Wyche Makes Losing Fun in Cincinnati

People wondering how the creative mind of Coach Sam Wyche would deal with the Cincinnati Bengals’ 0-3 start didn’t have long to wait.

Wyche trotted out something no one expected: perspective.

He said everyone else is overly concerned about winning.

Said Wyche: “It’s not fair to us, it’s not fair to our families, it’s not fair to the real fans to let it be so important that the fact that the scoreboard said you didn’t score enough points to win, that everybody else should be miserable for seven days. Baloney. Get a life, would you?

“We’re going to have fun. There’s golf to be played and tennis to be served up and other things to be done out there besides worrying about a . . . football game.”

Cincinnati talk shows sizzled. One radio station publicly offered Wyche a job, should he be fired.

Replied Wyche, unrepentant: “I think I’ve got 20 to 25 years left before I start eating soda crackers for lunch and those 25 years aren’t going to be wasted worrying about whether some editorial is written saying that we’re stupid because the field goal went through the crossbar instead of outside the crossbar.”

Hypocrisy: Wyche--sometimes known among his coaching peers as Wicky-Wacky--was fined $27,941 last year for barring female reporters from the locker room.

He thinks it’s all part of a pattern.

“We bring up our kids,” he said. “We make them think, ‘The National Football League says don’t drink, don’t take drugs, go to school, walk around naked in front of women, that’s OK. But you’ve got to win at all costs. Winning’s the only thing.’ Winning’s not the only thing. Making the effort to win is the only thing.”

Put that one into a time vault and let those future archeologists try to figure us out.

Adieu: It wasn’t much of a surprise when the Patriots waived punter Bryan Wagner.

Wagner’s 29.1-yard net average is second worst in the AFC.

Standing in the end zone for his next-to-last punt last Sunday, he booted the ball into teammate Eugene Lockhart’s back. Pittsburgh’s Ernie Mills fell on it for a touchdown.

Wagner’s last punt went 50 yards, but Rod Woodson returned it 40.

Trivia time: Who is the NFL’s all-time leading punter?

Captive audience: The renovated Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame has increased attendance 40% by letting fans “play” with their favorites.

A special display allows fans to pose in front of a 16-foot-long, 11-foot-high, life-sized photo of the team in action. A video camera blends the two images, which are then projected onto large television monitors. There is an area where fans can pass or kick footballs through targets.

“The Green Bay Packers’ Hall of Fame has always been a Mecca for football lovers,” said Larry Kulchawik of Exhibit group, which designed the renovation.

Of course, there aren’t a lot of competing attractions in town.

Trivia answer: Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins, with a 45.1-yard average for his 15-year career.

Quotebook: Deion Sanders, joking about leaving the Braves to join the Falcons: “This is the last time I leave a winner to join a loser.”