Fullerton’s Fans Are Spared a Little Agony

Cal State Fullerton’s home football opener against Nevada Reno was shown on television, but viewers never saw the finish.

The game was carried by Titan Cable Sports, which is Channel 33 on a number of North Orange County cable systems. The telecast started at 7:30 p.m. as advertised, but after three quarters, the game went off, and the station returned to regular programming. The fourth quarter was lost.

Explained Bill Robertson, the color commentator: “They had hired a Vietnamese student as a technician, and he thought football games only had three quarters.”

Maybe it’s just as well. The Titans lost, 30-3.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Air Force, which meets Notre Dame Saturday, is rated No. 1 in the country by USA Today. Nebraska is rated second and Iowa third. Notre Dame is 26th.

The USA Today ratings are compiled by Jeff Sagarin, a 1970 graduate of MIT who has been putting out computer ratings for 20 years.

Trivia Time: How many pitchers have won 20 games in a season for both the Dodgers and the Angels? (Answer below.)

A day after Hurricane Gloria hit Boston, the University of Miami, which is nicknamed the Hurricanes, came to town and flattened Boston College, 45-10.

Said Boston College Coach Jack Bicknell: “They didn’t have to bring their mascot along, did they?”

University of Minnesota Coach Lou Holtz, on quarterback Rickey Foggie: “He draws a crowd wherever he goes. On the field, the opposition follows his every move. His teammates follow him, and our fans follow him. I only hope that the bowl scouts follow him.”

Would-you-believe-it dept.: The Washington Redskins were all set to sign former Chicago Bears punter Dave Finzer to replace the injured Jeff Hayes, but Redskin General Manager Bobby Beathard said: “He said he couldn’t do it, because we wanted him to handle kickoffs, too. He said it was too much.”

Finzer signed with the Seattle Seahawks.

Angel Manager Gene Mauch, on St. Louis Manager Whitey Herzog: “He’s better at assembling the parts of a winning team than anyone in baseball. With the kind of pitching staff, bullpen, team speed and outstanding depth that the Cardinals have, Whitey can beat you in half a dozen different ways. In fact, St. Louis may be the best team in baseball at coming from behind in the late innings and stealing a game that the opposition thought it had won.”

Trivia Answer: Two. Bill Singer was 20-12 with the Dodgers in 1969 and 20-14 with the Angels in 1973. Andy Messersmith was 20-13 with the Angels in 1971 and 20-6 with the Dodgers in 1974.

Quotebook

Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw, now a CBS analyst, on his supposed shortage of smarts as a player: “Playing dumb has helped me make about two million dollars.”