For These Two Teams, It Truly Was the Game of the Century

Last Monday night, Mansfield University of Mansfield, Pa., beat visiting Wyoming Seminary prep school, 27-7. It was a 100-year rematch.

The teams played the first night football game on Sept. 18, 1892. Ironically, until last Monday night no night games had been played at Mansfield since.

The inaugural game was called at halftime and resulted in a scoreless tie.

“The lighting was so poor that the teams were often unaware of which squad had the ball, and anyone in uniform was likely to be tackled,” Mansfield historian Stan Heaps said.

Add Mansfield: A third game between Mansfield and Wyoming Seminary is scheduled for 2092. Tickets are on sale.

Trivia time: Identify the NCAA Division I-A schools that are nicknamed Owls.

Why show up: Columnist Lowell Cohn of the San Francisco Chronicle has projected that the 49ers, now 3-1, will most likely be 8-1 in succeeding weeks because of their schedule.

As for Sunday’s game with the Rams in Candlestick Park, Cohn writes: “The 49ers are going to beat the dog out of the Rams, who are no better than average, a middle-of-the-pack team.

Wake up call: Dan Devine, interim athletic director at the University of Missouri, where he was the football coach from 1958 to 1970, was once known as a no-nonsense taskmaster. Once, he even banished a player from practice for yawning during a drill. Devine said he has mellowed, adding: “I used to be very irritable. I made Norm Stewart (Missouri basketball coach) look like a choirboy.”

Far out: Bill (Spaceman) Lee, the former USC and Boston Red Sox pitcher, is still active. Lee, 45, pitches for the Grey Sox, a pro baseball alumni team he put together to barnstorm in the Northeast.

Lee, known for his zany antics and off-the-wall remarks, was initially irked by his “Spaceman” nickname.

“Then, I realized it was the ultimate compliment,” he said. “Everybody thinks they’re Earthlings . . . but in actuality we’re only here for a brief moment and the cinder that we’re on is moving as Spaceship Earth, so we’re all space travelers.”

Tight fit: Eric Lange, a kicker for for Tulsa, wears a size 5 1/2 shoe on his right foot. Nothing unusual about that until you consider that his actual shoe size is 8.

“I guess some people would consider that abnormal,” said Lange, who soaks a new shoe in hot water for 15 to 20 minutes and lubricates his sock with Vaseline. “I get a better feel for the ball. It’s like kicking barefoot.”

Ambush: USC will play unbeaten Washington on Saturday in Seattle and sports historian Dwain Esper points out that the favored Huskies should not be overconfident.

USC has ruined unbeaten seasons for Washington in 1943 (the 1944 Rose Bowl), 1959, 1962, and 1984.

Trivia answer: Rice and Temple.

Quotebook: USC reserve quarterback Reggie Perry on his eating habits: “I’m a junk-food nut. I eat anything that’s bad for me. The greasier, the better.”