They Just Couldn’t Catch Up

Oklahoma has lost to Miami in each of the last three seasons, but Sooner Coach Barry Switzer won’t concede that the Hurricanes are better.

“It’s not that they’ve got better players,” Switzer said after a 20-14 defeat in the Orange Bowl. “It’s the system. Their offensive line isn’t better than ours. They’ve got a quarterback and wide receivers. That’s what beat us.

“When we have to throw the football, we’re in trouble. Throwing every down, that’s not our bag.”

The Sooners fell behind Miami each time and were unable to catch up.

Add Orange Bowl: Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson says if things had been different, he may not have been as gracious a loser as Switzer.

“The very first comment (Switzer) said was, ‘I got you on the fumblerooski, didn’t I?’ ” Johnson said. “Then he said, ‘You have a great team.’ I said, ‘You’ve got some national championships; it’s nice for me to have one.’

“He was nice. I don’t know if I would have been that nice. I would have been nice, but I wouldn’t have felt very good about it.”

With 2:05 left, Oklahoma offensive guard Mark Hutson ran 29 yards for a touchdown on a trick play.

“The ‘fumblerooski’ surprised me, then I was embarrassed, kind of like I got caught with my pants down,” Johnson said. “I could smile a little bit at the time because we had a cushion. I wouldn’t have been smiling if it had tied the game.”

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em: Nebraska coaches wasted little time hitting the recruiting trail after the Cornhuskers’ 31-28 loss to Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl.

“We have to get out there and get the jump on things right after the bowl game is over because of the fact that we’ve been physically inactive while preparing for the bowl,” Cornhusker recruiter Jack Pierce said.

Destination for Coach Tom Osborne--Florida.

Jim Donaghy of the Associated Press, in a story noting that it was 15 years ago Sunday that George Steinbrenner bought the New York Yankees, wrote: “On April 21, 1981, George Steinbrenner ordered 50,000 copies of the New York Yankees yearbook removed from concession stands because he didn’t fancy his photo. That’s one of the few times he has taken himself out of the picture since buying the team 15 years ago.”

Add Steinbrenner: He formed a syndicate of 15 investors who purchased the Yankees from CBS on Jan. 3, 1973 for $10 million. The general partners included Michael Burke (a Yankee executive under CBS); Gabe Paul, longtime baseball executive; auto executive John DeLorean; Thomas W. Evans, managing partner of the New York law firm of which Richard Nixon was a partner; James Nederlander, head of a theatrical empire; and Nelson Bunker Hunt of the Texas oil family.

Steinbrenner said, “We plan absentee ownership as far as running the Yankees is concerned. We’re not going to pretend we’re something we aren’t. I’ll stick to building ships.”

Fourteen of the original partners stuck to the plan.

Last add Steinbrenner: John McMullen, now owner of the Houston Astros, bought into the Yankees in 1974. McMullen said of the experience, “There is nothing quite so limited as being a limited partner of George Steinbrenner’s.”

Pete Rozelle, who made parity a byword in the National Football League, would love it. The National Collegiate Athletic Assn., which limited scholarships in an attempt to equalize things in Division I football, apparently has succeeded.

In the 18 major bowl games, from the California through the Peach, the average margin was 7.16 points. Throw out the only two blowouts (Texas A&M; by 35-10 over Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl and Clemson, also by 35-10, over Penn State in the Florida Citrus Bowl), and the average was 4.9.

In 14 of 18, the difference was six or fewer points.

Indiana alumnus Steve Jacobson of Newsday, on Bob Knight taking the Hoosiers off the floor in a game against the Soviet Union: “I sent a letter of embarrassment with my alumni contribution to the president of Indiana University and haven’t yet had a reply.”

Quotebook

Eddie Johnson of the Phoenix Suns after scoring 43 points against the Clippers: “It will be a great game to go home and watch on my videotape recorder.”