The Art of Growing Up Is Never Easy

Trudi Marinovich, mother of USC quarterback Todd Marinovich and former wife of Marv Marinovich, broke her silence at a gathering of Orange County reporters Tuesday.

Print and electronic media have been hounding her since early September, trying to get her reaction to the latest round of “Robo QB” stories about Marv’s programming Todd’s every move as a youngster.

Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register wrote: “We found out that Trudi would have preferred, in retrospect, that Todd’s early life not be so one-dimensional.

“ ‘I probably wanted to see a little more balance,’ she said. ‘I tried to make the balance on the other side.’ ”

Add Trudi Marinovich: She told the Orange County media that she “dragged” Todd and his sister, Traci, to art museums, which probably accounted for him choosing a fine arts major at USC. She added that football practice makes it difficult for him to spend time in the studio, so he “comes back with a key at night, to paint.”

She laughed when she recalled his sketches of the USC coaches, saying: “Some of them are R-rated.”

Trivia time: Who was the last New York Yankee pitcher to lose 20 games in a season? Welcome to “The Show”: From Phil Jackman of the Baltimore Evening Sun: “Not that baseball needs a shot in the arm, but that’s what it figures to get when filmmaker Ken Burns (‘The Civil War’) finishes a five-hour miniseries on the Grand Old Game. What magical words from some tobacco-spewing utility infielder will be the equivalent of Sullivan Ballou’s classic letter to his wife on the eve of battle?

Battle of the ages: Rick Warner of the Associated Press points out a rarity in college football this week--a game in which a Heisman Trophy winner goes against a Heisman runner-up.

Florida, coached by Steve Spurrier, who won the 1966 trophy as a Gator quarterback, plays Tennessee, coached by former Volunteer halfback Johnny Majors, who finished second to Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung in the 1956 balloting.

Betting with Beyer: Andrew Beyer, who covers horse racing for the Washington Post, bought a $1,296 combination ticket for the double-triple at Laurel (Md.) Race Course Monday.

Good investment: Beyer collected $195,070.50 on his bet, and took home $156,056.40 after taxes.

Beyer was not betting with a mythical bankroll.

Add Beyer: In his book, “Picking Winners,” Beyer wrote of a difficult choice he faced as a senior at Harvard in 1966:

“My final examination in Chaucer was scheduled on the same day that Kauai King would be trying to win the Triple Crown at Belmont Park. I knew nothing about “The Canterbury Tales,” but I did know something about Amberoid in the Belmont Stakes. So I went to the track. Although I blew a $12,000 education, I did collect a $13 payoff on Amberoid, cutting my losses for the day to $11,987.”

Last add Beyer: He wrote: “If you are writing a thesis on religious symbolism in the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder, you are a respectable scholar. If you are studying the symbolism in the Daily Racing Form, you’re a bum.”

Trivia answer: Mel Stottlemyre, who was 12-20 in 1966.

Quotebook: Davey Johnson, former New York Met manager, on Darryl Strawberry: “Strawberry will be back in a Mets uniform. They can’t let him go.”