Oilers’ Missed Chance in Draft Came Back to Haunt in Playoffs

New Coach Jerry Glanville of the Atlanta Falcons acknowledges that when he coached the Houston Oilers he had differences with General Manager Mike Holovak. For example, he said he wanted to take Eric Metcalf in the 1989 draft but that Holovak overruled him and took tackle David Williams.

Glanville said: “Cleveland took Metcalf instead. My whole pitch was that he’d make three plays and turn you from a wild-card team into a division champion. He made the three plays--against us.”

Add Glanville: He was always dressed in black on the Houston sideline, and according to the Atlanta Journal, he received a package at the NFL winter meetings that contained two black silk shirts and two black sweaters with this note: “Welcome to the NFC West. It will never be the same.”

It was signed by Eddie DeBartolo.

Add DeBartolo: The San Francisco 49ers’ owner sent Al Davis a sweater last Christmas with this note: “Thanks for Matt Millen.”

Trivia time: On this date in 1983, who put up the 35-foot air ball and who caught it and dunked it at the buzzer, giving North Carolina State a 54-52 victory over Houston in the NCAA final?

Now-it-can-be-told Dept.: John Wooden told ESPN that as a player Walt Hazzard threatened to quit the team at UCLA because Wooden wouldn’t let him use all his Philadelphia playground tricks on the court.

“I called his father before he did,” Wooden said. “His father told him not to come home.”

Real goods: They say first impressions count the most, and Curt Warner, newest of the Rams, made a lasting one on USC Coach John Robinson in the 1982 Fiesta Bowl.

Warner, of Penn State, gained 145 yards in 26 carries, a 5.6-yard average, in leading the Nittany Lions to a 26-10 victory over Robinson’s Trojans. USC’s Marcus Allen, the Heisman Trophy winner, gained 85 yards in 30 carries, a 2.8 average.

The next year, Warner out-gained another Heisman Trophy winner, Herschel Walker, as Penn State beat Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, 27-23.

Squeaky clean: Danny Jackson of the Cincinnati Reds, on team rules that prohibit facial hair and regulate the height of players’ socks: “After a few innings, you’re dirty anyway. What are we gonna do? Wash the uniforms between innings?”

Living it up: Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers on his sense of humor: “Life’s got to be funny. If you’re not enjoying it, you might as well be dead.”

Trivia answer: Dereck Whittenburg and Lorenzo Charles.

Quotebook: Tex Schramm, president of the World League of American Football, on one problem he doesn’t figure to face the first year: “I’m not worried about crowd noise.”