They Knew Enough This Time Around

New England Patriot running back Leonard Russell told the Boston Globe last week that the Rams “didn’t look like they knew what they were doing against Buffalo” in a season-opening game.

“They looked like they weren’t ready to play football,” he said. “But they probably want to impress their fans and to prove something to themselves. They are thinking we are the team to do it against, but they are in for a rude awakening if they think that.”

Turned out Russell and the Patriots were in for the rude awakening, a 14-0 defeat last Sunday at Anaheim Stadium.

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Trivia time: What is significant about the 1944 Rose Bowl game?

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Bad rap: One final word on the “Strawgate Affair,” an erroneous rumor that California’s players were wearing straw hats and chewing straw to mock Purdue as country bumpkins before a game last Saturday in West Lafayette, Ind.

Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson told Jake Curtis of the San Francisco Chronicle that nothing of the kind happened.

“We don’t even let (the players) wear Walkmans,” he said.

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Make room: Lee Trevino, the leading money winner on the senior golf tour, says that Raymond Floyd is a welcome addition to the older circuit.

“It takes a little pressure off me because Ray is the new sheriff in town,” Trevino told USA Today. “I’m a deputy now.”

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Next question: Connie Hawkins, who was recently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, filled out a questionnaire when he joined the Phoenix Suns in 1969. Some excerpts:

Nickname: Super Star (underlined three times). Highest degree attained in college (Iowa): 50 points. Grade point: 0.0. Honors won in college: “I won the honor to leave.”

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Bon appetit: Phoenix Cardinal quarterback Timm Rosenbach suffered a separated shoulder last Sunday night in a game against Philadelphia. A week earlier, he had suffered a concussion.

Said Rosenbach of being strapped to a stretcher: “They were trucking me around in that thing like a relish tray.”

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Time warp: St. Louis Cardinal pitcher Joe Magrane, who had been inactive with injuries since 1990, recently returned to active duty.

That prompted Rich Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to write: “Since Magrane last triumphed, the United States won a Gulf War and Madonna learned how to play baseball.”

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Versatile: Willie Banks, the world record-holder in the triple jump, worked for Japanese television as well as the TripleCast at the Olympic Games in Barcelona.

Track & Field News reported that Banks, a former UCLA star, interviewed athletes in English, then turned and translated into Japanese for the cameras. Banks had previously coached for a couple of years in Japan.

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Considerate: Swedish golfer Anders Forsbrand has reportedly angered some players by swearing at himself on the course.

“I am the (John) McEnroe of golf,” Forsbrand told Golf World. “Like him, I get upset with myself when I want to do well . . . but at least I’ve never had my hands around my caddie’s throat.”

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Trivia answer: It was not intersectional because of wartime travel restrictions. USC beat Washington, 29-0.

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Quotebook: Pitcher Dave Righetti on the uncertainty of where the San Francisco Giants will play next season: “Everybody has heard about free-agent players. Well, we’re a free-agent team.”