Lions’ 5-0 Mark at Home Really Says Something

On the eve of today’s game between the Detroit Lions and the New York Jets at the Silverdome, Greg Logan of Newsday asked defensive end Barry Bennett of the Jets to analyze his team’s chances.

While Bennett was answering the question, a Detroit radio reporter broke in and said, “What does it say to you that the Lions are 5-0 at home?”

Bennett: “It says they haven’t played the Bears at home yet.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Minnesota football Coach Lou Holtz Tuesday, listing the advantages of playing in the Independence Bowl: “One, it’s on national television. Two, it’ll help recruiting. Three, it gives us an opportunity to get more practice; it gives us the opportunity to end the season on a happy note; it gives us the opportunity to play the great game of football.

“You look at the future and you build. This is not the end of this year. It’s the beginning of next season.”

Trivia Time: There are five quarterbacks in the NFL who prepped at L.A. City high schools. How many can you name? (Answer below.)

The jokes about William (The Refrigerator) Perry aren’t all new. Two years ago, when he showed up in a Clemson uniform on the Bob Hope show as a member of AP’s All-American team, Hope said, “Did you arrive on the team bus or are you the team bus.”

Jim Hanifan could be on his way out with the St. Louis Cardinals, and although quarterback Neil Lomax isn’t advocating his dismissal, his eyes lit up when Mouse Davis, his coach at Portland State, was mentioned as a possible successor.

Said Lomax to Jack Shepard of the Dallas Times Herald: “Asking me if I’d like to play for Mouse Davis is like asking a vampire if he’d like to go to the blood bank.”

Lester Hayes of the Raiders, on his sandlot days in Houston: “There were always a few stabbings. The sidelines were lined with pistols. This was a brutal game with no pads on a field that was half grass and half gravel. This was the only form of non-detrimental activity in the neighborhood. The other activities were very detrimental to one’s freedom, like jail.”

Manute Bol, 7-7 center of the Washington Bullets, on all the stares he has to endure while traveling with the club: “I’m a good-looking guy, but this is ridiculous.”

Add Bol: Says Darryl Dawkins of the New Jersey Nets: “He’s so tall, if he fell down, he’d be halfway home.”

Said Jeff Ruland of the Washington Bullets after James Donaldson helped the Dallas Mavericks beat the Bullets Tuesday night: “The trade for Donaldson will certainly help them. I just wish it would have taken place a couple of days later.”

Skip Bayless of the Dallas Times Herald said: “The Mavericks made a steal of a deal for a veteran center who probably could start for six or seven NBA teams. For Donaldson, whose $515,000 salary is low-rent for most centers, the Mavs gave the Clippers 6-11 Kurt Nimphius, a garage-sale center-forward.”

Trivia Answer: Jay Schroeder (Palisades), Washington; Tom Ramsey (Kennedy), New England; Vince Ferragamo (Banning), Buffalo; Warren Moon (Hamilton), Houston; John Elway (Granada Hills), Denver.

Note: Raphel Cherry, a quarterback at Washington High and the University of Hawaii, is a defensive back for the Washington Redskins.

Quotebook

Nebraska defensive back Chris Carr, on chasing Oklahoma tight end Keith Jackson on Jackson’s 88-yard touchdown run last Saturday: “I had the angle on him, but I’ll tell you what, that guy has some serious speed.”