The Food’s OK, but Losses Spoil the Ambience

Not only is Buddy Ryan, Arizona Cardinal coach, getting roasted by fans for his team’s 0-3 record, his Phoenix restaurant also is getting some heat.

Clyde Hollenbeck, the floor manager at the restaurant Sunday night, said he got 15 obscenity-laced phone calls from those who couldn’t separate the restaurant from the coach.

“I told them, ‘Look, if you come to the restaurant and have a problem with the food, I can take care of that. But if it’s a problem with the offense, I have no control over that.’ ”

Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA Division I-A record for most field goals in a season?

Ambition: Bill Neuss, a defensive tackle for Georgia Tech, on his future plans:

“When I graduate, I want to buy a motorcycle, drive to San Diego and become either a lifeguard or a tattoo artist.”

Territory dispute: The NBA’s decision to move the three-point line in to a uniform 22 feet bothers long-range shooter Reggie Miller.

“Reggie doesn’t like it for two reasons,” Indiana Pacer General Manger Donnie Walsh told Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe.

“The first is that was his thing, and now all these other guys will be doing it. And the second thing is, defensively, he’s really going to have to get up on guys out there.”

Barry’s burden: Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News, writing on Dallas Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer:

“You want pressure? In Dallas, Switzer can watch the owner’s (Jerry Jones) TV show on Saturday nights. Or he can read the owner’s column in Wednesday’s paper. Or he can read (Jimmy) Johnson’s column in Friday’s paper.”

Ticky-tack: Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman prefers to wipe his face on the left side of his jersey during a game. But a logo patch there, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the NFL, was scratching his face.

So, he got the logo moved to the right. However, league officials threatened him with a fine unless he moved it back--which he did.

Come again? John Kunda, writing in the Allentown (Pa.) Morning Call: “Nobody knocked ‘em out any quicker than Muhammad Ali. Well, maybe the Penn State football team is a bit quicker. Ask Iowa. The Hawkeyes hardly lasted a quarter Saturday.”

Trivia answer: John Lee of UCLA, with 29 in 1984.

Quotebook: Tony Kubek, on his retirement as television analyst for New York Yankee games: “Sometimes you get tired of hearing yourself talk after 41 years.”