Demeaning Articles Prompt Them to Answer the Bugel Call

It’s one of the oldest motivational tools in the book, but that didn’t matter to Phoenix Cardinal Coach Joe Bugel Sunday. What mattered was that it worked.

After the Cardinals had upset Philadelphia at Veterans Stadium, 23-21, Bugel noted that some of the local papers had published uncomplimentary stories about his team--the sort of stories that find their way to an underdog’s bulletin board.

Said Bugel: “Somebody said we should be playing Temple (instead of the Eagles). That’s kind of offensive. We don’t want to be bulletin board people. . . .

“They may try to demean our football team, but we go out in the blistering sun every day and bust our butts getting ready for these games. You back a guy into a corner enough, he’ll come out fighting.”

Add Bugel: Was he emotional about his first victory as a head coach in the NFL?

Bugel cried when Cardinal captain Luis Sharpe presented him with the game ball.

“I’ve cried after a few losses,” Bugel said. “I don’t think after a win before. I saw the look in the players’ faces, how much it meant to them. That’s what got me. It’s special when the team gives you the ball. It’s going right upstairs in our new trophy case.”

On the other hand: Buddy Ryan, the Philadelphia Eagle’s coach, immediately took the defensive Monday at his press conference.

He told reporters he had no second thoughts about calling a pass play on fourth and two at the Phoenix 37, with the Eagles leading, 14-0. Randall Cunningham was sacked for a seven-yard loss, and the Cardinals began their comeback.

Said Ryan: “I understand from my PR guy that some of you people didn’t like my fourth-and-two call. Well, you better get used to it. I’ll damn sure do it again any time I get ready to.”

Trivia time: When was the last time both major league batting champions played in the same city?

Couch potato: Peter Elliott helped unveil the new International Stadium five miles from his home in Sheffield, England, Sunday by winning the 1,500 meters at the McVitie’s Challenge meet in 3 minutes 32.69 seconds, the fastest time ever on British soil.

He arrived at the stadium only two hours before dueling with countryman Steve Cram, who holds the world record for the mile.

Elliott said afterward that he had spent the early afternoon watching the first half of a soccer game on television.

Get this straight: New York Met manager Bud Harrelson was in no mood to quibble over semantics after his team lost to Philadelphia Sunday, 8-3. But when Jack O’Connell of the Hartford Courant referred to the Mets’ open date Monday as an “off day,” Harrelson was quick to correct him.

Said Harrelson: “An off day is what we just had.”

Different kind of header: Azeglio Vicini, the Italian national soccer coach, will be on the sideline on crutches at the European Championships in October.

He was awakened by his wife at 3 a.m. Sunday in Cesena. She told him she heard noises coming from the street below.

Vicini, 57, leaned over a railing, lost his balance and fell 20 feet, breaking his fall on the awning of a restaurant. The coach suffered a broken foot and bruised ribs.

Trivia answer: In 1933, Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies led the National League at.368 and Jimmie Foxx of the Athletics led the American League at .356.

Quotebook: Jerry Glanville, Atlanta Falcon coach: “If you’re a head coach, NFL stands for ‘not for long.’ ”