Consequently, Today the Twain Shall Meet

When Watson Brown was the head coach at Rice, he changed the 1986 schedule so that the Owls would not have to play Tulane, coached by his brother Mack Brown.

Tulane filled the void by putting Vanderbilt on its schedule.

The new head coach at Vanderbilt this year? You guessed it, Watson Brown.

The brothers meet today.

From University of Maryland linebacker Chuck Faucette, who spent a couple of years knocking around the minor leagues as an outfielder in the Toronto Blue Jays system: “Some of the motels I wouldn’t even take a shower in.”

He said the final straw was Medicine Hat in Canada.

“Medicine Hat was about as big as this campus,” he told Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post. “The only music was country. There were mountain lions, mooses. All the girls rode motorcycles. It was sick. That’s when I turned into a rock freak. All I did was listen to my heavy-rock tapes on those bus rides.”

Trivia Time: Who gained the most career yards rushing in the American Football League? (Answer below.)

Quick now, what running back is leading the National Football League in touchdowns after the first two weeks? The answer is Herschel Walker, with three. Walker has carried only 16 times. Eric Dickerson leads with 57 carries.

28 Years Ago Today: On Sept. 20, 1958, Hoyt Wilhelm of the Baltimore Orioles pitched a 1-0 no-hitter against the New York Yankees, with the only run coming on a home run by Gus Triandos. Wilhelm was 35 years old, but he would pitch 14 more years, winding up his career at the age of 49 with the Dodgers in 1972.

The Prophet: Sammy Stewart said it in July, and you could have bet it would wind up among the forgettable quotes, but the Boston reliever was right on the mark when asked the Red Sox’s pennant-winning formula.

Said Stewart: “Get a league lead, tear off your rear-view mirror and drive like the Italians. Let ‘em look at your smoke. There’s not going to be any of this Red Sox curse of September. It’s irrelevant.”

Add Bosox: From reliever Joe Sambito, revealing that he has a baseball autographed by Ronald Reagan: “His penmanship is awful.”

For What It’s Worth: Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz is 0-3 against today’s opponent, Michigan State. The Spartans beat him twice when he was at Minnesota and once at North Carolina State.

Trivia Answer: Clem Daniels. With the Dallas Texans (1960) and the Oakland Raiders (1961-67), he gained 5,101 yards.

Quotebook

Frank Layden, Utah Jazz coach and general manager, who is enrolled in a weight-loss clinic in Santa Monica: “I’ve already lost 220 pounds. I traded Adrian Dantley.”