Game Was Double Fun for Rooney Kin

It’s a little late, but a Pittsburgh publication has come up with something the NCAA might want to check out.

After the death of Art Rooney, Msgr. Charles O. Rice, a columnist for the Pittsburgh Catholic, did a piece on the former owner of the Steelers.

An excerpt: “He was already known to me as Dan’s brother who had been at Duquesne, just before my time, excelling at all sports but especially football.

“When Dan finished Duquesne, he went to St. Bonaventure in Upstate New York, where, under an alias, he combined four more years of varsity football with study for the priesthood.”

From Ron Kittle of the Cleveland Indians, revealing that he was charged $46 for a lobster at a restaurant: “The menu listed it as ‘market price.’ I didn’t know that meant stock-market price.”

Trivia Time: The National League this year could produce a batting champion with the lowest average for a league leader in major league history. Who holds the record? (Answer below.)

Steve Beuerlein is scheduled to start Sunday for the Raiders, with Jay Schroeder coming in off the bench, and that’s a scenario that might not appeal to Ram Coach John Robinson.

The last time Schroeder came out of the bullpen at the Coliseum was in 1980, when he was playing for UCLA and Robinson was coaching for USC. Schroeder, taking over from Tom Ramsey, rallied the Bruins to a 20-17 victory with two touchdowns passes, the last to Freeman McNeil on a 58-yard play.

For What It’s Worth: The last time UCLA was No. 2 was in 1980 when it got knocked off by Arizona, 23-17. The following year, No. 1 USC was knocked off by Arizona, 13-10. The Arizona coach, of course, was Larry Smith.

Add Arizona: Tony Mason, Smith’s predecessor at Tucson, said of his recruiting battles with John Robinson: “I sell cactus; he sells Heismans.”

Add Mason: He’s now an analyst on University of Pittsburgh games, and Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Press wrote: “On a talk show before the Panthers opened the season, he said Northern Iowa would be ‘the toughest opener in Pitt history.’ Mason’s problem is he still thinks he’s a coach. That is understandable because he certainly isn’t a radio announcer.”

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times, on Kirk Gibson: “Before Gibson, the Dodgers were a team of wimps. Gibson put some growl back into the team. He is a gamer, an overgrown Pete Rose. He is Stallone without a script. Kirkbo. He is Mike Tyson without a driving record. He is the Boz and Butkus of baseball. As a matter of fact, baseball seems almost too tame a game for him. He needs a sport with more hitting. Jungle warfare, maybe.”

Said Washington Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, when told that Philadelphia defensive end Reggie White vowed to knock him out of the game Sunday: “I didn’t think the reverend would think like that.”

White is a Baptist minister.

Trivia Answer: .301 by Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox in 1968. The National League record is .320 by Larry Doyle of the New York Giants in 1915.

Quotebook

Don Riley of the St. Paul Pioneer Press Dispatch, on the America’s Cup: “It’s the biggest waste of cash since the government funded a study of the mating habits of Brazilian butterflies.”