If He Fumbled, Jets Not Saying . . . but Neither Did Trojans

Michael Harper has done it again. The man who scored the phantom touchdown that gave USC a win over Notre Dame in 1982 apparently got away with another fumble Sunday for the New York Jets.

At least that’s how Miami Coach Don Shula saw it after looking at films of the Dolphins’ 51-45 overtime loss to the Jets.

With the score tied, 45-45, Miami kicked off to open the overtime. Harper received the kick and returned it to his own 22-yard line, where the ball came loose and was recovered by the Dolphins. The officials ruled, however, that Harper’s knee already had touched, and the Jets retained possession. Announcer Dick Enberg, after looking at the replay, said he thought it was a fumble.

Said Shula Monday: “To me it was very evident it was a fumble. Our coaching tapes confirmed that. I talked to the league office. They felt the replay official should have made contact with the field for a conference, but it didn’t happen.”

Said Harper: “My knees hit first. Anything hits and the ball is dead. I’m glad they called it that way.”

In the 1982 USC-Notre Dame game, Harper dove over the line for a touchdown that gave the Trojans a 17-13 win. Photographs later proved that he fumbled before going into the end zone, but the score stood.

Thus the Trojans made good on their vow to “Win one for the fat man.”

That was John Robinson, coaching his last game at USC.

Trivia Time: What do Gary Carter of the New York Mets and Jim Karsatos of Ohio State have in common? (Answer below.)

Add Karsatos: A communications major at Ohio State, he said: “I want to get into television. Not in front of the camera, but behind it.”

Why?

“I really don’t like the sound of my voice,” he said.

The-sting-of-defeat dept.: During Saturday’s game against Houston, Oklahoma State Coach Pat Jones noticed that star running back Thurman Thomas had an ice pack on his lip.

“I thought somebody had hit him in the mouth,” Jones said. “Then I heard one of the kids talking about a bee. I asked him about it, and Thurman said a bee flew into the huddle and stung him on the lip. That’s kind of the way things are going around here.”

Houston won, 28-12.

Would-you-believe-it dept.: From Marty Noble of Newsday: “When Dwight Gooden struck out Cubs’ rookie Rafael Palmeiro on a swinging third strike in the sixth inning last Wednesday night, it was the first time in 31 major league plate appearances Palmeiro had swung at a pitch and missed. He hit a home run in his next at-bat, his second home run against Gooden. The first came in 1982 in a Miami-Tampa high school all-star game.”

For What It’s Worth: Reggie Jackson, with 17 home runs, has a shot at the record for 40-year-olds. Henry Aaron hit 20 for Atlanta in 1974.

Curiously, the record for 41-year-olds is better. Ted Williams hit 29 for Boston in 1960.

Detroit Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson, on Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees: “He’s the best player in America, I know that for a fact. He’s a notch above everyone else. He plays the whole game--offensive, power and defense.”

Trivia Answer: Both were star quarterbacks at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton.

Quotebook

Michigan Coach Bo Schembechler, on Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth, who wears earrings and a punk haircut: “Well, if he were at Michigan he’d probably dress different, but he’d still be in the lineup.”