Inconsistent Esiason Chides Media for Lack of Consistency

Around the Cincinnati Bengals’ locker room, Coach Sam Wyche isn’t the only drill sergeant keeping reporters in line.

This week, quarterback Boomer Esiason was the one giving orders.

The Bengals have made an art of mixing the blowout loss with the big victory this season. They are 5-3, losing three of five games on the road in the last five weeks.

Still, Esiason is holding Cincinnati football reporters to a high standard. He told them: “What I want is some kind of consistency out of you guys. We aren’t getting that from you guys.”

Add Esiason: He continued: “The way you guys think, it’s the end of the world. . . .

“At the end of Week 14, let’s see what happens. Let’s see where the team is. Let’s see if there’s any marked improvement, given the state of the schedule, who we play and where we play.”

Trivia time: Which two NBA teams hold the record for combined points in an overtime period?

Sweet scientists: Readers Drew Robbins, Sheldon Bloom and Gary Grossman weren’t fooled by last Saturday’s Morning Briefing trivia question, “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? (Answer: None of them has a building.)”

In September, the three friends drove through Canastota, N.Y., where they visited one of America’s four Boxing Halls of Fame--housed in a temporary building.

Said Robbins: “They’re planning to put a larger one on 20 acres nearby. You can go through the current one in 15 minutes. It’s less than 1,000 square feet, but it’s there.”

A head for figures: He will never be confused with Lou Holtz, but as Northwestern Coach Francis Peay looked ahead to his team’s game with Ohio State today, he said: “I took a look at all the conference stats and, heck, we’re last. But if there is such a thing, we’re a better last.”

Heck, the Wildcats aren’t even last in the Big Ten standings. At 1-3, they lead Purdue and Wisconsin, both 0-4.

Convenient example: Forward John Williams of the Washington Bullets finally reported to the team Thursday, 50 to 60 pounds above his playing weight.

In the Washington Post, columnist Tony Kornheiser drew a parallel between Williams and boxer Buster Douglas: “The extra weight is symptomatic of their discomfort with the burden that natural talent and potential has placed on them.”

Williams was in Las Vegas last week, where a confidant of Kornheiser compared the player to a nearby landmark: “Bigger than Hoover Dam, enormous, simply enormous.”

License to hype: Showtime’s advertisement in The Times’ sports section Friday began with the headline:

“THE MOMENT OF TRUTH

DOUGLAS & HOLYFIELD

IN THE FIGHT OF THE YEAR.”

Trivia answer: The Lakers outscored the Baltimore Bullets, 21-16, in overtime Oct. 21, 1969.

Quotebook: Associated Press sportswriter Tim Dahlberg, on the Buster Douglas-Evander Holyfield fight: “It really hurt the sport. It’ll set boxing back a week.”