Dallas’ Clinkscale Talks Up a Storm

The defensive backs of the Dallas Cowboys call themselves Thurman’s Thieves, named for veteran cornerback Dennis Thurman.

The most voluble of the group is Dextor Clinkscale, who has been warning the New York Giants, the Cowboys’ next opponent.

“The myth is that Phil Simms is a great quarterback, which he isn’t,” Clinkscale said. “He has no special gifts or intangibles like Joe Montana, Dan Marino or even Joe Theismann.

“The Giants are a fake. They’re just imitating potential conference winners. They have a defense to put them where they want to go. They have special teams that put them where they want to go. But they have an offense that keeps them from where they want to go.

“New York may have been struck by Hurricane Gloria, but she didn’t have the impact and intensity and fury of the Dallas Cowboys.

“My advice to the people of New York is to secure all valuables when the sun sets Sunday and the storm hits, because Thurman’s Thieves will steal the evening.”

Add Clinkscale: Told by Bob Sudyk of the Hartford Courant that his remarks had made the Giants’ bulletin board, he said: “Hey, if they need any more motivation for this division game, then they are in trouble. I didn’t say anything for locker-room hangups.

“If they need something hung up on the wall to inspire them, they should hire an interior decorator.”

Told that his picture also had made the bulletin board, he asked: “Is it a good picture?”

Why?

“Because my mother would want to know,” he said.

Add Cowboys: Fred Cornwell, after catching the pass from Danny White that beat the Houston Oilers last Sunday, recalled that he caught a similar pass from John Mazur at USC to beat Oklahoma, 24-21, in 1981.

“It was exactly in the same part of the end zone,” he said. “Against Oklahoma, though, it was a broken play. This one was supposed to be like that.”

Trivia Time: What do Joe Medwick and War Admiral have in common? (Answer below.)

When the Pittsburgh Steelers were winning all those Super Bowls with Terry Bradshaw throwing to Lynn Swann and John Stallworth, how sophisticated was the offense?

Stallworth told Elton Alexander of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “There were times we would go into the huddle, and Bradshaw would call the protection for the line and just tell Lynn and myself to get open.”

Denver Nuggets Coach Doug Moe, asked about Boston’s acquisition of Bill Walton, told Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post: “On Boston he’ll be great. Walton didn’t help the Clippers because they weren’t a good team. There was a lot of dissension, and part of it was him. He can be good for a team like Boston, but he’ll kill a bad team.”

Said Celtic guard Dennis Johnson: “With the addition of Bill, there is no way we can lose.”

Trivia Answer: Both were Triple Crown winners in 1937, the only year that baseball and horse racing both have had Triple Crown winners. Medwick, of the St. Louis Cardinals, hit .374 with 31 home runs and 154 RBIs. He is the last player to win the Triple Crown in the National League.

Quotebook

Actor Alex Karras, on his collegiate football career: “I never graduated from Iowa. I was only there for two terms--Truman’s and Eisenhower’s.”