His Players Won’t Miss Him on the Sideline

Both coaches, Danny Ford of Clemson and Bobby Ross of Maryland, have been banned from the sideline for Saturday’s game--Ford for his part in a postgame riot last year and Ross for chasing and grabbing an official two weeks ago at North Carolina.

Will Ford be missed by his players? Not exactly.

“It will be peaceful, that’s for sure,” receiver Ray Williams told the Washington Post. “He’s already so emotional, then he starts screaming and hollering, and the way he talks you can’t understand what he’s saying, anyway. But you better say, ‘Yes, sir.’ ”

Said guard John Phillips: “I feel sorry for the assistant coach who has to talk to him in the press box on the headphones all day. Can you imagine how red that guy’s ears will be?”

CBS has asked to put a microphone on Ford for the game, but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea.

“All they’ll have is beeps,” he said.

Jim Stuckey, former defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers, got a call from the Indianapolis Colts Wednesday offering him a tryout. Half an hour later, he got the same kind of call from the New York Jets.

“It wasn’t a tough decision,” Stuckey said. “In 30 minutes, I went from an 0-10 team to a 9-1 team.”

New York didn’t get a subway World Series, because the Yankees failed to hold up their end of the bargain, but how about a subway Super Bowl between the Giants and the Jets?

They’re thinking about it, but because both teams play in New Jersey, they’re referring to it as the swampland Super Bowl.

Said the New York Times: “Anybody who has ever suffered through the years with these two pro football teams has to be wondering if, on Super Sunday, Jan. 25, palm-shaded Pasadena, Calif., will be known as East Rutherford West.”

Well, there goes the neighborhood.

Trivia Time: Since the NFL started keeping statistics on quarterback sacks in 1963, who holds the record for number of times being sacked? (Answer to follow.)

For What It’s Worth: Damon Allen, brother of Marcus and a former Cal State Fullerton quarterback, threw three touchdown passes to lead the Edmonton Eskimos to a 42-14 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders in a Canadian Football League game last weekend.

One of the pass plays was a 65-yarder to Brian Kelly, former Bishop Amat and Washington State receiver.

Edmonton wound up with the league’s best regular-season record at 13-4-1.

Anyone notice that the two Cy Young runners-up are both left-handed screwball artists from Mexico? They are Fernando Valenzuela of the Dodgers and Ted Higuera of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Washington fullback Tony Covington, who takes over for the injured Rick Fenney Saturday against UCLA, has a personal best of 102 yards in a game.

“I want to get a personal best again,” he said. “It’s something about the rivalry, the big game, the crowds. I want to maul them.”

West Virginia Coach Don Nehlen, who has lost to both, tells why he rates Penn State over Miami: “Miami beats you with big plays, but Penn State just beats you in every phase of the game.”

Trivia Answer: Fran Tarkenton, with 483.

Quotebook

Reggie Miller of UCLA, on the new three-point shot in college basketball: “When I found out the line was only 19-9, it was definitely party time at the Miller house. You know, streamers, balloons, chips-and-dips, the whole works.”