Vermont Football: Sorry State

The following is from a column by Gene Collier of the Pittsburgh Press after a discovery he made in the periodical Sidelines, a publication of the College Football Assn.:

“There are no football players from Vermont.

“I’m serious.

“None.

“There are 10,967 persons playing Division I-A football this year. Not one of those persons is from Vermont. One is from Kuwait, two are from Saskatchewan. Five are from Auckland, New Zealand. Five.

“Shouldn’t there be at least one or two people from Vermont who could hold for placements at Temple?

“I continued the search through the National Football League, which includes another 1,316 players. None of them are from Vermont.

“Getting a little eerie, isn’t it?

“Has anyone heard from Vermont in the past eight years? Better try getting Vermont on the phone.”

Now-it-can-be-told dept.: Although he grew up in New York, where he became a Dodger fan, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spent the fourth grade at Holy Providence School outside of Philadelphia.

Said the Associated Press: “He said he wasn’t fond of the school, partly because it didn’t allow him to follow the World Series in 1956.”

That was the Dodger-Yankee series that produced Don Larsen’s perfect game.

Trivia Time: Name three ex-Pittsburgh Panthers who threw touchdown passes in National Football League games Sunday. (Answer below.)

Wait a Minute: Said Arkansas defensive tackle Wayne Martin after Saturday’s 18-16 loss to Miami: “I don’t think Notre Dame and West Virginia will determine the best team in the nation. Miami is the best, without a doubt.”

Wonder if he knows that Miami and Notre Dame have already met. The date was Oct. 15. Notre Dame won, 31-30.

Add Irish: Raghib Ismail, the freshman receiver who caught the 55-yard bomb from Tony Rice Saturday, was the Pennsylvania high school sprint champion last year. He’s nicknamed The Rocket.

His mother, interviewed on TV during the Notre Dame-Penn State game, said she has two other sons who are nicknamed The Missile and The Bomb.

“And they call me The Launch Pad,” she said.

More Irish: Said safety Corny Southall when asked the difference between Gerry Faust and Lou Holtz: “In a nutshell, dictatorship is the difference. Coach Holtz lets you know he’s the one in charge. And there’s no doubt about it.”

From George Vecsey of the New York Times, recalling an encounter with Steve Sax at Shea Stadium during the playoffs: “Saxy was not in a New York frame of mind. Maybe it was New York reporters asking real questions. Maybe it was the local panhandlers asking for 5 dollars so they could pay their overdue fines at the library. He just didn’t get it.

“After a game in Flushing, Sax was heard saying words to the effect of: ‘I love New York. (Show-biz pause) I’d love to move here. (Pause) I’d love to bring up my kids here. (Pause for punchline) They should blow it up.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Dan Marino of Miami, Matt Cavanaugh of Philadelphia and Tony Dorsett of Denver.

Quotebook

Doug Todd, Dallas Cowboys publicist, after being told that Robin Givens and her mother, Ruth Roper, would attend the game against the New York Giants: “They’re after Herschel Walker.”