Peete Gets Praised, Then He Gets Buried
Soon after Ted Tollner became quarter back coach of the San Diego Chargers in February, the subject of Rodney Peete came up. Tollner, who recruited and coached Peete at USC, said that if it were up to him, the Chargers would take Peete with the No. 8 pick in the National Football League draft.
“I’d like to have Rodney because the guy is a winner,” Tollner said. “I just know the guy’s going to be a player in this league.”
Tollner wasn’t swayed by the talk among pro football people that Peete is too short for a quarterback at 6-foot-1 and that his arm isn’t strong enough.
“I’ve heard those things--that he’s too small and so forth--from other people, but I don’t agree with them,” Tollner said. “Rodney Peete finds a way to win.”
Well, Dan Henning, the Chargers’ coach, must not have asked for Tollner’s advice, because the Chargers took Pittsburgh defensive end Burt Grossman on the first round. On the second round they took Rice center Courtney Hall with their own pick and then, with a pick obtained from the New York Giants, opted for Texas Tech quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver. They didn’t have any picks on the third or fourth round, but on the fifth round took Elliot Smith, a defensive back from Alcorn State.
So, Tollner will have to watch Peete find a way to win with the Detroit Lions. Trivia time: Who was the 17-year-old player the Dodgers got from the Cleveland Indians in 1974 for pitcher Bruce Ellingsen?
The little guys: The San Bernardino Spirit of the California League probably has the shortest infield in professional baseball. Third baseman Steve Hill is 5-foot-7, second baseman Todd Haney and shortstop Bryan King are both 5-8. First baseman Ruben Gonzalez is 5-11.
King says that being smaller helps on defense. “It’s easier on your back when you’re smaller,” he told the San Bernardino Sun. “You don’t have to bend down so far for a ground ball.”
Can’t argue with that.
Time to pay up: Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro will have to eat his words and wear a Calgary Flames sweater after losing a bet to Calgary Mayor Don Hartman.
The mayor of Calgary, Alberta, issued the challenge before the Kings’ National Hockey League playoff series against the Flames.
“The Los Angeles Kings and I are certainly up to your challenge,” replied Ferraro, who was acting mayor while Mayor Tom Bradley was in Asia.
The Flames beat the Kings in four consecutive games in the best-of-seven series. Ferraro now owes Hartman a steak dinner if Ferraro ever travels to Calgary.
Ferraro’s only comment was that he wears an “extra-extra large” and is currently on a salad-only diet.
Trivia answer: Pedro Guerrero.
Quotebook: “(Mark Breland) was clipped. If it were a football game, (Rafael) Pineda would have got 15 yards. Instead, he got his face busted,” said Dan Duva, Breland’s promoter, after Breland tore cartilage in his left knee during his successful World Boxing Assn. welterweight title defense against Pineda last month.