One Incident Refutes Charges N.C. State Was a Country Club

An excerpt by the Pittsburgh Press from Peter Golenbock’s “Personal Fouls,” the book on Jim Valvano and the North Carolina State basketball program, deals with the tutoring of former Wolfpack center Chris Washburn before a geography test.

Writes Golenbock: “The tutor asked, ‘What is the country directly south of the United States?’

“Washburn thought a moment and said, ‘Canada.’

“The tutor said, ‘No, they speak Spanish. Maybe that will help.’

“Washburn responded, ‘Spain?’

“When he was asked what country was directly north of the United States, his answer was, ‘England.’ ”

Will to win: In a column on what made Chris Evert a winner, Ira Berkow of the New York Times recalled a quote from a neighbor of Evert in Florida, Laurie Fleming:

“I remember watching her play her little sister. Her sister was bawling her eyes out because Chrissie had beaten her 6-love and was eating her alive 5-love in the second set. Chrissie showed no mercy. But I guess that’s what makes Chrissie so great.”

Trivia time: Who is the only man who pinch-hit for both Roger Maris and Ted Williams?

New Cowboys: Dallas running back Herschel Walker, asked the difference between Coach Jimmy Johnson and old coach Tom Landry, told the Sporting News: “With coach Landry, we used to play book football. We would stick our heads in the playbook, draw the play in our mind and then try to go through it.

“Coach Johnson has set us free. Now, we’re playing the kind of football that we were taught as little kids and everybody just loves it.”

Eighty-sixed: Frank Hyland of the Atlanta Journal, on how Bob Uecker got dumped by the Atlanta Braves, thus ending his major league career: “Uecker’s release came in the spring of 1968 after he and Clete Boyer, the third baseman, were involved in a bottle-smashing brawl in a West Palm Beach dive named the Cock and Bull.

“Someone had to be the scapegoat. Boyer had hit 26 homers the year before. Uecker had hit .150, which come to think of it isn’t all that bad by today’s Braves’ catching standards.”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: To play in the World Basketball League you have to be 6-4 7/8 or under, and any team found in violation is subject to a $10,000 fine.

WBL Commissioner Steve Erhart told USA Today: “Some doctor told one of our teams that if they did military presses with heavy weights before being measured that they could depress their spine. One guy even hurt his back.”

Trivia answer: Carroll Hardy. As a Cleveland rookie in 1958 he pinch-hit for Maris and drilled a three-run homer off Billy Pierce in the 11th inning to give the Indians a 7-4 win over the Chicago White Sox. In 1960 with Boston, he pinch-hit for Williams, who was unable to complete a first inning at-bat against Baltimore after fouling a pitch off his ankle. Hardy lined into a double play.

Quotebook: Phil Rizzuto, on the trading of Billy Martin in 1958 by the New York Yankees, who thought him to be a bad influence: “The year Billy roomed with me, I won the MVP. The year he roomed with Yogi Berra, he won the MVP, and the year he roomed with Mickey Mantle, Mickey won the MVP. Some bad influence, eh?”