Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 1, 1992

Stuff about Washington, Michigan and the Rose Bowl:

For a change, the oldest and richest bowl is the most attractive today. . . .

Not since USC, after the 1978 season, has the Rose Bowl produced a team that has at least shared the national championship. . . .

Michigan and Washington are ranked in the top four of both the Associated Press and USA Today/CNN polls. The only other bowl matching teams ranked in the top nine is the Cotton Bowl--Florida State vs. Texas A&M.; . . .

However, a downtown broker says asking prices for Rose Bowl tickets are little more than average. He has been offering $45 tickets for anywhere from $110 to $325. Of course, this is Washington’s second consecutive appearance, and the economy is particularly bad in Michigan. . . .

At the Big Ten Club dinner the other night, Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda shook hands with Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard of Michigan. “With your hands, we could use you at shortstop,” Lasorda said. “I could also steal some bases,” Howard said. . . .

Homecoming: Washington will suit up 27 players from California. . . .

Roy Riegels, famed for his wrong-way run that helped to give Georgia Tech an 8-7 victory over Cal in 1929, was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1991. . . .

Wisconsin quarterback Ron VanderKelen set bowl records that still stand for pass attempts, completions and yards in 1963, when the Badgers’ comeback fell short of beating national champion USC, 42-37. It was so dark in the final minutes that the construction of new lights was ordered for future games. . . .

The six-figure crowd won’t make Michigan nervous. The Wolverines have played before at least 100,000 fans 103 consecutive times at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. . . .

Michigan was the first university to offer courses in American literature, pharmacy, speech and marine design. . . .

With 17,000 employees, Washington is the second-biggest employer in King County. . . .

The 1927 game--a 7-7 tie between Alabama and Stanford--was the first sporting event to be broadcast coast-to-coast on radio. . . .

Husky quarterback Mark Brunell, who started last season before suffering a knee injury in spring practice, has been promised that he will play at least one series today. . . .

Joe Kapp of California, the British Columbia Lions and the Minnesota Vikings is the only player to have appeared in the Rose Bowl, the Grey Cup and the Super Bowl. . . .

From wide receiver Mario Bailey of Washington: “The only difference between me and Desmond Howard is that he’s at Michigan and he returns punts and kickoffs.”. . . .

Bailey caught one more pass and had 87 more yards than Howard this season. Howard caught two more touchdown passes. . . .

The last wide receiver to be named the player of the game was John McKay of USC, the coach’s son, who shared the honor with quarterback Pat Haden in 1975. . . .

This is the Big Ten’s year to wear dark jerseys. . . .

Michigan’s famous winged helmets were designed in 1938 by Coach Fritz Crisler, who wanted something unique so his quarterbacks could find his receivers downfield in the days when all teams wore dark jerseys. . . .

The term “gutty little Bruins” was popularized by undersized UCLA’s 14-12 upset of Michigan State in 1966. . . .

Rose Bowl payouts are $6.5 million to each conference, which is $2.3 million more than the second-most lucrative bowl, the Orange, pays its teams. . . .

Touchdowns were worth only five points in the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, but Michigan fullback Neil Snow scored a handful of them in the Wolverines’ 49-0 victory over Stanford, and his 25 points remain in the record book. . . .

Big Ten teams in the past frequently spent New Year’s Eve in a monastery near Pasadena. . . .

The last school to turn down a Rose Bowl invitation was second-ranked Ohio State, after the 1961 season. Michigan Coach Gary Moeller was a center and linebacker for the Buckeyes. The Big Ten runner-up, Minnesota, then beat UCLA, 21-3. . . .

The stadium, which originally had a capacity of 57,000, was built in 1922 after the Tournament of Roses Assn. raised $272,198 for its construction. . . .

The 330-seat press box will be torn down soon after the game and replaced by a 1,200-seat facility, which will include luxury suites. . . .

Player of the game in 1919 was George Halas, an end for the U.S. Navy team from Great Lakes in Illinois, which defeated the U.S. Marine Corps team from Mare Island, 17-0. . . .

Prediction: Michigan 24, Washington 14.