Ditka Will Take It Out on Anyone

The week before, Mike Ditka was seen chewing out Mike Tomczak on the sideline. Monday night, Doug Flutie was getting the treatment.

“I think it’s silly to keep a camera on the coach, especially on this coach,” Ditka said after the Chicago Bears’ 16-13 win over the Detroit Lions. “It’s just plain silly. With some guys it’s probably OK, you just put people to sleep. But when you keep the camera on me, it makes guys want to go out and buy guns and hand grenades.”

Said Flutie: “I’ve seen him worse. In fact, in some ways, he’s probably been easier on me than on some of the other guys.”

Said safety Dave Duerson: “The great thing about Mike, he can cut loose with the tongue, rake you, and then just as quickly forget about it--as long as you win.”

Ditka was asked at what stage of his career the competitive fires started to burn.

“There’s a rumor,” he said, “that I stole some rattles at age 2.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: The 7-4 posted by Ted Tollner at USC this season would have represented Mike McGee’s best record in his eight years as head coach at Duke. McGee twice went 6-5, his only winning seasons. Overall, he was 37-47-4.

A clause in the contract of New York Mets Manager Davey Johnson, specifying that he not be paid less than the manager of the New York Yankees, earned Johnson a raise for next season.

Said Yankee Manager Lou Piniella: “Tell Davey he doesn’t owe me anything. All he has to do is play my cousin at third base.”

Piniella’s cousin is Dave Magadan, the former University of Alabama star.

Trivia Time: Which division in the NFL has gone the longest without a Super Bowl champion? (Answer below.)

For the Record: Norm Rosenfeld of Culver City called to add the name of John Riggins to those who have gained 1,000 yards for two different teams in the NFL. Riggins did it with the New York Jets and the Washington Redskins.

Charles Barkley says ex-76er Moses Malone is in trouble when Philadelphia faces Washington the first time this season on Christmas night.

“We’re not even worried about the Washington Bullets--they only average 60 points a game. We don’t even think about them,” Barkley said. “Now Moses, he says they’re gonna win. I say we’re gonna win. Both of us can’t win; one of us is lying.

“But I’ll tell you what, he better bring more than 60 points a game with him. The race is on and he’d better get out of that Volkswagen and get into something faster. You can’t catch a Mercedes in a VW.”

Boston Celtics Coach K.C. Jones, on what Jack Sikma does for Milwaukee: “He’s like MasterCard. He gives them all the possibilities.”

National League MVP Mike Schmidt has a word of warning for the New York Mets: “If you don’t carry yourself in a certain way in the face of victory, you’re in for trouble the next year. I know a lot of players who want to beat the Mets bad. If you think they had some fights last year, you won’t believe what they’re going to go through next year.”

Trivia Answer: The AFC East has not had a Super Bowl champion since Miami defeated Minnesota, 24-7, in Super Bowl VIII following the 1973 season.

Quotebook

Houston Rockets Coach Bill Fitch, on the dedication of rookie Conner Henry from UC Santa Barbara: “Even though he lived on the beach in college, he didn’t have a tan. Now that’s a serious player.”