Connie Dierking Needn’t Have Asked One More Question

Former NBA player and coach Johnny Kerr, now an announcer and story-teller supreme, was talking about players who hated to fly.

“Connie Dierking was one of the worst,” Kerr said. “When we were with Syracuse, the coach was Paul Seymour, and on one trip, Paul asked me to sit with Connie and put him at ease.

“Connie was sitting there clutching the armrests, and the sweat was rolling down his forehead. I asked him what was the matter, and he said, ‘You know planes scare me.’

“I said, ‘Connie there’s nothing to it. It’s the safest way to travel and it’s the fastest. It’s a lot more dangerous on the ground. I just read the other day about a train that overturned--132 injured, 12 killed.’

“He said, ‘What happened?’

“I said, ‘A plane fell on it.’ ”

Marcus Allen, in New York to receive the NFL Most Valuable Player award, said he still hasn’t forgotten the beating the Raiders took in a 17-6 loss to the Chicago Bears in 1984.

The Bears had 9 sacks, 4 1/2 of them by Richard Dent.

“It hurts me to say this, but the Bears just destroyed us,” Allen said. “We had quarterbacks going down left and right.

“Marc Wilson started and he went down. David Humm was his replacement. Ray Guy would have been next, and he didn’t want to go in. Then it was me. Lord knows what excuse I would have made. Thank goodness, Wilson was eventually able to go back in.”

Add Allen: Asked to pick a Super Bowl winner, Allen declined, saying, “I have to play those guys next season.”

Rest easy, Marcus. Neither team is on the 1986 schedule.

Trivia Time: In the two Super Bowls played in the Coliseum, what player was a starter on both winning teams? (Answer below.)

When Dieter Brock completed only 10 of 31 passes for 66 yards, with 1 interception, was that the worst playoff performance in NFL history? Nope. Not even close.

In the 1953 title game, Cleveland’s Otto Graham was 2 for 15, for 12 yards, with 2 interceptions. He also fumbled when hit by 300-pound Les Bingaman, setting up Detroit’s first touchdown, and the Lions won, 17-16. In 1948, Philadelphia’s Tommy Thompson was 2 for 12, for 7 yards, with 2 interceptions, but the Eagles still beat the Chicago Cardinals, 7-0.

In NFC title games, the booby prize goes to Tampa Bay’s Doug Williams. He was 2 for 13 for 12 yards, with 1 interception, in the 9-0 loss to the Rams in 1979. Honorable mention goes to Pat Haden, who was 7 for 19 for 76 yards, with 3 interceptions, in the Rams’ 28-0 loss to Dallas in 1978.

For What It’s Worth: While Walt Hazzard struggles to keep UCLA above water, ex-Bruin coaches Gene Bartow, Larry Brown and Larry Farmer are doing swimmingly, thank you.

Bartow is 15-2 at Alabama Birmingham, Brown is 15-2 at Kansas, and Farmer is 12-2 at Weber State. All are unbeaten in conference play.

Trivia Answer: Marv Fleming. He started at tight end both for Green Bay in Super Bowl I and for Miami in Super Bowl VII.

Quotebook

British miler Steve Ovett, asked by Track & Field News about the rising popularity of American football in England: “Most of the guys who go out are about 5-2. I think they like the dressing up in all the gear more than anything. It’s like 22 transvestites out there.”