There’s a Little Bit of Hot Dog in Tree

Tree Rollins can’t believe it. The Atlanta Hawks’ center, who has become a fitness freak, continues to be amazed by the pregame meals of teammate Dominique Wilkins.

“He always has a Snickers bar, popcorn and a bag of potato chips,” Rollins said. “You wonder how he can do it. But that’s ‘Nique.”

Rollins himself is on a special low-fat diet, although he admits he strays now and then.

“Every now and then, I get a hot dog ‘cause it’s there,” he said. “It’s hard to take your kid to a game without getting a hot dog. They don’t have broccoli there.”

For What It’s Worth: In his last year at Tulane in 1979, new USC football Coach Larry Smith had a 9-3 record, only the second time in 31 years the school had won nine games.

In the Liberty Bowl against Penn State, Tulane lost, 9-6. The Nittany Lions won it on a 20-yard field goal with 18 seconds left.

Trivia Time: Cleveland’s Mark Moseley, with six field goal attempts Saturday, tied a playoff record set by George Blanda of the Raiders in 1967 and tied by what Ram kicker in 1973? (Answer below.)

Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants isn’t looking forward to his first assignment after being named NFL Player of the Year by the Associated Press.

Of today’s game against San Francisco, he said: “I hate playing the 49ers because they use short drops and a ball-control offense. They really don’t take a lot of chances, and that’s when you can hurt a team, when they take a gamble. It makes it difficult to play when you’re high-strung and ready to go, and they force you to play a patient type of game.”

Gary Danielson, backup Cleveland quarterback, told George Usher of Newsday: “Bernie Kosar plays football like Isiah Thomas plays basketball. He knows where everyone is at all times.

“He is as quick a thinker as I have ever seen. In practice, he’ll ask questions of the coaches that really challenge them. Like why are we doing this? Why don’t we attack that? A lot of the questions I find are on the tip of my tongue. The same thing I was about to ask, he asks. Only he’s in his second year. I’m in my 11th season. It’s eerie.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: Mike McGee, with the Lakers, was a long-range gunner who came off the bench to supply instant offense.

He’s now with the Atlanta Hawks, and Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls has named him to the all-defensive team he picked for TV Guide. Others picked were Michael Cooper of the Lakers, T.R. Dunn of Denver, Alvin Robertson of San Antonio and Dennis Johnson of Boston.

Of McGee, Jordan said: “His hands seem to be all over the place.”

Said former Pittsburgh reliever ElRoy Face when asked the difference between the forkball he used to throw and the split-fingered fastball Mike Scott throws: “Money.”

Trivia Answer: David Ray.

Quotebook

Penn State Coach Joe Paterno, asked Saturday to compare his 1986 national champions to his 1982 national champions: “I need a little time to think. I’m groggy. I had a couple of players in my room at 3 a.m. looking for a case of beer.”