So Much for Gifts of Golf

Al Trautwig, a member of the ABC announcing team at the PGA Championship, is an avid golfer who tries to get in as many rounds as he can between assignments.

At the U.S Open, Trautwig interviewed Ray Floyd and Greg Norman after the final round. Floyd gave him a tee, and Norman gave him a ball.

Trautwig, not one for keeping mementos, used both gifts when he went out for a round of golf the next day.

“Broke the tee and lost the ball on the first hole,” he said.

Coach Mike Ditka didn’t seem too upset when several of his Chicago Bears showed up late at camp.

“I heard five or six guys missed a plane from O’Hare to Dubuque,” Ditka told Don Pierson of the Chicago Tribune. “That’s all right. They all have money. They’re all multimillionaires. They know how to rent a car. Some probably even know how to hot-wire a car.”

Said former Green Bay roommate Max McGee, in introducing Paul Hornung at the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies: “Paul Hornung was an impact player for the Packers. He was also an impact player to half the females in the United States.”

Jerry Burns, new coach of the Minnesota Vikings, was an assistant to George Allen at Whittier College in 1952.

Allen, asked why he hired Burns, told Curt Brown of the St. Paul Pioneer Press: “I was his 150-pound coach at Michigan, and he was out of work, so I hired him for three reasons: No. 1, he was a good coach; No. 2, he was a friend, and No. 3, the salary was right. I paid him $800 for the season.”

Trivia Time: What player has passed for the most yards in a game in Coliseum history? (Answer below.)

For the Record: Sunday’s item on John Candelaria should have placed his 1976 no-hitter against the Dodgers in Three Rivers Stadium, not Forbes Field. The fact is, no Pittsburgh pitcher ever threw a no-hitter at Forbes Field in the stadium’s 61-year history (1909-70).

The only other hometown no-hitter by a Pittsburgh pitcher was by Nick Maddox in 1907. It was at Exposition Field Park. It wasn’t a shutout, however. He beat the Brooklyn Dodgers, 2-1.

Thus, Candelaria’s 2-0 win over the Dodgers stands as the only no-hit, no-run game.

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: Chuck Noll, who has coached the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl titles, the most by any coach, has made only one commercial in Pittsburgh in 18 years.

“I did something with billboards,” he said. “It was a favor.”

Orlando Twin Manager George Mitterwald, former Minnesota Twin catcher, said after a series against the Memphis Chicks that he thinks Bo Jackson, the Heisman Trophy-winning running back from Auburn who signed a pro baseball contract and now plays for Memphis, is two or three years away from the major leagues, but no more than three.

“He’s got tremendous speed, runs from home to first base in 3.8 seconds,” Mitterwald told Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “He made a couple of running catches in right field on balls that most people couldn’t even get to. He’s a little stiff with his throwing but has a good arm. And he has tremendous power at bat. In one game, he was 3 for 4 and everything he hit was a rocket.”

Trivia Answer: Jim Kelly of the Houston Gamblers, with 574 yards against the Express in 1985. He completed 35 of 54 passes, five for touchdowns, as the Gamblers overcame a 20-point deficit and beat the Express, 34-33. The previous mark was 554 yards by Norm Van Brocklin of the Rams in 1951. That mark is still a National Football League record.

Quotebook

Bob Tway, on his leaps of joy in the bunker after holing out to win the PGA title: “If I would have jumped like that in high school, I would have played basketball.”