A Word Portrait of the Young Man as Frustrated Bronco Fan

They still haven’t recovered in Denver. Young and old alike are trying to come to terms with Sunday’s 17-14 overtime loss to the Raiders, which all but eliminated the Broncos from the playoffs.

“None of them expressed it quite like young Rhett Elder, my 5-year-old neighbor friend from across the street,” wrote Buddy Martin of the Denver Post. “Rhett attended Sunday’s game, and when his father, Dick, informed him that Chris Bahr’s field goal had ended the game, Rhett went into a rage.

“Slamming his ski hat to the ground, Rhett exclaimed: ‘Darn it, dad! There goes our chance for the Super Bowl! Why do we always lose to these teams from California?’

“Then Rhett, with chapped apple-cheeks and runny nose, came up with a suggestion we could all envy these cold winter days: ‘Dad, could we move to California?’ ”

Add Raiders: Lester Hayes explains why he likes the home-field advantage: “In L.A. during the playoffs, the Smog Monster will get you. Teams come in here and they can’t breathe. The L.A. smog in December is like the Raiders’ 12th man.”

From linebacker Otis Wilson of the Chicago Bears: “We intimidate people. We go after them. The Raiders intimidate you and get 100 yards in penalties. We take pride and do it within the rules.”

For the Record: If you’re wondering who was Verda Smith of the Rams, listed among the all-time NFL kick returners in Wednesday’s paper, he is best remembered as V.T. Smith, or by his nickname of Vitamin T. Smith. He was a 5-8, 180-pound sprinter out of Abilene Christian. He and Tommy (Cricket) Kalmanir, another 5-8, 180-pounder out of the University of Nevada, used to dazzle Ram foes after they had been softened up by the Bull Elephant backfield.

Trivia Time: Name the three running backs who made up the Bull Elephant backfield of the Rams in the 1950s. (Answer below.)

The way Michael Janofsky of the New York Times tells it, if you listen closely to CBS colorman Terry Bradshaw, you’ll discover that all his comments don’t add up.

When announcer Vern Lundquist asked him Sunday about Riverfront Stadium, Bradshaw said he had “fond memories” of the place, although “most of them are negative.”

He added: “One time, we made 10 turnovers. Seven of them were fumbles. The other four were interceptions.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said St. Louis Cardinals General Manager Dal Maxvill in the Dec. 9 Sporting News, explaining why Joaquin Andujar wouldn’t be traded: “As emotional as he is and as upset as he gets on the mound, you look at the bottom line and you still see 41 wins the past couple of years. The bottom line is that we wouldn’t have won without Joaquin Andujar.”

He was traded Tuesday.

Wrote Jim Armstrong of the Denver Post, claiming that Benoit Benjamin of the Clippers leads the league in immaturity: “Take the time he missed the team flight back to L.A. from Seattle. Or the four times he’s been fined for being late for practice. Or the time he was horrified to find out the $200 in food and drinks he consumed from his hotel mini-bar weren’t free--’I was thinking “Gee, that’s really nice of them.” ’--despite the price list on the front of the refrigerator. Or the fact that he doesn’t drive a car. Or the fact that . . . Well, you get the picture.”

Trivia Answer: Dan Towler, Tank Younger and Dick Hoerner.

Quotebook

Princeton basketball Coach Pete Carril, on the difficulty of recruiting blue-chip high school players: “When God created me, he also created the admissions office.”