Rashad Calls 41-40 Oregon Victory Tops

He was Bobby Moore then, and he’s Ahmad Rashad now, but by any name, he will never forget 1970, when he was playing halfback for an Oregon team that was quarterbacked by Dan Fouts.

“The greatest game I ever played in was against UCLA in the Coliseum,” Rashad said. “We were behind, 40-21, with about three minutes left, and most of the fans were headed for the freeways. But it wasn’t over. I caught a touchdown pass, then we recovered an onside kick, and I ran in another TD. Then Fouts hit Greg Specht for a touchdown. We won the game, 41-40.”

Today, Oregon faces UCLA again with a team that so far has confounded the experts, and Rashad says: “Dan and I are in our glory. Once a Duck, always a Duck.”

Take-your-choice Dept.: Said UCLA Coach Terry Donahue on Monday: “I don’t think the Rose Bowl is on the line this week anymore than every other week you play. This is the third week of the conference season. There’s going to be all sorts of things that happen in the next six weeks.”

Said Donahue on Friday: “I never anticipated there’d be only two unbeaten teams after two weeks. Oregon will be in a great position to go to the Rose Bowl if they win Saturday.”

Trivia Time: Minnesota Twins reliever George Frazier holds what World Series record? (Answer follows.)

For What It’s Worth: Over the past four seasons, Minnesota’s Frank Viola has won more games than any left-hander in the majors. He leads with 69, followed by Fernando Valenzuela with 64. The Detroit Tigers’ Jack Morris leads all pitchers with 76. He and Viola are the only ones who have won at least 16 games all four years.

There is no tarpaulin at the Metrodome, but St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Vince Coleman, who got run over by one before the 1985 World Series, said: “Even if they had one, I’d have my tarp detector on.”

From St. Louis second baseman Tommy Herr, endorsing Whitey Herzog as the best manager in the game: “I’m forever hitting a single or getting on base because of a walk and hearing first basemen on other teams second-guess their managers. You hear it all over baseball, guys saying this or that about their managers. But that’s one thing we don’t have here.

“I’m not saying he doesn’t have an ego because he does and it’s not a small ego. And it’s not that all of his moves work. It’s just that we all feel Whitey’s got a couple of things going for him that the other managers don’t. He always keeps you in a position to win a ballgame, and you always feel in a close game that you’re not going to get outmanaged.”

8 Years Ago Today: On Oct. 17, 1979, Willie Stargell hit a two-run homer to give Pittsburgh a 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles as the Pirates rallied from a 3-1 deficit in games to win the World Series.

St. Louis Cardinals Coach Gene Stallings, on Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers: “I hope I see the wishbone.”

Why?

“That means Joe Montana isn’t playing.”

Trivia Answer: Most games lost. Pitching for the New York Yankees in 1981, he lost three games to the Dodgers.

Quotebook

Jan Hubbard of the Dallas Morning News, after Larry Krystkowiak of the San Antonio Spurs signed to play for the Florence team in Italy: “Nothing personal, but I hope I never have to spell Krystkowiak again.”