Hey, Buddy, Great Seats, Huh? They’re Almost in Front Row

Donald Cooper of Coraopolis, Pa., bought his Pittsburgh Steeler season tickets Tuesday, in plenty of time for the team’s home opener on Sept. 16 against the Houston Oilers.

The view from Cooper’s four seats will be one of the poorest in Three Rivers Stadium--six rows off the playing field, in the end zone. What’s worse, he bought them for $1,525 apiece, $1,345 more than their face value.

So who pulled off this scalp job? None other than the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh, which sold those tickets, along with 10 others, as part of an auction to satisfy creditors of the I.D. Craig Corp.

Cooper told the Associated Press: “I’ve always wanted Steelers tickets. But I can’t believe how much they cost.”

Add season tickets: When Cooper gets over his disbelief, he’ll have to deal with the Steelers’ claim that I.D. Craig Corp. forfeited its rights to the seats and that fans on a lengthy waiting list will be permitted to purchase them in 1991.

Trivia time: When Babe Zaharias won the U.S. Women’s Open in 1950, first year of the LPGA tour, what was her prize money?

Head and shoulders: The University of Kansas has a new football helmet design this season, changing to a lighter blue, with a red face mask and the letters “KU” on the side in red “circus block” letters. But that’s not the Jayhawks’ only new gear in 1990.

Said Coach Glen Mason: “We’re starting to look like a football team now. I had my equipment manager tell me for the first time that we needed to order oversized pads.”

On the block: Fans of Lou Holtz, Notre Dame football coach, will want to watch Sunday’s telecast of the Kruse Collector Car Auction on Financial News Network.

One of the cars to be auctioned is Holtz’s 1949 Chevrolet coupe.

It’s clean.

How soon they recall: Len Hochberg of the Washington Post, previewing television networks’ NFL formats and personalities for the coming season, wrote: “Over at ESPN, a whole ‘nother situation is unfolding. Brent (Musburger) always used to say things were unfolding. ‘Let’s go out to Pat and John at Giants Stadium where a whole ‘nother game is unfolding.’ Nobody else says ‘unfolding.’ I miss Brent already.”

Onto the boards: Hockey Hall of Famer Stan Mikita, in his 22 years with the Chicago Blackhawks, learned about life on the road. Now, his son Scott will be able to relate.

In September, Scott will begin an eight-month, 150-city tour, acting in Stephen Sondheim’s “Into the Woods.”

Trivia answer: $1,250.

Quotebook: Jim Leyland, Pittsburgh Pirate manager, on the differences between him and his close friend, Tony La Russa, the Oakland Athletics’ manager: “He passed his bar exam and there were times when I hardly passed a bar.”