There’s Something Sipe Doesn’t Know About Game Plan

When Doug Flutie reports to camp with the New Jersey Generals, will he be handed the No. 1 quarterback job or will he have to win it from Brian Sipe, the incumbent, who is paid $800,000 a year.

Jay Seltzer, general manager of the Generals, said he didn’t expect Flutie to take over immediately, but George Usher of Newsday quoted a management source as saying, “We didn’t spend that kind of money to see Flutie sit on the bench and waste the publicity value of the deal.”

Said Sipe: “This doesn’t change what I’m doing one bit. We’ve got some new plays in, a couple of things that move the quarterback around, but I don’t know if this is to take advantage of Flutie’s talents, or make us less predictable.”

Should we tell him?

AFC defensive end Art Still, on his agonizing 83-yard touchdown run with a recovered fumble in the Pro Bowl: “After the first 20 to 30 yards, the end zone started swaying. And it seemed like I’d never get to it.”

Teammate Rod Martin told him afterward: “Did you know they cut to a commercial and came back and you were still running?”

Who says Stan Morrison can’t recruit? Two of his former players have won starting spots in the Big Ten after transferring from USC.

Ken Johnson, at Michigan State, was named the most valuable player in the Spartan Cutlass tournament, and Gerry (Sir Jamalot) Wright is averaging 16 points and nine rebounds a game at Iowa, where he is credited with turning the Hawkeyes into a contender.

Meanwhile, another ex-Trojan, Coach Bob Boyd, is doing nicely, too. His Mississippi State Bulldogs, picked to finish ninth in the Southeastern Conference, are leading the league with a 6-2 record.

Texas Arlington Coach Bob (Snake) LeGrand was protesting a call in a game at Oklahoma State when the official informed him that it was the other official, not him, who made the call.

Said the Snake: “Well, rotate him over here so I can fuss at him.”

How-times-have-changed dept.: Said Mickey Mantle, recalling the 1957 season when he hit .365 with 34 home runs and 94 RBIs: “The first contract I received next year called for a $10,000 cut. They said I didn’t have as good a year.”

He added: “A year like that today would be worth $2 million a year for 40 years.”

Pete Rose was insulted by the question. Asked who would play first base for the Cincinnati Reds this year, the manager said: “I am the only first baseman. You want me to play a younger guy? I could play Tony Perez. He’s a year younger than me. I hit .365 with the Reds last year. I don’t think I can find someone who can hit .365.”

Rose is 43, Perez 42.

Add Rose: Asked about spring training, he said he would leave the fundamentals to his coaches.

“I am not a teacher,” he said. “I didn’t come close to going to college. I almost bought one one time, though.”

Quotebook

Middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler, on his scheduled title defense against Thomas Hearns April 15: “Tommy said in a magazine story that I was a very confused man. He’s right. I don’t know whether I’m going to knock him out in the first round or the third round.”