McKay Plan Was Strictly Over the Top

Sam (Bam) Cunningham, the former USC fullback known for his goal-line dives, was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame last week in Pasadena, where he recalled the Rose Bowl of 1973, when he was used to “rub salt into the wounds” of Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes.

Cunningham had scored three touchdowns, all by diving into the end zone. It was late in the fourth quarter, the Trojans had the game in hand and Cunningham was on the bench.

“Well, Coach (John) McKay calls me to the sideline, grabs me and pulls me about three yards onto the playing field,” Cunningham said. “He gets Woody Hayes’ attention and points and goes like this (making a motion with his arm, indicating to Hayes that Cunningham was going to dive over for another touchdown).”

Cunningham took the handoff, but the line had opened a hole so big he could have walked through. “But I dove over because that’s what (McKay) said,” Cunningham said. “I almost injured my neck and shoulder.”

The Trojans beat the Buckeyes, 42-17.

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Add Rose Bowl: Hayes got his revenge the next year, when the Buckeyes defeated the Trojans, 42-21.

Cunningham’s four touchdowns are still a Rose Bowl record, although the record was tied by UCLA’s Eric Ball in 1986.

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Trivia time: Of the 23 pitchers who have won the rookie of the year award, only two went on to win 150 or more games. Who are they?

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Counter rap: U.S. Olympic baseball Coach Ron Fraser’s comment that Team Cuba was “better than Cleveland” drew this response from Indian Manager Mike Hargrove:

“The only thing Ron Fraser knows about the big leagues is that he wasn’t good enough to play in them.”

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Blue Devil Green: Fans of two-time NCAA basketball champion Duke bought $38 million worth of Blue Devil souvenirs across the country the past year.

On campus alone, the school sold $1.8 million worth of merchandise over a 12-month period that ended June 30. That’s more than 4 million shirts, hats, mugs and other items with Duke’s logo attached.

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Covered: The Georgia Dome, new home of the Atlanta Falcons, will feature not only 129 public telephones, 82 drinking fountains, and 532 television monitors, but 81 bathrooms--35 female, 35 male and 11 unisex .

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Trivia answer: Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and the Baltimore Orioles’ Rick Sutcliffe. Sutcliffe recorded his 150th last Tuesday.

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Quotebook: Stanford Coach Bill Walsh, back among the college ranks, on his team’s opening game against Texas A&M; Aug. 26 in Anaheim: “I was really hoping we could open with an Ivy League opponent. Just think, we could have had seminars and, perhaps, a little polo during the tailgate parties.”