Young Player From Massachusetts Had Al McGuire Puzzled

In the spring of 1970, Marquette did not play in the NCAA tournament because Al McGuire objected to the regional assignments. Instead, he took the Warriors to New York, where they won the NIT.

Recalling the tournament, McGuire said: “We fly in and our first game is against Massachusetts. I think, hey, they’re a cupcake, a patsy. You know, Napoleon said God is on the side of the large battalions.”

Marquette found itself in a struggle, however.

“The game is 17 minutes old and we can’t shake them,” McGuire said. “It’s 23-22 or something and they’ve got one kid holding us off. I turned to my assistant, Hank Raymonds, and said, ‘Who is that guy?’ ”

That’s how Al McGuire was introduced to Julius Erving, a sophomore at the time.

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Bobby Knight to reporters when Indiana climbed to No. 2 in the rankings seven weeks ago: “A lot of guys think this is a good team. But I’ve forgotten more about basketball than most of you know and I’m telling you this isn’t a good ballclub.”

Darryl Strawberry, after being fined $1,500 for missing a couple of New York Mets workouts, expected some sympathy from his teammates. It wasn’t forthcoming.

Said Gary Carter to Newsday: “He overslept? Can’t he afford an alarm clock? I have one and I get up in the morning. But then, I go to bed at night.”

Said Lee Mazzilli: “I have no sympathy for him. The reason is because he has more talent than anybody in this clubhouse. He has Hall of Fame written all over him. It’s time for him to wake up. The thing is, he’s a good kid. If he was a jerk, we wouldn’t care about him. But he’s a good guy.”

Trivia Time: Dick Williams and John McNamara both have been the manager of what four teams? (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: Bill Cayton, trainer for Mike Tyson, called James (Bonecrusher) Smith a disgrace to the game and said, “In the whole history of boxing since the Marquess of Queensberry rules were adopted in 1867, no fighter had ever before lost every round of a heavyweight title fight that went the distance.”

Has Cayton forgotten the Larry Holmes-Randall (Tex) Cobb fiasco in 1982? Two of the three judges gave Holmes every one of the 15 rounds. The other judge gave Cobb one round, but nobody could figure how.

Howard Cosell found it all so repulsive that he never did another professional fight.

Pam Shriver doesn’t want to see any more stories on how Chris Evert Lloyd is about to retire.

After Lloyd, 32, disposed of Shriver for the 18th straight time Sunday in Dallas, Shriver said: “You know, ever since I started on the tour, she’s supposedly been on her last legs. She must be a centipede. What do they have, 100 legs?”

Would-you-believe-it dept.: If Michael Jordan fails to score a point in his final 13 games, he still would wind up with an average of 31.3 a game. Currently second to Jordan are Alex English and Dominque Wilkins at 29.0.

From Peter King of Newsday: “Mike Ditka told writers at the NFL winter meetings that he’d bet any of them $10,000 that William Perry would weigh 310 by the time the season opens. He’s around 330 now. ‘That guy’s going to have a great season,’ Ditka said.”

Trivia Answer: Boston Red Sox, California Angels, San Diego Padres, Oakland A’s.

Quotebook

Texas Ranger pitcher Charlie Hough, on teammate Pete Incaviglia, who led American League outfielders in errors last season: “He has a glove contract with U.S. Steel.”