The Idea Doesn’t Suit the Case

When Oklahoma State arrived in El Paso for the Sun Bowl game against West Virginia on Christmas Day, the players said they were looking forward to a little fun across the border in Juarez.

That recalls when Bill Peterson brought Florida State to the Sun Bowl in 1966.

Peterson, who had trouble with words, told the Seminoles upon arrival: “Each of you will receive a nice piece of Seminite luggage. We’re going to have a grand time, but I don’t want any of you players getting in trouble over there in Warsaw.”

Said Florida defensive tackle Henry Brown as the Gators took off for Honolulu where they will meet UCLA in the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day: “I want to go to the beach and meet all those pretty girls. Then maybe I’ll drink one of those drinks with the umbrellas in them. Then I want to go to one of those things where they roast a pig with an apple in his mouth.”

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

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: When Rick Carlisle signed with the New York Knicks, his former Boston Celtics teammate Bill Walton sent him a congratulatory telegram from Baja California where Walton was recovering from foot surgery.

Walton sent the entire telegram in Spanish.

For What It’s Worth: Since their blockbuster trade last week, the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors are a combined 0-5.

From Jerry Sullivan of Newsday: “Utah Coach Frankie Layden, pro basketball’s resident full-court jester, has finally told a joke that he didn’t borrow from someone else. Layden says that Philadelphia’s Charles Barkley isn’t among the league’s elite players.

“Now, that’s a good joke. If Barkley isn’t an elite player, then Layden isn’t overweight.”

How tough is it to beat St. John’s in basketball on its home court?

Said Fairleigh Dickinson Coach Tom Green after a 22-point loss: “I looked over before the game and there was Larry Lembo, Bob Pugh, Art McDonald and Looie deciding where they were gonna eat after the game.”

Lembo, Pugh and McDonald were the game officials. Looie is Lou Carnesecca, the St. John’s coach.

After his Jan. 22 fight with Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson is scheduled for a March 21 bout in Tokyo against an opponent who has not been divulged.

Jimmy Jacobs, Tyson’s manager, said it would be against a former heavyweight champion, but Newsday’s Wallace Matthews didn’t consider that much of a hint, noting that there are no less than nine former heavyweight champions still fighting.

Trivia Answer: Reamon, of the Florida Blazers, led the World Football League in rushing with 1,576 yards in 1974, the league’s only full season.

Quotebook

Erma Bombeck, syndicated columnist, on why she doesn’t ski: “I do not participate in any sport with ambulances at the bottom of a hill.”