Donahue Returns to Scene of Crime

When Terry Donahue leads his Bruins onto the field at Neyland Stadium today, you could say he is returning to the scene of the crime.

Donahue was a UCLA tackle 20 years ago when Coach Tommy Prothro, after watching his team lose to Tennessee, 37-34, uttered those infamous words, “I’m ashamed to be a Southerner.”

Prothro, a native of Memphis, rushed out onto the field more than once to berate the officials during Tennessee’s final drive, which resulted in the winning touchdown with 39 seconds left.

Said Prothro afterward: “It was the worst-officiated game I have ever seen. The pro all-stars couldn’t have won here.

“The officials gave Tennessee three extra timeouts on their final drive. They threw a lateral, and it was called an incomplete pass. But I won’t single out any one bad call, because I could be here all night.”

The game was the final regular-season game for the Bruins, who were coming off a 20-16 upset of USC to win the Rose Bowl bid.

In the Rose Bowl, Gary Beban led the Bruins to a 14-12 upset of No. 1-rated Michigan State.

Trivia Time: Eddie Murray of Baltimore and Ozzie Smith of St. Louis signed new contracts this season that made them the highest-paid players in baseball. What do they have in common? (Answer below.)

How tough will it be to break Pete Rose’s record? Look at it this way: A player would have to average 200 hits for 21 years.

How tough is it to get 200 hits? Very. Ted Williams, considered by some to be the greatest hitter ever, never got 200 hits. Neither did Carl Yastrzemski, a three-time American League batting champion who played for 23 years.

Add Rose: The day after his record hit, they painted a white circle around the spot where it landed in the outfield at Riverfront Stadium.

Said Rose when he saw it: “Hmmm, I thought it went farther than that. Guess there’s hope for us singles hitters, though. Usually, they paint seats. I’ve got ‘em painting AstroTurf.”

Wait a Minute: Because Al Davis likes to go for the big bombs, Frank Gifford said, “Raider quarterbacks are never going to have a great percentage.”

Ken Stabler, when he was with the Raiders, set an NFL career percentage record of 60%.

Michael Janofsky of the New York Times, on Joe Namath’s performance on Monday Night Football: “He proved himself to be more interested in the game than his predecessor, Don Meredith, but no more incisive.

“For the most part, Namath’s remarks were so inane that Meredith singing, ‘The Party’s Over,’ as he frequently did in the final moments of a game, would have come as a welcome relief.”

Well-groomed: Among the 10 sexiest American men 60 or over, as listed in McCall’s magazine, were two members of the Hollywood Park board of directors--Cary Grant, 81, and John Forsythe, 67.

From Todd Phipers of the Denver Post: “Isn’t it time to stop keeping track of the golfers who pass the $1-million mark on the PGA Tour? For those who missed it, Leonard Thompson became No. 56 in that category last weekend, the eighth man to reach that plateau this year. I rest my case.”

Trivia Answer: Both are graduates of Locke High School.

Quotebook

New Orleans Saints Coach Bum Phillips, on whether he played college football: “I thought I did, until I looked at some old game films.”