His Talk Is the Talk of Buffalo

It was suggested in this space Friday that Coach Hank Bullough of the Buffalo Bills was becoming the new master of the malapropism. It turns out that the Buffalo News has been keeping a list. A selected few:

--”The spare of the moment.”

--”He’s making improvement throwing the ball where he’s throwing the ball.”

--”We keep beating ourselves, but we’re getting better at it.”

--On team owner Ralph Wilson: “I’m not a yes guy. He knows that when I hired him.”

--Rating the college backs: “Well, you’ve got that Jackson kid at Auburn and that Bonaparte kid at Navy.”

Jawann Oldham of the Chicago Bulls, a native of Seattle, was told by his teammates that he’s in a trivial pursuit game. The question was, “Of Patrick Ewing, Akeem Olajuwon and Jawann Oldham, which of the three was born in the USA?”

Said Oldham: “What’s the answer?”

Trivia Time: Is it true or false that Walter Davis has played for two NBA championship teams? (Answer below.)

Would-you-believe-it dept.: The Rams thought they had eliminated the doubters with their win over San Francisco, but the New York Times remains unmoved. In the paper’s latest computer ratings, the Rams are No. 12.

Chicago is No. 1, followed by the Raiders. San Diego, with its 8-7 record, is No. 10.

Question: Could the Rams win the Super Bowl and still not finish No. 1? Only the computer knows.

Steve Bartkowski, before he caught on with the Washington Redskins, said there were at least four teams he could start for, including the Rams and the Raiders.

“Most of these teams,” he said, “are winning in spite of who’s taking snaps for them.”

From interim Coach Jerry Glanville of the Houston Oilers, saying he’s not worried whether he’ll be hired on a permanent basis: “I’ve got the best coach’s wife in the world, I’ve got a great son, a dog who will still hunt, and I’ve got a brand new car and I’m down to 36 payments, and I belong to a hell of a church. So I’m better off than most people in Houston.”

From Glenn Nelson of the Seattle Times: “One league sage, commenting on Maurice Lucas’ physical play, said if the Laker forward were a musician, ‘he’d play a blunt instrument.’ ”

It was the coldest day of the season at Redskin Park, and Coach Joe Gibbs told Christine Brennan of the Washington Post: “I was kidding our guys today. I said, ‘Hey, they fought wars in Russia like this.’

“And the guys said, ‘Yeah, and a lot of guys died, too.’ ”

Poor Todd Bell. A Pro Bowl safety last season, he has been holding out this year with the Chicago Bears and has watched his bargaining power all but disappear in a wave of Chicago wins. Now, he has suffered the cruelest blow. Dave Duerson, the man who replaced him in the lineup, was named to the NFC Pro Bowl team for the Feb. 2 game at Honolulu.

Trivia Answer: True. Walter Davis, the one from Texas A&M;, not North Carolina, won championship rings with the 1955-56 Philadelphia Warriors and 1957-58 St. Louis Hawks. Note: He also set a world high jump record of 6-11 1/2 and won the 1952 Olympic gold medal.

Quotebook

San Francisco Coach Bill Walsh, told that Danny White said Dallas “owed” San Francisco one after three straight losses to the 49ers: “I’m just glad that Randy White didn’t say it.”