Two Views on Cowboy Schemes

With John Riggins and George Rogers rooting out the yardage behind the Hogs, do the Washington Redskins have an edge over the Dallas Cowboys in the running department?

That’s the fear of Tony Dorsett, who told Jim Dent of the Dallas

Times Herald that he would like to see the Cowboys get a little more physical.

“I go out to the practice field during the off-season and see these guys who can bench press the city of Dallas,” Dorsett said. “Then the coaches teach them how to dance and do influence blocks. Other teams are always making fun of our blocking because they say it’s all trickery. Joe Greene used to laugh at our blocking schemes.”

Dallas tackle Jim Cooper takes a different view.

“The Redskins have got about four plays, and they just keep running them all day long,” he said. “Practice wouldn’t be much fun when you only run four plays.

“I like our offense because of the variety. It always gives you something to think about.”

Fans can judge for themselves when ABC-TV kicks off Monday Night Football with the Cowboys and Redskins.

Trivia Time: Pete Rose of Cincinnati got his 3,000th hit May 5, 1978, with a fifth-inning single against Montreal at Riverfront Stadium. Who was the first person to congratulate him? (Answer below.)

Add Forgettable Quotes: Pete Rose, asked after his 3,000th hit if he had a chance to get 4,000, said: “No, no way. Maybe, I’ll be able to get 3,600.”

For What It’s Worth: Before Saturday, the last two USC teams that beat Illinois at Champaign, Ill., wound up going undefeated and untied.

In 1962, USC beat Illinois, 28-16. In 1972, the Trojans won, 55-20. Both teams won the national championship.

Darryl Strawberry wasn’t the only Crenshaw High graduate doing damage on the West Coast Friday night.

At San Francisco, Chris Brown had a homer and two doubles, driving in six runs, to lead the Giants to an 8-3 win over the Montreal Expos.

Times staffer Bill Walker, noting the recent run of palindromes, claims the first in history was this one directed at Eve: “Madam, I’m Adam.”

Also, staffer Bob Bayer says Mark Twain uncovered this one in his Northern California travels: Yreka Bakery.

University of Texas freshman running back Eric Metcalf, son of former Cal State Long Beach and Chicago Cardinals running back Terry Metcalf, had a 67-yard run in scrimmage last week.

Said Texas quarterback Todd Dodge of Metcalf, a blue-chipper out of Arlington, Va.: “Everyone likes talking about Eric. He looks like his dad. He has great bloodlines. He gives us more speed than we’ve had around here.”

Trivia Answer: Montreal first baseman Tony Perez. The Montreal pitcher was Steve Rogers, and the catcher was Gary Carter.

Quotebook

John Jeansonne of Newsday, on Chris Evert Lloyd’s statement that she didn’t have her heart in it Friday when she lost to Hana Mandlikova: “Maybe Evert’s heart wasn’t in it at the end because Mandlikova had sort of ripped it out.”