There Always Is One Person on Your Side

A youth football game in Oakland Park, Fla., was called off when the mother of one of the players pulled out a gun and shot into a crowd of spectators. No one was hit.

During a National Boys Football League game for 13- to 15-year-olds, Valerie Thompson’s son got angry and quit after his team’s quarterback had fumbled. The quarterback’s aunt told the youth to calm down. But he leaped at her, punched her in the face and began fighting with some of her relatives, police said.

That’s when Mom pulled out the pistol.

Trivia time: What do Tony Smith, Antonio Harvey, Nick Van Exel and Trevor Wilson have in common?

Who’s the Genius? In three games--1977, 1978 and 1993--as opposing college coaches, USC’s John Robinson has outscored Stanford’s Bill Walsh, 107-27.

An inside look: Promoter Dan Duva on two fighters he has worked with--International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Assn. champion Evander Holyfield and World Boxing Council champion Lennox Lewis of Britain:

“Holyfield is an overachiever and Lewis is an underachiever. Holyfield gets absolutely everything out of his talent and Lewis doesn’t.”

Elbow room: The first man to climb Mount Everest without oxygen, ascend it solo and climb the world’s other 13 mountains over 26,400 feet, has turned his attention elsewhere.

“The mountains are getting too crowded,” Reinhold Messner said. “The future for me will be in wandering deserts . . . of ice and sand.”

That hurts: From Jack Brennan in the Cincinnati Enquirer: “The meanest nickname of the year has been laid on Ram quarterback Jim Everett, who’s allegedly afraid to take a hit. Critics are calling him ‘Chrissie.’ ”

Right reasons: When Ron Green Jr. of the Charlotte Observer asked Dennis Rodman about the possibility of a reconciliation with his wife, Annie, the San Antonio Spurs defensive star said:

“She has eight tattoos. I have nine. I had my stomach pierced. She has, too. It would probably be in my best interest to get back together.”

Home advantage?The Buffalo Sabres of the NHL are 0-6-0 at home, 4-2-1 on the road.

Familiar names: At first glance, the Seattle SuperSonics did quite a job in the draft, picking an Ervin Johnson and a Jordan. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t get Magic and Michael.

The SuperSonics picked Johnson, from New Orleans, in the first round and guard Adonis Jordan of Kansas in the second.

Trivia answer: Along with Vlade Divac, all started for the Lakers in the season opener.

The closer: Pittsburgh columnist Bob Smizik, listing the top seven bad free-agent signings of 1993, rates the Dodgers’ acquisition of relief pitcher Todd Worrell as No. 1. For confirmation, Smizik notes that Worrell received $81,904 for every inning he pitched and that his saves cost the Dodgers $633,400 apiece.

Quotebook: Bert Sugar, editor of Boxing Illustrated, on Tommy Morrison, who recently suffered a knockout that again ruined his chance for a multimillion-dollar fight: “Morrison proved that he is an ambidextrous fighter. He can get knocked out with either hand.”