And How About the First Time Ted Williams Played Baseball?

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe, the New England Patriots’ first-round draft choice, has yet to play in his first league game, but Michael Madden of the Boston Globe is virtually giddy about the prospects of the rookie from Washington State.

After a recent exhibition victory over the Green Bay Packers, Madden wrote: “I’ve been on hyperbole alert for 24 hours now, but no difference. The way Drew Bledsoe played brings back the same recollections as the first time Orr played hockey here and Bird played basketball.

“We just knew .”

Easy, Michael, easy.

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Trivia time: The Associated Press college football poll was inaugurated in 1936. What school was the first champion?

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Now hear this: Reporters looking for controversial opinions should line up to interview linebacker Seth Joyner of the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I’m outspoken, I’ve always said what’s on my mind and I’ll keep on speaking my mind,” Joyner told Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’ve got a constitutional right and saying what I think is one of them.”

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The 90-90 club: The Milwaukee Brewers are on pace to become the sixth major league team to win 90 or more games one season and lose 90 ore more the next.

The others are the Philadelphia Athletics, 1914-1915; Chicago White Sox, 1920-1921 and 1977-1978; the Angels, 1982-1983, and Dodgers, 1991-1992.

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Spaceman: Mike Morris, a journeyman center with the Minnesota Vikings, has a goal this season of wearing a different black T-shirt each day. He has 172 of them in his duffel bag.

Morris also leads the team’s offensive line in an unusual ritual--seances.

“We almost had Truman Capote the other day,” he told Bob Glauber of Newsday, “until the mosquitoes got us.”

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Anything else? Chet Coppock of the Chicago Sun-Times on the status of Bear defensive lineman William (Refrigerator) Perry:

“His knees are like Jell-O. His stomach still begins in Waukegan and ends in Calumet City. If he comes up with a quarterback trap, officials should stop the clock and toss him the game ball.”

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Frame-up: The New York Post reported that Steve Howe went to see the off-Broadway play “Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding” and, when the cast and audience moved to the reception hall, someone lighted up a joint and offered it to the person behind him.

“Get that away from me,” Howe yelled. “You’re trying to entrap me.”

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Trivia answer: Minnesota.

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Quotebook: John Olive, basketball coach at Loyola Marymount, noting that his team opens the season on the road against USC, UCLA and Nevada Las Vegas: “I hope we’re not committing schedule-cide.”