Coaches’ Forum Is Quickly Transformed Into Snipe Hunt

Indiana’s Bob Knight and Illinois’ Lou Henson, not the best of friends after last season’s feud over Henson’s questionable recruiting practices, were together at the annual Big Ten Conference basketball media day recently.

The coaches were given four minutes to discuss their team’s prospects, but Henson went beyond the alloted time to take on Knight. After Henson’s diatribe concluded, Ohio State’s Randy Ayer was up next.

Said Ayer: “I’d like to give my four minutes to Bobby Knight.”

Add Knight: When Knight finally took the podium, he could not resist poking fun. Knight said he would send Henson an NCAA manual in different languages, to make sure the Illinois coach could read it.

Trivia time: In the last five seasons, how many schools from the Pacific 10 Conference have been invited to bowl games?

Subtle, really subtle: From Pittsburgh Press columnist Gene Collier: “The Dewar’s Profile Quote of the Year Award: To Jerry Rice, dashing, cosmopolitan, world-class wideout of the San Francisco 49ers, who responded to a reporter’s question, ‘Get out of my face, or I’ll kill you.’ ”

Televised action: Times staff writer Thomas Bonk was asked by a reporter about the new team in town she saw advertised on a billboard--L.A. Tronics.

Industrial age: Pari-mutuel betting machines were first used at Churchill Downs in 1878.

Great feets: Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs blocked an NFL-record six punts, whereas their kicker, Nick Lowery, made 21 consecutive field goals.

Street artist: The first time outfielder Rick Monday was in New York with the Kansas City Athletics, he told Newsday, he ventured onto the street in front of the hotel and encountered the local landmark named Moondog. He wore a blanket, a long red beard and a Viking kind of headpiece with horns, and just stood there. Monday said he took one look, went back into his hotel and stayed put.

No world order: Although the Phoenix Cardinals were one of two teams that refused to support the World League of American Football last year, their starting quarterback this week, Stan Gelbaugh, made a name for himself in the WLAF. He was the most valuable player of the London Monarchs and is obligated to return to play for them next spring.

Trivia answer: All but Oregon State, which last played in a bowl game on Jan. 1, 1965, when it lost to Michigan, 34-7, in the Rose Bowl.

Quotebook: Chicago Bull Stacey King, discussing a recently released book about teammate Michael Jordan: “I think this is going to be one of the best fictional stories since Mother Goose.”