THEY SAID IT IN 1990 : BACK TALK : Our Lighthearted Look at the Musings, Quotes of Area Sports Figures

JANUARY

I’m Really Good Late at Night in My Driveway

23--CSUN basketball player Derrick Gathers: “There’s not as much pressure on me to score, and when I feel less pressure, I play better.”

We Would, if We Were Still Awake

24--L. A. Baptist basketball Coach Maury Neville, after his team did not take a shot from the field for the final 10 minutes of a game and still won, 35-34: “My assistants thought I was nuts. But I stuck with it and look how it turned out.”

Luckily for Me, I Coach the Swim Team

24--CSUN swim Coach Pete Accardy, after his team was slowed by aching muscles: “They were so sore they could barely walk.”

At Home, I’ll Take a Sports Coat

27--Palmdale High soccer Coach Juan Paolo: “I’ll take a tie anytime, especially when we’re playing on the road.”

Duh, How’d They Catch Us?

28--Four Antelope Valley High basketball players were found guilty of misdemeanor assault after accosting fellow students on campus and taking money from them. All four boys were wearing their varsity basketball practice uniforms during the attack.

Of Course. You Need Twice as Many Shoes

29--Ginny Coburn, whose daughter is a member--the only member--of the Bellarmine-Jefferson equestrian team, on the school’s lack of support for the horse-riding sport: “Even the cross-country team gets more school support.”

FEBRUARY

I Said You Have To. I Don’t

2--Camarillo High basketball Coach John Harbour, after a 58-43 loss to Westlake: “That was, by far, our worst game of the season. We just played horrible. But you have to give Westlake credit.”

You Should Have Stopped the Day Before

5--Bob Saberhagen, father of two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen of the Kansas City Royals, on a game he played with his young son, rewarding him with a quarter every time he threw a baseball through a tire: “One day, when he was 10 years old, he won $60 from me. Sixty dollars! That was the day we stopped playing that game.”

I Hate It When That Happens

15--Agoura High runner Bryan Dameworth, on his first trip to New York to compete in the Millrose Games, on concerns for his safety in the Big Apple: “I was just making sure I didn’t get killed or anything.”

MARCH

Not With All That Broken Glass on the Floor

3--Canyon High football Coach Harry Welch admitted he intentionally broke the glass in a trophy case at Santa Barbara High during a destructive rampage by his players triggered, Welch said, by Santa Barbara fans threatening his players after the game: “That was not a safe facility for athletes nor visiting fans.”

OK. We Get It. Enough!

4--North Hollywood High basketball Coach Steve Miller, after Dana Jones scored 29 points and grabbed 29 rebounds to lead his team to the City Section championship: “He’s the best player in the city of Los Angeles and one of the best in the state of California. Absolutely no doubt about it. Period. End of sentence.”

Everyone Else Calls It Running Out of Gas

4--Craig Clayton, CSUN pitcher, after being lifted in the seventh inning of a game for the third time in a row: “I call it the seventh-inning jinx.”

Seems That Way, Pete

10--CSUN swim Coach Pete Accardy, after Oakland (Mich.) University defeated his women’s team to win the national championship: “I don’t want to take anything away from Oakland. Their girls swam great and they have a good program. But are they really national champions?”

I Am One Lucky Guy

14--Paul Mokeski, former Crespi High player, finishing up his 11th season in the NBA, said he has had torn knee cartilage, a separated shoulder, seven fractures of his nose, two broken ribs, two broken ankles, bone chips in both elbows and also suffers severe back problems, but: “Other than those things, I’ve never really been hurt.”

Neither Was Jack Clark

15--15: Westlake High baseball Coach Rich Herrera, commenting on the workouts with his players involving former Dodger pitcher Tom Niedenfuer: “The kids have seen him here so many times, they’re not really in awe of him.”

But Very Much Smoggy

18--Jussi Hamalainen, a marathoner who left Finland three years ago and settled in Agoura Hills, on the reason for the move: “I like it here. It’s no cold.”

How About, ‘Can I Be Your Agent?’

26--El Camino Real High baseball Coach Mike Maio after his pitcher, Ryan McGuire, struck out 20 batters in a game against Cleveland: “What words do you use when a kid pitches like that?”

APRIL

Luckily, I Don’t Work on a Pit Crew

10--College of the Canyons baseball player Ron Robart, explaining why he had been hit by 15 pitches in the first 27 games of the season: “I figure the batter’s box is mine, so if the ball comes at me I don’t have to move.”

Yeah, We’re All Shocked

14--Barry Zelner of Tarzana, a top player of the obscure sport of paddle tennis, a sport that appears to be like Ping-Pong, only the table is bigger and you get to stand on it during the game: “It just amazes me that more people don’t play.”

Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

20--Westlake High baseball Coach Rich Herrera, after his team’s bus broke down in the high-desert town of Acton and he and his players were forced to spend five hours waiting for a new one: “Man, we were somewhere between here and hell, on the corner of Devil’s Road and Sympathy for the Devil Avenue.”

You Say My Kid Pitches? No Kidding!

25-- Tom Merrill, father of high school pitcher Tajah Merrill--who had an 0.91 ERA--after his son left Camarillo High on a Monday, enrolled at Channel Islands High on Tuesday and pitched for his new team, uh, new school , on Wednesday: “Ultimately, this move had little to do with athletics.”

MAY

Runs-Bedded-In Champ

1--Crespi High baseball player Jeff Suppan, who lives in West Hills, on his success in games played on the field at Pierce College in Woodland Hills: “I like Pierce because I can wake up later.”

A Loss of El Camino Reality?

2--Baseball player Ryan McGuire of El Camino Real High, on a team-wide batting slump, and its cure: “We stood in a circle and held hands and took turns saying prayers and rubbing a plastic dog bone on the bats.”

Why Would She? She’s Playing Softball

11--Gary Torgeson, CSUN softball coach, on ace pitcher Debbie Dickman: “Look at her when she’s out there pitching. She doesn’t look scared. She doesn’t look worried. She doesn’t look concerned.”

But if You Don’t, Well, That’s OK, Too

12--College of the Canyons baseball Coach Len Mohney, talking to his team moments before a doubleheader that it needed to sweep to advance in a tournament: “I’m going to go to war for 18 innings today. If you want to join me, fine.”

Canyons lost the second game.

You Should Be Getting Hats

15--Chatsworth High volleyball player Gene Urcan, who joined his teammates in shaving arrows and squiggly lines into their hair: “For inspiration. We’re getting the spirit.”

And Then I Misquoted Myself

17--Hart High pitcher Andrew Lorraine, a budding writer, on his yearbook account of the team’s travels through the playoffs: “It was hard for me not to write about myself when we got into the playoffs. I mean, I pitched every game.”

JUNE

Fred Weiner’s Day Off

1--Chatsworth High tennis Coach Joe Santellano, after player Fred Weiner missed practice because of a “doctor’s appointment” and was then spotted by Santellano on television at a Dodger game: “The camera panned over and I thought, ‘Wait a minute. That looks like Fred.’ Then it panned over again and I said, ‘That is Fred.’ ”

No One Is Hitting Us

8--John Bray of Van Nuys, one of the top amateur heavyweight boxers in the nation, on the toll the sport exacts: “Let’s be honest. You get hit on the side of the head for 10 or 20 years, something is going to go wrong up there.”

But Who Will Hear Them?

9--Denny Holt, former Monroe High baseball coach and 20-year resident of the Valley, on his retirement and move to Hilo, Hawaii: “In the past hour, not a single car has gone by. My dog is not barking. My door isn’t locked. And the birds will sing in the morning.”

You’ll Make Them Wear Lime-Green Pants?

15--Former pro tennis star Roscoe Tanner, now the teaching pro at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, on the first-class treatment planned for the tennis members: “Tennis players are going to be treated like golfers.”

Wimbledog

15--Tanner, on his move from Santa Barbara to Westlake Village: “In Santa Barbara I didn’t know the neighbors that well. I just knew their guard dogs.”

It Would Hurt, That’s What It Would Do

26--Charlie DiMarco, coach of Valley College heptathlon star Melanie Clarke, on her first attempts at throwing the javelin: “I would have to clear the field. Sometimes it would go backward. It was wild. I didn’t know what it would do.”

JULY

‘Cause, Like, Um, We Know Everything, You Know?

1--Brandon Martin, a basketball player at Cleveland High, on the three coaches the team had in less than a year: “Ever since I started, it seemed we haven’t had a stable coach. Nobody wanted some clown coming in and messing everything up, teaching another whole new system.”

Like You Had a Choice

12--Roger Frantz of Simi Valley, a world-class cyclist, on other sports he tried when he weighed 300 pounds: “I became proficient at racquetball, but I didn’t have to lose a lot of weight. I stood in the middle of the court and engineered my shots rather than running after them.”

Oh, Spare Us!

18--Gene Giegoldt, general manager of the Canoga Park Bowl, on the atmosphere when budding pro bowlers take over the lanes in the West Coast Eliminations tournament: “When the crowd starts to come in, the entire bowling center gets swept up into this fever pitch.”

Back to You in the Booth

20--Hank Bauer, former Cal Lutheran star and ex-NFL player and now a television broadcaster in San Diego, on getting hit in the head often during his football career: “Actually, getting your bell rung doesn’t feel too bad. It feels kind of good.”

A Bulgin’ Waffle

20--Al Schoenberger, former Cal Lutheran assistant baseball coach, recalling the time Bauer ran full-speed, face-first into the outfield fence: “His face looked like a waffle in the pattern of chain-link.”

Doesn’t Sound Like Either One Was Very Lucky

24--Woodland Hills West American Legion Coach Don Hornback, on baseball superstitions: “I opened the washing machine one morning and there were two pairs of underwear in there. I couldn’t figure out which one was my lucky pair, so I’ve been wearing both.”

AUGUST

Of Course, Not as Bad as Alonso

1--Featherweight boxer Rafael Ruelas of Arleta, after knocking out a friend, Rosendo Alonso of Bakersfield, in the first round: “We are friends, but we weren’t in the ring. When he fell like that, I felt bad.”

And That, Obviously, Has to Stop

2--Joe Byrd, coach of the U. S. heavyweights in the Goodwill Games, on the shortcomings of Van Nuys boxer John Bray: “Bray has a good right hand. He can punch with the right. But he thinks too much.”

Isn’t That Odd?

14--Glendale College football Coach John Cicuto, on why he eased up on his players during the first weeks of summer practice: “We found out that our players are a little more lively with a little more rest.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is a Puck

16--Los Angeles Kings’ announcer Nick Nickson, on the early days on the job: “From the start, I dealt with the listeners, the Los Angeles hockey fans, the way they deserved to be dealt with.”

SEPTEMBER

Sure. Not When You’re Around

1--George Fua, CSUN’s 6-foot-3, 240-pound tight end, talking about his performance in the school’s Modern Dance Spring Concert: “It’s different, being a dancer and a football player. But my teammates have never made fun of me.”

But There Wasn’t One

2--Teddy Davila, CSUN soccer player who scored the game’s only goal in the school’s win over UC Irvine played before a gathering of just 436 fans at CSUN: “If I scored, I had planned to take my shirt off and jump into the crowd.”

Lucky the Car’s Windows Stay Open

7--Craig Rayburn, race car driver at Saugus Speedway, said that for important races he wears a pair of shoes that he has owned for 13 years. They are, he said, “my lucky shoes.”

Essentially?

12--Cal Lutheran football Coach Joe Harper, after his team logged just 40 rushing yards in a loss to Azusa Pacific: “Essentially, we don’t have any running backs.”

You Don’t Say

18--Pete LaCock, former Taft High star and major leaguer who played for the Kansas City Royals, on life in Overland Park, Kan.: “Between the traffic and the craziness of L. A., it’s a lot more relaxing in Kansas.”

Come to Think of It, Nobody Has Ever Made Me Do Anything

20--CSUN basketball center Todd Bowser, who is 6-foot-8 and weighs more than 300 pounds, on his return to school after a one-year hiatus: “Nobody made me leave, and nobody made me come back.”

OCTOBER

And This Surprised You?

5--Jamal Farmer, former Granada Hills High standout, on why he accepted a football scholarship at the University of Hawaii: “When I came here, it was just for the trip. Then I saw everybody in shorts. It was sunny.”

And We, Well, We Stink

12--Reseda High football Coach Joel Schaeffer, after his team was shut out by Granada Hills: “We beat ourselves on a couple of things. Granada Hills is certainly not a super football team.”

Starting at Running Back, Don King

23--Burbank High football Coach Randy Stage, on a player who missed a game because of electrical shock: “The kid just stuck his hand in a fuse box while leaning against the wall in machine shop.”

And I Said, ‘You Missed’

23--Randy Stage, on another unusual happening: “Our wide receiver took his helmet off and threw it at me at halftime two games ago. He just said, ‘I quit.’ ”

NOVEMBER

He Should Have Been on the Sideline With the Rest of Us Knuckleheads

3--San Fernando High football Coach Tom Hernandez, blaming a loss on an official: “Our kids should have held their heads high celebrating a win and it’s taken away by some knucklehead who has no business being on the field.”

Some What?

6--San Fernando’s Hernandez, threatening to take his team off the field if an official makes a “bad” call against it: “If we lose, it’s going to be because the other team is better than us, not because some idiot is out there guessing.”

But Someone Kept Yanking on the Extension Cord

13--Michael Black, a football player and resident of the Camp Kilpatrick correctional facility, on his problems in school: “I was lazy. I just wanted to watch TV and go outside.”

Bow-WOW

15--CSUN basketball Coach Pete Cassidy, on the slow but steady weight loss of center Todd Bowser, who checked in at more than 300 pounds during the summer: “It’s hard to see the weight coming off Todd. It’s like throwing a deck chair off an ocean liner.”

DECEMBER

And We Would, but I Need This Job

12--Paraclete High basketball Coach Andy Gavel, on his team’s free-throw shooting woes, despite much practice: “We’ve tried shooting in silence and with music. We’ve done everything except play strip free throws.”

Right You Are, Cement Feet

14--Bob Gagliano, former Hoover High and Glendale College standout, on his less-than-starry life in the NFL: “There are a lot of fallacies about me. One year, the book on me was that I had no mobility, which is ridiculous. But once it gets in the press, it will kind of stick with you.”

And I’m Not Just Talkin’ to Hear Myself Talk

16--CSUN basketball Coach Pete Cassidy, on the exciting style of guard Keith Gibbs: “I don’t like flamboyance and stylin’ for the sake of flamboyance and stylin.’ ”