In His Case, Ignorance Was Bliss

Jack Nicklaus, 54, said he seldom read a newspaper when he was a dominant player.

“I didn’t want to read what I shot,” he said. “I really didn’t want to read if I bogeyed the 12th hole with a dumb shot or not. I didn’t think it was a dumb shot. I think today guys are reading more newspapers.

“If a guy is real smart, he doesn’t read any newspapers and just goes about his business.”

Trivia time: Before Saturday, when was the last time UCLA was shut out by Washington State in football?

Old news: The notion that Chuck Roseberry, 46, of Kutztown University in Pennsylvania is the oldest player ever in college football has been disputed.

Jerry Donovan, who played for Cal State Los Angeles in the early 1950s, said he had a teammate, Bush Manson, who was a 48-year-old linebacker.

How about lunch?The Strathallan Hotel in Rochester, N.Y, is offering a special and expensive package for the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill Country Club.

Rooms are $300 a night, with a seven-night minimum. However, the price includes breakfast and dinner daily, a bottle of champagne upon arrival, tickets for local museums and an art gallery, and a welcoming party.

There’s a long waiting list.

Old timer: Miami safety C.J. Richardson on Washington Husky running back Napoleon Kaufman: “He’s the best running back in the nation, and the best I’ve seen in college. And I’ve been in college five years.”

Congratulations.

Contingency plan: The 70,000-seat domed stadium in St. Louis is half finished and should be open in 1995. What happens if the Rams move to Baltimore instead?

“It could be the finest tractor-pull facility in the Midwest,” writes Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Job security crisis: Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe wasn’t surprised by the firing of Boston Red Sox Manager Butch Hobson: “Being a Red Sox manager is like being married to Henry VIII.”

The Red Sox have had 13 managers since 1953, and Pinky Higgins held the job twice.

Trade-off: Mike Ilitch of the Detroit Tigers is among baseball executives profiled in a New York Times magazine article by Pat Jordan.

Said Ilitch: “I resent being tabbed as greedy. I could handle dumb.”

FYI: The San Diego Chargers will have traveled 41,712 air miles this season, the most in the NFL. The least? The Detroit Lions with only 10,832 miles.

Trivia answer: UCLA lost to Washington State, 3-0, in 1937.

Quotebook: Colorado State football Coach Sonny Lubick, whose team is 4-0: “I hope we’re a team of destiny. But I really don’t know what that word means.”