ESPN Plans to Have Its Cameras Present

In the 17-14 loss to the New York Giants two weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys were stymied at the end when offensive tackle Phil Pozderac made three critical errors.

The next day, Dallas Morning News columnist David Casstevens, writing about the misadventures of Pozderac, said, “For those of you who have been calling, the public flogging will be noon on Wednesday.”

The next day, a caller to the Morning News sports department asked, “Will it be televised?”

Would-you-believe-it dept.: If Cal loses to Stanford Saturday in Joe Kapp’s last game as coach, it will mark the first time in the 106-year history of football at Berkeley that the Bears have lost 10 games.

Cal has lost nine games four times--under Kapp in 1984, Roger Theder in 1981, Marv Levy in 1962 and Pete Elliott in 1957. Kapp was a member of the 1957 team.

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Arizona State Coach John Cooper on the eve of Saturday night’s game against Wichita State: “When I was at Tulsa, they always gave us very good football games. Wichita State is a lot better football team than most people realize. They’ll give us some problems.”

Said Cooper after Arizona State won the game, 52-6: “It was like a practice atmosphere out there.”

Trivia Time: Joe Theismann at Notre Dame and Tony Dorsett at Pittsburgh both made what change before leaving school? (Answer below.)

Said Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz after Saturday’s 24-19 loss to Penn State: “It was a great game if you didn’t care who won. I cared.”

30 Years Ago Today: On Nov. 17, 1956, Jim Brown of Syracuse scored an NCAA-record 43 points against Colgate. Brown scored six touchdowns and kicked seven extra points as Syracuse won, 61-7. The record still stands.

What’s-in-a-name dept.: There’s a 2 year old running in New York, out of the dam Indian Call, that’s named My Teepee or Yours.

Wait a Minute: Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, after throwing the ball at Jerry Sichting of the Boston Celtics Saturday night, told referee Earl Strom that there was nothing malicious in the act.

“We’ve got the same agent,” Thomas said.

The season’s young, but Utah Jazz Coach Frank Layden still was savoring the team’s first-place standing in the Midwest Division after Saturday’s win over the Denver Nuggets.

“It’s better than second or third or fourth,” he said. “If the world ends tomorrow, we’ll be the champs.”

From Peter May of the Hartford Courant: “Milwaukee assistant coach Del Harris relates this story from opening night against Boston. As the Boston reserves were being introduced, Coach Don Nelson turned to Harris and said, ‘Now, there are five, pretty ordinary players.’ When Bird joined them, Nelson turned to Harris and said, “Now, there are six great players.’ ”

Trivia Answer: The pronunciation of their names. Theismann went from THEES-man to THIGHS-man. Dorsett went from DOR-set to Dor-SET. Note: Theismann changed at the suggestion of Notre Dame publicist Roger Valdisierri, so his name would rhyme with Heisman. It didn’t quite work. Jim Plunkett of Stanford beat out Theismann for the trophy in 1970.

Quotebook

Louis Lipps of the Pittsburgh Steelers, asked what he plans to do after football: “Anything where I don’t have to do anything--like a politician maybe.”