Hawk Flew the Coop, and Result Was Fine

Alex Hawkins, a star running back at South Carolina who became a special teams captain with the Baltimore Colts, was a fun-loving sort who created most of his havoc off the field.

Sports Editor Herman Helms of the Columbia, S.C., State recalled when the Colts were in San Francisco to play the 49ers and were staying at the Clift Hotel.

“Coach Don Shula imposed a midnight curfew, but the Hawk said damned if they were going to fence him in,” wrote Helms. “The hotel was undergoing some renovation, and from the window of his room on the ninth floor, the Hawk got the feeling he could make it to the ground by climbing down the repair scaffolding to the alley.

“He went down it carefully and gingerly and thought he had made his escape. When he got to the second floor, he felt he could jump from there, so he looked down for the first time.

“What he saw were 500 faces staring up at him, one of them belonging to Don Shula. The Hawk simply put it in reverse and climbed back to his quarters to ringing cheers from the crowd. Shula slapped him with a healthy fine.”

Add Forgettable Quotes: “Baylor’s bat will be dead by August.” So said George Steinbrenner of Boston slugger Don Baylor, an ex-Yankee. Since Aug. 1, Baylor has hit 11 home runs and now has 30. That gives him more than any Yankee. It’s also his best total since 1979 when he hit 36 for the Angels. That year, he was voted the American League MVP.

The Name Game: John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Examiner already has selected his 1986 all-name college football team, as follows:

OFFENSE: WR--Azizuddin Abdur-Ra’oof of Maryland; OL--Creighton Incorminias of North Carolina, Nacho Albergamo of LSU, Onno Zwaneveld of UCLA, Brian Smallbone of Central Michigan, Corky Gore of Houston; TE--Stein Koss of Arizona State; QB--Dan Boring of Marshall; RB--Hiawatha Francisco of Notre Dame, J.C. Penny of Miami, Bug Isom of Georgia Tech.

DEFENSE: DL--Richard Pryor of Iowa, Medrick Rainbow of East Carolina, Dick Teets of Wisconsin; LB--Thor Salanoa of BYU, Tom Shakeshaft of Dartmouth, Onesimus Henry of Southern Mississippi, Cedric Figaro of Notre Dame; DB--African Grant of Illinois, Peel Chronister of Army, Andre Creamer of Tennessee, and John Booty of TCU.

The greatest golfer ever? “Jack Nicklaus was the best player for 12 years and he was a great putter,” Sam Snead told a writer from the Portland Oregonian. “He didn’t even have to be good with a wedge to be the best.”

Second best?

“It’s a tossup between Byron Nelson and Ben Hogan,” Snead said. “Nelson was a better driver and hit long irons better. Hogan was better around the greens and putting.”

The best putter?

“Bobby Locke,” Snead said without hesitation. “He would slop up a wedge without backspin on it. He didn’t care. He either made the putt or tapped in the second one.”

Quotebook

Baylor football Coach Grant Teaff, on why he has outlawed the use of smokeless tobacco by his players: “Joel Porter, our star tackle, was trying to give an interview last year. Here’s an intelligent, sharp young man who comes across sounding like, ‘Uhlm, uhlm, uhlm . . .”