Holtz Developed His Football Tactics Fast

When Notre Dame Coach Lou Holtz went to Kent State, he played center.

“The only reason was because I also played linebacker and the linebacker had to play center,” he said.

“The coaches told me to block Igor ‘that way.’ Igor was 6-2, 225, had hair on his arms, and Igor didn’t want to be blocked ‘that way.’

“I decided right then and there that if I ever coached, we would block Igor whichever way Igor wanted to go. Then, we’d recruit backs smart enough to run away from Igor.”

Jim Abbott, the one-handed pitcher drafted by the Angels, tells USA Today why he turned down a reported offer of $100,000 up front to write a book: “It wouldn’t be too cool bopping around the minor leagues with a book.”

From Inside Sports’ question-and-answer column conducted by The Good Doctor:

Question: Ralph Kiner, the New York Mets announcer, is known as a man of many malaprops. Do you have a particular favorite?

Answer: I think my favorite is when he said Rookie Wilson was a candidate for Mookie of the Year.

Q: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Lakers is how old now?

A: Too.

Add Inside Sports: When it asked Indianapolis Colts Coach Ron Meyer to rate Eric Dickerson, whom he also coached at Southern Methodist, he said: “Let’s put it this way. Eric took his high school team all the way to the state championship. In his sophomore year, he took SMU to a bowl game and then two Southwest Conference championships.

“In the year before he got to the Rams, they were 2-7. They went to the playoffs four straight years with him. Midway through last season, he was traded to the Colts and we made the playoffs. I think there is a correlation.”

Trivia Time: Three years ago today, when Tom Seaver recorded his 300th win, who was he pitching for? (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: Assistant general manager Charlie Cassaway of the Washington Redskins, recalling the 1980 Pittsburgh Panthers, who had Dan Marino, Hugh Green, Randy McMillan, Russ Grimm, Mark May and Rickey Jackson, said: “That was the best team that never won the national championship.”

USC fans might beg to differ. The 1979 Trojans, who finished second to Alabama, had two Heisman Trophy winners, Charles White and Marcus Allen, plus Paul McDonald, Raymond Butler, Hoby Brenner, Keith Van Horne, Brad Budde, Roy Foster, Anthony Munoz, Don Mosebar, Bruce Matthews, Riki Ellison, Chip Banks, Ronnie Lott and Dennis Smith, among others.

Abe Lemons, Oklahoma City basketball coach, on the parents of recruits: “They always tell you how tall the kid is going to be when he grows up. This one mother wrote that her son was 6 feet, but she knew he would be taller because he had an uncle who was 6-8. I told her we would just recruit his uncle.”

Trivia Answer: The Chicago White Sox. Seaver beat the New York Yankees, 4-1, on Phil Rizzuto Day. On the same day, at Anaheim Stadium, Rod Carew got his 3,000th hit as the Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-5.

Quotebook

New York Giants Coach Bill Parcells, assuring a reporter that his team was tired: “When Lawrence Taylor is in bed at 10:30, you know they’re tired.”