All Those NCAA Proposals Not as Colorless as They Seem

Among the 153 legislative proposals considered this week at the 86th NCAA Convention in Anaheim, many have concerned such heady topics as academic entrance requirements and coaches’ outside income.

Then there was Proposal No. 139, now known as the institutional stationery rule.

The rule’s intent: To allow Division I institutions to use two school colors on printed correspondences instead of one. Or as Tom Yeager, commissioner of the Colonial Athletic Assn., which presented the proposal, suggested Thursday: “This puts the purple and greens and red and blues back on the stationery.”

The legislation passed.

Another victory for NCAA reform.

Family pool: Johnny Hilliard, a Continental Basketball Assn. rookie with the Albany Patroons, is a cousin of Dalton Hilliard of the New Orleans Saints, Randy Hilliard of the Cleveland Browns and John Starks of the New York Knicks, according to Sam Blair of the Dallas Morning News.

Trivia time: Which NBA team has the most rookies this season?

The big easy: After Florida’s basketball team opened the season 5-0, Florida Today columnist Mark Coomes wrote that the Gators had their easiest early-season schedule in 65 years.

In the 1926-27 season, according to Coomes, Florida defeated Ralph’s Dry Cleaners twice, Parris Island Marines, Masked Marvels and Seminole Canoe en route to a 6-20 finish.

Driver’s Ed: NASCAR star Bill Elliott turned over the deed to three houses and more than an acre of land to the Dawson County Board of Education in his hometown of Dawsonville, Ga., as a gift. The land is adjacent to property owned by the school system.

Driver’s Ed II: P.J. Jones said he wants to become a complete driver. So he has gone to college to get the necessary training. That includes courses in computer programming, public speaking, sociology and business management.

“I want them to be well-rounded, but I remind them an education isn’t everything,” said P.J.’s famous racing father, Parnelli.

All clogged up: Texas basketball Coach Tom Penders, discussing scheduling, told the Sporting News: “People know what a good schedule is. They’re not that die-hard that they’ll come out and watch us play Drano Tech.”

Statues of few limitations: If Basketball Weekly were empowered to erect a monument to the giants of its sport--a basketball Mt. Rushmore, if you will--the publication would pay homage to James Naismith, George Mikan, John Wooden and Magic Johnson.

Test case: Steve Courson, former NFL offensive lineman who has become an outspoken critic of steroid use after suffering from a severe heart disorder, told Dana Scarton of the Pittsburgh Press: “I could teach 15-year-old kids in 15 seconds or less how to beat the state-of-the-art (drug test) and be juiced to the ears.”

Trivia answer: The Utah Jazz with four: David Benoit, Eric Murdock, Corey Crowder and Isaac Austin.

Quotebook: George Young, New York Giant general manager: “They said Bobby Layne didn’t throw a tight spiral. Well, he threw it end over end all the way into the Hall of Fame.”