Bosworth Could Be a Big Hit

Brian Bosworth, after his first workout with the Seattle Seahawks, said he was surprised.

No, they didn’t hit harder than he expected. Just the opposite.

“It’s more finesse out here for some reason,” the rookie linebacker said. “At Oklahoma, we were programmed all the time to bite the hell out of people.

“The coaches said I’m going to have to reprogram myself and not hit the hell out of people on every play. But it’s foreign to my thinking. It’s something I’m going to have to work on.”

Defensive coordinator Tom Catlin and linebacker coach Rusty Tillman both were impressed by Bosworth.

Catlin: ‘He’s big, he’s strong, he’s quick, he’s very mobile and he reacts with instinct.”

Tillman: “I like his explosiveness. He’s tremendously explosive. He’s really quick. I know he can help us.”

It’s been a bull market on Wall Street, but not for stock in the Boston Celtics.

Since the stock first began trading in December, the price has tumbled from 18 3/8 to Friday’s close of 12 1/8, unchanged from Thursday’s record low. That represents a 34% decline.

In the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial average has gained 38%.

“I think we’re talking about $5 stock,” John Spooner of Shearson Lehman Bros. said. “They’ve got nothing behind it except for the emotional power of the fools who want to own it. I’d rather own telephone bonds.”

Texas Ranger slugger Pete Incaviglia not only thinks Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees is the best player in the game, but also the nicest.

He told Skip Bayless of the Dallas Times Herald: “My rookie year, he was the only first baseman who would talk to me when I was on first.”

Trivia Time: Rob Nelson is the answer to what trivia question? (Answer to follow.)

Quiz Time: What member of the Raiders holds the USC record for longest run from scrimmage? (Answer to follow.)

A future Hall of Famer had this to say about Canadian baseball fans in his book: “I think what keeps them coming back to the ballparks is their mutual affection for ale and for drinking it in the company of tens of thousands of their fellow countrymen.

“They’re also less critical and more faithful than American fans. The breweries must put something in the ale that blurs their vision and dulls their senses so they can’t always see what’s going on on the field.”

Phil Niekro wrote it in 1985. Now, he is among them. Last week, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays.

From Marty Noble of Newsday: “Whitey Herzog said of first baseman Andres Galarraga of the Montreal Expos: ‘He’s the best defensive first baseman since Gil Hodges and Vic Power.’ ”

Noble: “That’s probably a dig at Herzog’s old pal Keith Hernandez, too.”

Trivia Answer: He was the Oakland A’s first baseman this season before Mark McGwire took over. He is now at triple-A Tacoma, where he’s batting only .224, but leads the team in home runs with 12 and runs batted in with 56.

Quiz Answer: Zeph Lee. He shares the USC record of 94 yards with Dwight Ford.

Quotebook

Reggie Jackson of the Oakland A’s, on why he dislikes interviews: “Because you have to lie so much.”