At the Time, It Sure Appeared to Be One Sweetheart of a Deal

Ten years ago today, John Robinson was introduced as coach of the Rams by owner Georgia Frontiere, who told the assembled media at a news conference in Beverly Hills: “Happy Valentine’s Day. I brought you a gift because I love you all.”

Only 2 1/2 months earlier, Robinson had quit as USC coach to accept a job as the school’s senior vice president for university relations.

“I’ve committed myself to another type of life,” he said at the time. “If I was to stay in coaching, it would be here at USC.”

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Trivia time: Which colleges, other than Alabama, with Bart Starr and Joe Namath, have more than one quarterback in the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

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Social conscience: The late Arthur Ashe, who won the U.S. Open in 1968 and Wimbledon in 1975, once told Tennis magazine: “I enjoyed Wimbledon more. It was tough to enjoy the U.S. Open because 1968 was a difficult year. You had the Vietnam War; Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated. I would not want to go through 1968 again, even if you stuck winning the Open in there.”

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Overqualified: From Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe: “It looks as though Quinn Buckner might actually take the job (as coach of the Dallas Mavericks). Too bad. He’s a great person and a great basketball man. The Mavericks deserve much, much worse.”

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Tavian no taunter: After signing a letter of intent to attend Iowa, choosing the Hawkeyes over Miami, Washington and Nebraska, running back Tavian Banks of Bettendorf, Iowa, told the Des Moines Register that he didn’t think he would fit in at Miami.

“You have to be a certain type of player to play at Miami,” he said. “I’m not that arrogant.”

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Earth to Andre: Andre Agassi commuted from his home in Las Vegas to a tournament in San Francisco two weeks ago aboard his own plane, a 10-seat Lockheed Jet-Star that he claimed he bought from Bruce McNall, owner of the Kings.

However, the 70-seat plane that was formerly used by the Kings is still on the market for $5 million.

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No sympathy: Larry Johnson of the Charlotte Hornets, told that Michael Jordan had grown tired of his role as the game’s ambassador, said: “If he doesn’t want to be an ambassador, then tell him to stop scoring 30 points a night. Tell him to stop winning.”

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Dad, is that you?: When quarterback Ron Powlus of Berwick (Pa.) High, considered by many to be the nation’s No. 1 college prospect, picked Notre Dame over Pittsburgh, his high school coach, George Curry, had to break the news to his daughter.

Kelly Curry, a Pitt student who works in the school’s football office, answered the phone when her father called to announce Powlus’ decision.

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Trivia answer: Duke (Ace Parker and Sonny Jurgensen), Northwestern (Paddy Driscoll and Otto Graham), Oregon (Norm Van Brocklin and Dan Fouts) and Purdue (Len Dawson and Bob Griese).

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Quotebook: California freshman Jason Kidd, on the direction of the team before the firing last week of Coach Lou Campanelli: “I felt we were in an airplane and it was on fire and we were about ready to crash and burn.”