to take all the shots.”