Reporters More Than Happy to Be Given a Piece of His Mind

Buddy Ryan has been a delight for writers covering the Arizona Cardinals when it comes to “quotability.” Ryan recently cut three players with these pithy comments:

Offensive tackle Stan Thomas: “He can’t play.”

Free safety Mike Dumas: “He’s not a bad player, but he can’t play, either.”

And 5-foot-11 receiver Curtis Duncan: “He’s a midget receiver. He caught a bunch of passes, but that was in the chuck-and-duck offense. That offense of his (assistant coach Kevin Gilbride) will get you 400 or 500 yards, one touchdown, five turnovers and a touchdown for the defense on a typical average day.”

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Add Buddy: After Ryan speculated that he might use 6-foot-5, 300-pound defensive tackle Eric Swann as a running back in short-yardage situations, the way the Chicago Bears once used Refrigerator Perry, Houston Chronicle writer John McClain asked Ryan if it is frightening to use a defensive player on offense.

“It would be if you’re the one on defense,” he answered.

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Trivia time: Who replaced Lou Gehrig at first base for the New York Yankees on May 2, 1939, after Gehrig had played in 2,130 consecutive games?

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Soccer holiday: School children in Thailand were given the day off last Monday to let them catch up on their sleep after watching the World Cup final from Pasadena.

Live coverage of the game started at 2:35 a.m., Bangkok time.

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Kid talk: Jack Baldwin drives the Hot Wheels Camaro in Trans-Am races and spends much of his spare time visiting children in hospitals, YMCAs and Boys and Girls clubs. When he’s signing autographs, he says kids ask the darndest questions.

“One I hear all the time is, ‘What do you do if you have to go to the bathroom during a race?’ ” Baldwin said. “And a lot of them want to know, ‘Is it scary driving fast?’ But my favorite is, ‘Do you have parties when you win a race.’ ”

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Baseball fan: Sue Uzzo of Hermosa Beach was watching an American League baseball game the other night at Anaheim Stadium when she noticed the AL on the umpires’ caps.

“Why are they all named Al?” she asked her husband.

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One man’s view: As far as Hall of Fame pitcher Whitey Ford is concerned, baseball today is a watered-down version of the game he played decades ago with the New York Yankees.

“It’s diluted,” he told Ann Liguori during a TV interview for Sharp Sports. “Baseball has 700 players in it and it used to have 400, so there’s a lot of guys who don’t belong in the big leagues.”

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Growing old: Former Tennessee State football coach Joe Gilliam Sr. says there is something worse than racial discrimination.

Gilliam, 67, who is black, was recently fired by school president James Hefner for being too old to relate to his players.

“I can survive (racial) discrimination, but the one that you cannot survive is age discrimination,” he said.

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Trivia answer: Babe Dahlgren.

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Quotebook: Jerry Jones, Dallas Cowboys’ owner: “Comparing Jimmy Johnson to Barry Switzer is like comparing Rambo to Clint Eastwood. Rambo came in with a lot of fire and smoke, explosions and gunfire. That was Jimmy. Barry is more relaxed, laid back. He comes into a town real quiet and then lights it up. Both are big-bang guys.”