The Postman Got to Know His Address

Those who believe they get an inordinate amount of junk mail should consider the plight of the highly recruited high school athlete.

Case in point: former Chicago high school basketball star Tom Kleinschmidt.

In documenting Kleinschmidt’s recruitment, H.G. Bissinger of the Chicago Tribune found that Kleinschmidt received 2,184 pieces of correspondence from 135 colleges over a three-year period.

At the top of the heap, according to Bissinger, was Marquette, which sent Kleinschmidt 255 pieces of mail.

Marquette Coach Kevin O’Neill wrote: “I love your competitive attitude! You’re my kind of guy. There’s no doubt in my mind that we could kick a lot of butts together.”

Arizona wrote him 128 times. One letter read: “If you come to Arizona, Coach (Lute) Olson will get you a great summer job in Chicago . . . and he’ll get you a great job after graduation.”

Add mail: Even schools that had no realistic chance of signing Kleinschmidt, a 6-5 swingman, used the mail to make their pitches, some a little bizarre.

Butler University: “Did you know . . . that Butler University is in the middle of the Midwest?”

James Madison: “When you visit our campus, you will have the opportunity to taste for yourself what many consider is the best food on any college campus.”

Last add mail: The winner in the Tom Kleinschmidt mail sweepstakes? DePaul (207 letters, six in one day).

Trivia time: Who was the first winner of the Heisman Trophy?

Now it can be told: George Foreman likes to talk about his love for cheeseburgers, cake, roast beef, pie, etc., but his eating habits are relatively normal in the weeks before a fight.

According to Ron Borges of the Boston Globe, Foreman’s pre-fight diet includes a bowl of fruit for breakfast, a tossed salad for lunch, broiled chicken or veal for dinner and snacks of carrot sticks and celery.

“When he doesn’t eat, he gets in the mood to fight,” said Ron Weathers, a Foreman adviser.

He flew before he could run: When he led Trenton State College to the New Jersey Athletic Conference cross-country title last month, Eugene (Butch) Oberlander put the finishing touch on what has been, to say the least, a hectic year for him.

As a helicopter crew chief with the Second Armored Division during Operation Desert Storm, Sgt. Oberlander earned the bronze star for rescuing wounded soldiers in Kuwait.

In the conference cross-country meet, he finished third.

Uh, scratch that one: University of Texas graduates received a brochure last week soliciting donations to the school’s athletic boosters’ organization, the Longhorn Foundation. Under the heading, “You’ll Have the Time of Your Life!” the brochure’s back cover displayed the pictures of seven Texas coaches. One was David McWilliams, whose time as football coach ran out a week earlier.

Trivia answer: Larry Kelley of Yale in 1936. University of Chicago’s Jay Berwanger won the Downtown Athletic Club award in 1935, because John Heisman didn’t want his name on the trophy while he was alive.

Quotebook: Atlanta Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville, on obtaining quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver from the San Diego Chargers for a fifth-round draft pick: “(Charger General Manager) Bobby Beathard probably has done more to help this team than he has San Diego’s.”