Gibbs Tells Joke on Himself--Also Has Punch Line

Washington Redskin Coach Joe Gibbs turned 45 Monday, and Christine Brennan of the Washington Post said Gibbs got a card from his wife that read: “It’s great the way you put a mess back together.”

Gibbs opened it up, and inside it read: “Of course, if you hadn’t messed it up in the first place. . . . “

What did Gibbs think?

“I thought it was pretty appropriate,” he said. “Then I went and punched her.”

Oklahoma tight end Keith Jackson, whose heroics helped beat Nebraska, said his favorite receiver is Dwight Clark.

“He’s not really a tight end, but I hate blocking probably as much as he does,” Jackson said.

Add Nebraska: Said Coach Tom Osborne, looking on the bright side: “The good thing is we have succeeded in making Michigan overconfident in the Fiesta Bowl.”

Not really. Said Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler before Nebraska was named: “It’s no problem getting an opponent for a bowl game when Michigan’s named first.”

Bo is 2-10 in bowl games.

Trivia Time: George Foreman had only four heavyweight title fights--against Joe Frazier, Joe Roman, Ken Norton and Muhammad Ali--and none were in the United States. Where were they? (Answer below.)

For What It’s Worth: In USA Today’s national high school ratings, La Puente Bishop Amat is tops among California schools in eighth place. East St. Louis, Ill., which has won 40 straight games, is first. Second is Huntsville, Ala., which claims a win over Cincinnati Moeller, Gerry Faust’s old school. Moeller is 10th.

Just Asking: If BYU’s Robbie Bosco wins the Heisman Trophy, will he be the first to win it after failing to make his all-conference team? Named as the quarterback on the all-Western Athletic Conference team, chosen this week by the coaches, was Bart Weiss of Air Force.

Second Question: Is Joe Paterno the first coach in history to knock compatriots out of jobs on two successive Saturdays? Pitt’s Foge Fazio got the hook after the 31-0 loss to Penn State, and Notre Dame’s Gerry Faust, a 36-6 loser the previous week, resigned Tuesday.

The subject was booing at Husky Stadium, and Washington quarterback Hugh Millen told Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times: “I remember last year when we beat Michigan at Ann Arbor, when they were ranked second in the country, I got back here and my roommate said: ‘At least the fans will be off your back for a couple of weeks.’

“Well, we played Houston at home the next week and, in the first quarter, I overthrew Mark Pattison on a pass that would have gone for a touchdown. I headed back toward the bench and I heard the booing. It was like they were doing the wave of boos. I thought then, ‘Damn, this isn’t going to be easy.’ But you have to play the cards you’re dealt. They don’t boo you if you flunk a biology midterm.”

When Eddie Johnson returned to action with the Sacramento Kings after his holdout, someone asked: “Were you tired afterward?”

“No,” Johnson said, “I was tired when I was playing.”

Makes sense.

Trivia Answer: Joe Frazier in Jamaica, Joe Roman in Japan, Ken Norton in Venezuela and Muhammad Ali in Zaire.

Quotebook

Coach Mike Ferraro of the Kansas City Royals, on former roommate Lou Piniella, the new manager of the New York Yankees: “He ought to be good for about 30 ejections.”