Ryan Has Shula Taking Offense

No More Buddy, Buddy: Since becoming coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Buddy Ryan, former assistant with the Chicago Bears, has succeeded in alienating at least two fellow NFL coaches.

First it was Chicago’s Mike Ditka, with whom he barely got along when they were with the same team. Now Ryan and the Miami Dolphins’ Don Shula are not seeing eye to eye.

Ryan complained that Shula’s Dolphins were flouting National Football League rules during Saturday’s exhibition game by keeping more than 11 offensive players in the huddle until the last second in an attempt to confuse the defense.

“The rules in the NFL are that you can huddle 11 guys,” Ryan said. “He huddled 15. This is crazy what they let him get away with just because he’s on the rules committee.”

Shula didn’t take kindly to the accusation.

“It seems like Ryan’s got something to say about everything,” Shula said. “The only difference is going to be that at the end of this season, they’re going to be looking at his won-lost record. They didn’t do that when he was an assistant coach.

“Anything that he would say wouldn’t surprise me. From what he’s said in the past about draft choices (William (Refrigerator) Perry) and the guy he worked for (Ditka), I think it tells you a little bit about him.”

Was He Kidding or What?: Dan Pohl was unsure whether to buy a case of champagne for reporters after his victory Sunday in the World Series of Golf at Akron, Ohio.

“To tell the truth, I was wondering whether you guys drink,” he said.

Pohl soon was enlightened.

Ticket to Ride: Tom and Martha Rogers, owners of a Rochester, N.Y., travel agency, have arranged a bus excursion to Rich Stadium for the Buffalo Bills’ game against the Cleveland Browns Dec. 7.

They have so much faith in new Buffalo quarterback Jim Kelly that they’re offering to refund the $30 ticket and bus package if the Bills lose.

Of course, they also had faith in former Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson two years ago, when they offered the money-back deal for the first time and blew $2,200. The Bills lost that game, 13-10, in the waning minutes.

“Everybody was happy when they got back,” Tom Rogers said. “I’ve never seen people so happy to have seen a losing game.”

Or $218,000 Per Catch: In the 1984 draft, the St. Louis Cardinals chose wide receiver Clyde Duncan of Tennessee in the first round.

Now, Duncan has been waived. His two-season totals: 4 catches, 39 yards, $872,000 spent by St. Louis.

Among those the Cardinals passed up to draft Duncan were Louis Lipps and Daryl Turner.

“You’d have to be a blind man to think we didn’t blow that pick,” said George Boone, the Cardinals’ director of player personnel.

Quotebook

Buddy Martin of the Denver Post, speculating on what the Raiders might have accomplished had they landed quarterback Jim Kelly: “All that stands in the way of the Raiders and a Super Bowl is Marc Wilson.”