Sometimes, Eagles Don’t Soar

It wasn’t a good weekend for Eagles. On Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles lost to the Chicago Bears.

And in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany, Eddie (the Eagle) Edwards finished last in a field of 94 ski jumpers on both Saturday and Sunday.

Winner Matti Nykanen of Finland soared 109 meters on one of his two jumps Sunday. The Eagle went 32 on one of his.

Musical Chairs: Houston Coach Jerry Glanville, chatting with some NBC people about all the upheaval in the coaching ranks in the AFC Central, threw out this scenario:

Chuck Noll will go to Cleveland to replace Marty Schottenheimer. Schottenheimer will go to Houston to replace Glanville, who’ll go to Pittsburgh. And Sam Wyche will stay in Cincinnati.

“Then we’ll see which one of us can really coach,” Glanville said.

Trivia Time: From 1902 until 1933, there was only one New Year’s Day bowl game, the Rose. Of the other New Year’s Day bowls, which was the first?

While the Philadelphia 76ers were in Los Angeles last week, some of the players took part in a taping of the ABC show, “thirtysomething.”

In an episode to be televised Jan. 24, two of the show’s characters, Michael and Elliot, fantasize they are on the court with the 76ers. (The series is fictionally set in Philadelphia.)

Said Charles Barkley of his role: “I think they couldn’t get Rob Lowe or Tom Cruise, so they had to settle for me.”

Add Barkley: In a recent victory over Washington, he hit two 3-point shots to help the 76ers set a club record of eight. “My teammates figure if I can hit one, anyone can,” Barkley said.

Bring back Layden: In a game in which the Sacramento Kings made only 27 of 94 field goals (28.7%), and lost to Utah, 96-80, Jazz Coach Jerry Sloan observed: “Sacramento didn’t shoot the ball very well.”

No kidding. Former coach Frank Layden could have done a lot better than that.

Add Layden: Here’s one of his suggestions for cutting costs: Increase the team rosters to 15 players, and have the last 6 pay the team for the privilege of being on the squad.

“Don’t you think there’s some Arab out there who’d pay to have his kid on the Knicks?” Layden said.

From Utah guard John Stockton, talking about new referees: “Rookies come in and generally don’t have a great first year. The same is true for the officials.”

Twenty-eight years ago today: George Blanda passed for 3 touchdowns, kicked the extra points and added a field goal to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the L.A. Chargers in the first American Football League championship game.

Trivia answer: The Orange. The Sugar Bowl followed in 1935, the Cotton in ’37.

Quotebook

Notre Dame linebacker Mike Stonebreaker: “We believe in the spirit of Notre Dame, but some people think it’s false. I understand their point. If we are so blessed, then why did we go 5-6 in 1985?”