Forgettable Quotes Not Soon Forgotten

On the basketball front it was a weekend of memorable plays and forgettable quotes. Some of the most forgettable:

--Nebraska women’s Coach Angela Beck, before the NCAA regional game against USC: “USC is kind of in a down year. I’m familiar with some of the teams they have played. They are not extremely strong, but they are strong in the national polls.”

USC won, 100-82.

--Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan, after scoring 50 points in a win over the Boston Celtics Friday night: “I am one of these persons who takes great delight in beating the best. I feel I can do all the things I want to do and just dare the opposition to try and stop me.”

On Sunday, he scored 26 points and had 5 turnovers as the Bulls lost to the Celtics, 137-107.

--CBS announcer Brent Musburger, when Georgetown was trailing Temple by four points in the first half: “Georgetown is a team you will never see blown out of any basketball game.”

Georgetown lost by 21.

--CBS announcer Verne Lundquist, pointing out the patience of Villanova’s offense: “Let’s count the number of passes before their next shot.”

A Wildcat immediately put up a three-point shot that missed.

Add Lundquist: After Jens Kujawa of Illinois missed a shot, he said: “That was an old-fashioned hook shot.”

Said analyst Tom Heinsohn, the old hook-shooter for the Boston Celtics: “That wasn’t an old-fashioned hook shot, that was an old-fashioned brick.”

Trivia Time: Fifty years ago at Madison Square Garden, in the first national postseason tournament in college basketball history, what school won the title? (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: With Vanderbilt trailing Pittsburgh by four points with 12 seconds remaining, Barry Goheen hit a three-point shot for the Commodores. With time running out and the Vols trailing by three, he hit another three-pointer to send the game into overtime. He scored five points in overtime, giving him a game-high 22, and Vanderbilt won, 80-74.

CBS then announced that Will Perdue, who had watched all this from the bench after fouling out with 15 points, had been selected as the Vanderbilt player of the game.

From Richard Justice of the Washington Post: “The Los Angeles Dodgers were scheduled to hear FBI officers talk about the dangers of drugs and gambling on Thursday. The meeting had to be delayed 15 minutes while players finished their clubhouse NCAA basketball pool.”

Trivia Answer: Temple. The Owls won the 1937-38 NIT, routing Colorado, 60-36. Scoring 10 points for Colorado was Byron (Whizzer) White, All-American halfback, Rhodes Scholar and future Supreme Court justice.

Quotebook

Temple Coach John Chaney, to a player who questioned one of his strategies: “You do not have an opinion. If you have an opinion, you take that opinion, and you put that opinion in your sneakers, and you get your feet, and your opinion, up and down the floor.”