Say It Again, Sam, We Want to Get It Right

There was nothing subtle about the way the Bengals ran up the score in their 61-7 victory over the Houston Oilers in Cincinnati Sunday. The Bengals converted a fourth down while leading, 38-0; they covered an onside kick while leading, 45-0; they kicked a field goal with 21 seconds left.

And Bengal Coach Sam Wyche said of Oiler counterpart Jerry Glanville: “Drop me a line if you find somebody who really thinks the world of this guy. He’s probably the biggest phony in professional football. I don’t like phonies and this guy is a phony.”

Glanville, usually one of the NFL’s more volatile characters, was unusually restrained Monday. Glanville said: “The bottom line is, if you want to stop someone from running up the score, you force a punt. It’s our job to get that done, and we didn’t get it done.”

Bud Carson, coach of the Cleveland Browns, criticized Wyche without praising Glanville. “It’s a small fraternity, coaches,” Carson said. “Some people are outlaws, but . . . you just don’t do that to people, because they’ll turn it around on you sooner or later. This is a tough enough business without making it tougher.”

Add blowouts: Jack Winn was eager for victory in his debut last week as coach of the Neah Bay (Wash.) High School girls’ basketball team. But he found himself trying in vain to keep his team from scoring.

“It was embarrassing . . . I did everything I could,” Winn said after Neah Bay’s 100-2 victory over Seattle’s American Indian Heritage High.

“I knew nothing about Indian Heritage,” said Winn, whose team had a 59-2 lead at halftime. “Our game plan is to pressure the ball and to run. Pretty soon I’m saying, ‘No more press.’ Pretty soon I’m saying, ‘No more run.’ Then I told them to pass the ball five times before shooting.”

But constraint was abandoned with Neah Bay ahead, 98-2, and 23 seconds to play. Winn called a timeout.

“I said, ‘Girls, we have 23 seconds to go. Go for it.’ ”

Trivia time: On Dec. 19, 1948, whose fumble recovery during the fourth quarter set up the only touchdown as the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Cardinals, 7-0, in a snowstorm to win the NFL title?

No longer a bargain: Ron (Fang) Mitchell, coach of Coppin (Md.) State’s basketball team, on his club’s upset victories at Creighton and Maryland this season: “My first year here, the phone rang off the hook: ‘Come to my gym and play.’ It diminished slightly this year. And I can only imagine what it will be like next year.

“We’ve got ourselves into a Catch-22 situation. We’re supposed to go in and lose. But we get a special thrill out of winning those games. They’re supposedly buying us, but maybe we’re not really for sale.”

Trivia answer: Bucko Kilroy.

Quotebook: Adam Schrager, editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, Michigan Daily, on the retirement of Bo Schembechler: “Bo is to Michigan what macaroni is to cheese. He’s absolutely essential.”