Sutton Becomes a Convert

When he was coaching at Arkansas, Eddie Sutton always knew basketball was big at Kentucky, but he admits now he really didn’t have a clue.

“Basketball is a religion here,” said Sutton, starting his third season at Lexington. “When they get divorces here they don’t care about alimony, just who gets the tickets.”

He recalled the first scrimmage he held after taking over two seasons ago. It was held at a high school gym, where tickets sold for $5 apiece.

“We get there, get off the bus, and they’re scalping tickets in the parking lot for $25. For an intrasquad game,” he said.

Wait a Minute: Said Oklahoma Coach Barry Switzer: “No team has gone through the whole year as No. 1 and then won the national championship. I think we could have done that. It was a shame we lost the top ranking for one week. I don’t think we deserved that. We could have been the only team to win it from start to finish.”

Here’s what he said Nov. 16 after Nebraska was voted No. 1: “I didn’t expect to be No. 1 after the way we played. I wouldn’t vote for us either.”

Trivia Time: What was the first American Football League team to beat a National Football League team? (Answer below.)

Would-you-believe-it-dept.: Wrote Jon Roe of the Minneapolis Star Tribune in reporting that Tony Kubek had been signed again to work with Bob Costas on the baseball Game of the Week: “Kubek has been with NBC for 22 years, the longest tour of any network sports analyst.”

Said Toronto Blue Jays’ pitcher Jimmy Key after finishing second to the Boston Red Sox’s Roger Clemens for the Cy Young Award in the American League: “The worst part was how upset my agent got.”

His agent is his wife Cindy.

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: New Mexico basketball Coach Gary Colson, whose Lobos face Seton Hall tonight in the semifinals of the Big Apple National Invitation Tournament, said he had a premonition he would get the job at Albuquerque after the scandal that cost Norm Ellenberger his job in 1979.

“I was living in a houseboat in Marina del Rey,” said Colson, then coaching at Pepperdine. “I picked up a copy of the Los Angeles Times and I saw the headline about Ellenberger. And I saw that John Bridgers, a friend of mine, had gotten the athletic director’s job at New Mexico.

“I said to my wife that I probably would get a call in about an hour. By the time I finished the sentence, the phone rang.”

Trivia Answer: The Denver Broncos. On Aug. 5, 1967 in Denver, the Broncos, coached by Lou Saban, defeated the Detroit Lions, 13-7, in an exhibition game.

Note: Recalls Lance Alworth, who was playing for the San Diego Chargers the same night in Oakland: “We were playing the Raiders and were in the huddle when the score was announced. I was so interested in the score I didn’t pay any attention to John Hadl’s call. I wound up going to the wrong side to line up.”

Quotebook

Notre Dame football Coach Lou Holtz, on flanker Tim Brown: “If college football had a decathlon, he’d win it by a ton.”