Throwaway Line Gets Intercepted

The first returns from around the National Football League are in on the Raider quarterback position for 1986, and they’re not complimentary.

The Raiders will open at Denver Sunday, and in a recent conference call with Los Angeles reporters, Bronco quarterback John Elway was asked how close he came to becoming the Raider quarterback, a reference to their attempt to trade for his draft rights in 1983.

Elway said he remembered and added: “They need one, that’s for sure.”

Asked if he was referring to Raider starter Marc Wilson, Elway said: “I’ll rescind that.”

Yes, but it’s in heavy traffic: Oklahoma football Coach Barry Switzer, complaining about the recruiting advantage UCLA Coach Terry Donahue enjoys, said: “He drives past more athletes on his way home every night than we see in 10 years here.”

In the American League: When Fred Lynn and Jim Rice drove in 105 and 102 runs, respectively, for the Red Sox in 1975, it marked the first time since 1950 that two rookies had amassed 100 or more RBIs in one season. Three rookies--Walt Dropo of the Red Sox with 144, and Al Rosen and Luke Easter of the Cleveland Indians, with 116 and 107, respectively, surpassed the 100 mark in 1950.

Now, Jose Canseco of Oakland and Wally Joyner of the Angels have 104 and 90 RBIs, respectively. And don’t overlook a third rookie, Danny Tartabull of Seattle, who has 83.

The NCAA sideline diet: Michigan football Coach Bo Schembechler has dropped from 222 to 199 pounds. He says it’s because of the NCAA rule change that allows the coach to wander along the sideline between the 25-yard lines.

“I’m much faster and quicker this year,” Schembechler said. “I’ve got to use those extra yards the NCAA is giving me.”

In case you don’t get MTV, here is Matt Millen’s rap from the Raiders’ music video, “The Silver & Black Attack”:

Matt Millen’s my name and I’m from Penn State. Those turkeys on offense are creatures I hate. I find ‘em, I catch ‘em, I break up their blocks. When I catch ‘em, I hit ‘em right out of their socks. If that’s not enough, you can always buy, “The Making of the Silver & Black Attack.” Just $19.95.

The possible playoff series between the New York Mets and the Houston Astros for the National League pennant is setting off a small wave of nostalgia for the good old days when the teams were bad. Joe Gergen of Newsday recalls the time Casey Stengel took the Mets to play the Colt .45s, the pre-Astrodome Houston team.

Coming in off a string of losses and travel difficulties that didn’t get the Mets into hot, humid Houston until the morning rush hour, Stengel told the traveling secretary: “If any writers want to talk to me, tell ‘em I’m being embalmed.”

Quotebook

Martina Navratilova on John McEnroe’s less-than-spectacular return to tennis after a six-month layoff: “You can’t win without confidence and you can’t have confidence without winning, so it’s a Catch-22.”