They’ve Had a Lifetime’s Worth of Pain

In his interviews for Thursday’s story on Rafer Johnson, C.K. Yang and the 1960 Olympic decathlon, Times staff writer Earl Gustkey asked both men whether they had lingering injuries from their years of training and competition.

Johnson said that when he was growing up in Kingsburg, Calif., a peach cannery’s long conveyor belt ran through his family’s back yard. One day when he was 9, he decided to ride the belt to the end but caught his foot in a roller and it was nearly severed.

Johnson, 55, says he has no injuries from his competitive days, but the foot injury still bothers him.

Add decathletes: Yang, 57, said that, in Taiwan recently, he injured his elbow while showing an athlete how to throw the javelin. That, plus the horrible condition of his knees, means he can’t run or throw.

Said Yang: “I’m in the process of getting a stationary bike. My knees took a terrible beating from all those years of training.”

Trivia time: What player holds the NCAA Division I-A football record for points scored in a game?

A true navigator: Keep your TV tuned to Raycom Sports throughout the season for exciting college football action--and insights such as Dave Rowe’s commentary on Syracuse running back David Walker’s touchdown catch in the second quarter against USC.

As he scored, Walker brushed the pylon in the right corner of the end zone.

Said Rowe: “He hit the pontoon. If he hits the pontoon, it’s a touchdown.”

Having it both ways: The Associated Press has Saturday’s game between the Clemson Tigers and the Virginia Cavaliers covered.

Make that surrounded. Read today’s lead sentences by the AP writers assigned to the two teams.

Wrote Ed Schuyler Jr.: “Yes, Virginia knows there’s a Clemson.”

Wrote Rick Scoppe: “Clemson quarterback DeChane Cameron thinks Virginia has an awfully cavalier attitude toward the Tigers.”

Ms. Liberty: The new assistant junior varsity football coach at Simon Gratz High in Philadelphia played volleyball and softball in high school but says football “is the sport I’ve always loved the most.”

The coach’s resume shows no football playing experience, and coaching experience only in field hockey and elementary school track and field.

Ann Steinberg, 29, a special education teacher at Gratz and the only applicant for the JV assistant job, is Philadelphia’s first female football coach.

Holy scherzo: In its Sept. 7 edition, the Raiders Newspaper salutes announcer Bill King, who has broadcast more than 500 games for the club.

Said Raider executive assistant Al LoCasale: “The thing I’ve always admired about Bill, having done some broadcasting myself, when he reaches for the phrase, it’s there.

“In Super Bowl XI, he said Ken Stabler is playing the Minnesota defense like (violinist and composer) Fritz Kreisler plays a Stradivarius.”

Add King: LoCasale was reaching, but he was in the ballpark. King actually said: “Jascha Heifetz never played a violin with more dexterity than Kenny Stabler is playing the Minnesota Vikings this afternoon in the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena.”

Trivia answer: Jim Brown of Syracuse, with 43 points against Colgate in 1956 (Brown scored six touchdowns and kicked seven extra points).

Quotebook: Cleveland Brown Coach Bud Carson, on taking credit for inventing new defensive schemes: “I’m leery of guys who say they started anything in this league, because Knute Rockne probably did it.”