When Did Problems Begin? It’s Academic

If you’re still catching up on those copies of Sports Illustrated piled next to your night stand, you might want to skim ahead to Page 56 of the Sept. 3 issue, near the end of Douglas S. Looney’s cover story on USC quarterback Todd Marinovich.

Looney wrote that Marinovich could turn professional early, adding: “Another indication that he might not stay at USC for the full term is that, as his 2.23 grade-point average attests, he has little interest in being a student.”

Add Marinovich: Tuesday, he was suspended by Coach Larry Smith and will not play in today’s game against Arizona State at Tempe, Ariz., partly because, Smith said, Marinovich violated a team rule by repeatedly missing classes.

In the Sports Illustrated story, Marinovich told Looney: “One of the first things the older guys laid on me when I got here was that C’s get degrees, and sometimes D’s.”

Smith told Looney: “(Marinovich’s) biggest academic weakness is getting up.”

Trivia time: What do the Boxing Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame and the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame have in common?

Cutting class, Part 2: We won’t know until this afternoon whether Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer snatched victory from the jaws of defeat Friday.

During a zoology lab session, Detmer was dissecting a shark when his scalpel slipped, opening a cut in the palm of his left (non-throwing) hand that required two stitches.

Detmer practiced with the Cougars Friday but had no trouble taking snaps. And he’s expected to have less trouble with New Mexico today than he had with the shark.

No need: The Denton (Tex.) Record-Chronicle recently reported that during a girls’ under-12 soccer game between the Lewisville Blaze and the Denton Solhers, the fathers of two Denton players became so frustrated with the outstanding play of Lewisville’s 10-year-old goalie, Natasha Dennis, that they asked league officials to verify Natasha’s gender.

Said Natasha: “I think they should go somewhere and check and see if they have anything between their ears.”

Buhdeeuhbuhdeeuhbuhdee: Tom Archdeacon of the Dayton Daily News, reporting on Evander Holyfield’s third-round knockout of Buster Douglas, began his story: “As one Porky now should say to the other: ‘That’s all, folks!’ ”

Expert commentary: Before Thursday night’s heavyweight championship bout, Times staff writer Thomas Bonk briefed his 3-year-old son, Tanner, on the names of the fighters.

Friends came over to watch the fight, and Tanner joined the group.

Friday at breakfast, Bonk pointed to the photo on Page 1 of The Times’ sports section, which showed Douglas lying on the canvas.

Bonk asked: “Who’s this guy?”

Said Tanner: “Buster Gutless.”

She’s no whiner: After her Independence (W. Va.) High School girls’ basketball team had lost to Princeton High this week, Coach Kathy Daniels said: “It’s a little ridiculous. I’m upset about it.”

Princeton won, 116-7.

Add girls’ basketball: Asked about the halftime discussion in the Princeton locker room, assistant coach Robin Beamer said: “There’s not a whole lot to go over when you’re up 59-1.”

Princeton Coach Debbie Ball denied that she was trying to run up the score, adding: “I could’ve put them in a full-court press.”

With good reason: From the Associated Press, previewing one of today’s eastern college football matchups: “First things first. While a date with Notre Dame looms ever closer, Navy will not be looking past James Madison toward next week’s encounter with the third-ranked Fighting Irish.”

Trivia answer: None of them has a building.

Quotebook: Montreal Expo third baseman Tim Wallach, on being named the team’s most valuable player for the second consecutive season: “I don’t know if it’s because we’ve lost a lot of good players or I’m getting better.”