What Happens When They Get Shelled?

The owners of the new minor league baseball team in Hickory, N.C., considered the names “Hound Dogs” and “River Rats” before choosing a crustacean--the “Crawdads.”

The name was chosen by the owners and their staff from hundreds of suggestions offered by the public.

“Research shows crawdads have 30 times the strength of a human being,” said Marty Steele, the Class-A team’s general manager. “Crawdads are fighters. They’ve been known to lose a limb in battle and continue to fight.”

*

Add Crawdads: Not everyone was impressed, though. “I can’t imagine going up to someone and saying, ‘I’m a big Crawdads fan,’ ” Jack Ledford said. “For a team, you expect a name like Tigers, something intimidating. Surely they can come up with something better than this.”

Spiny lobster?

*

Trivia time: Texas A&M; will be looking for its 13th victory of the season in the Cotton Bowl game. Name the other college teams in this century that have won 13 games in a season.

*

A real long shot: The Arecibo Captains of the Puerto Rico Basketball League are looking for a coach, but not any coach. They want Magic Johnson.

“I’m leaving for the United States and will try to contact him to see if he’s interested in coaching the team,” said Captains’ owner Luis Ruiz, a physician. “I think Magic, now that he has retired, may be willing to discuss the possibility of coaching.”

Johnson is interested in owning an NBA team. Coaching in Puerto Rico?

Magic might have other plans.

*

Bargain game: On Monday, Fairleigh Dickinson hosts Montclair State in a men’s college basketball game on “Turn Back the Clock Night.”

Players will wear replica jerseys from 1952-53, when Farleigh Dickinson went 20-1.

The schools are seeking NCAA approval to play under the rules of that time. Admission is 50 cents.

*

For the record: It was reported that Steve Owens of Oklahoma holds the NCAA record for most touchdowns scored in a college career.

Owens holds the three-year career record with 56 (1967-69). The Rams’ Anthony Thompson, formerly of Indiana, holds the four-year record with 65 (1986-89).

*

No respect: Mike Lupica, on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters,” said of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield: “He’s made a career of beating senior citizens and Jenny Craig dropouts.”

*

Trivia answer: Nebraska in 1971 and Brigham Young in 1984.

*

Quotebook: Buffalo Coach Marv Levy on the difference between him and Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville: “He rides to work on a motorcycle. I ride on a snowmobile.”