Spirits Move Him to Keep Lights On

Can you be tough and still be afraid of the dark? Tony Dorsett can.

“Man, I’ve always been the toughest,” the Denver Broncos’ new running back told Thomas George of the New York Times. “Tough, tough, tough.

“But I’ve always been afraid of the dark. I was taught when you have complete darkness, that’s when spirits walk. In our house when I was growing up, all the doors were always cracked a little bit at night so you could get light into the room. You come in my house now and you’re gonna see light everywhere. Even now when I sleep, I leave the door cracked. And I’m not ashamed to tell you.”

It recalls the dilemma of Hall of Fame baseball player Lou Brock.

“When I was a kid,” Brock said, “I used to imagine animals running under my bed. I told my dad, and he solved the problem quickly. He cut the legs off my bed.”

Did you think CBS would go straight from the golf tournament to the basketball game, which it held up for eight minutes Sunday? Of course not. Between Seve Ballesteros’ winning putt and the tipoff between Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Laimbeer, the network managed to cram in 11 commercials.

Change-of-tune Dept.: Said Winning Colors’ assistant trainer Jeff Lukas, son of Wayne, before the Belmont: “She has given us no signs that she’s a tired horse. She’s in great shape.”

Said Wayne Lukas after the race: “She just didn’t run her race today. You know that the Triple Crown is not the prom. Those races took their toll on her.”

Trivia Time: When the Lakers traded rookie center James Edwards to the Indiana Pacers during the 1977-78 season, who did they get in return? (Answer below.)

Add Forgettable Quotes: Said Philadelphia Phillies President Bill Giles last October when he hired Woody Woodward as general manager: “I’ve considered him to be one of the brightest and most astute young men in baseball for some time. I think we now have the best front office in baseball.”

Woodward was fired last week.

From Jack Craig of the Boston Globe: “John Madden has lost 55 pounds on a liquid diet, but the folks at CBS are not optimistic. Madden’s long bus rides en route to NFL games reportedly include many stops for eating at all hours.”

How far are the cheap seats from the floor at the Silverdome?

Said Ian Love of UPI after checking it out: “In Section 301 you could almost mistake Chuck Nevitt for Isiah Thomas.”

From the Baltimore Sun: “The San Diego Union published letters to the editor on the Larry Bowa firing. They printed 24 letters--23 backing Bowa and one backing club President Chub Feeney. Feeney was outraged. He called the paper and demanded a more balanced account of the letters. He was informed that the one letter published in his favor was the only pro-Feeney letter the paper received. And many pro-Bowa letters had to be cut out.”

Trivia Answer: The Lakers sent Edwards, Earl Tatum and cash to the Pacers for Adrian Dantley and Dave Robisch.

Quotebook

Mel Hall of the Cleveland Indians, on failing to hit a home run in 194 at-bats so far this season: “I’m waiting for the father-son game.”