Can’t Stand the Heat? Get Off Gridiron

In the heavyweight matchup of the year on Sunday, Dallas Cowboy guard Nate Newton, listed at 350 pounds, opposed Philadelphia Eagle defensive tackle William Perry, listed at 335.

Perry is nicknamed “the Refrigerator.” Newton is nicknamed “the Kitchen.”

Before the game, which the Cowboys won, 24-13, Newton said: “If we rub up against each other the wrong way, we’ll start a grease fire.”

Trivia time: Who was the first Heisman Trophy winner to play in the Rose Bowl game?

No clone: Tom Tolbert of the Charlotte Hornets on his bleached white hair and a “No Fear” tattoo, which has drawn comparisons to the Spurs’ Dennis Rodman:

“That’s the last person I need to be compared to. We have nothing in common.

“He has about 6,000 more rebounds than I do and two championship rings. And he has (a romantic link to) Madonna.”

Timing problem: Boston College ran up a 35-0 halftime lead on Temple on Saturday before the Owls rallied in the second half, only to lose, 45-28.

Said Temple Coach Ron Dickerson: “I learned one thing. I have to save my pregame talk until halftime.”

Show time: Nevada Las Vegas football Coach Jeff Horton is marketing his team to keep pace with the glitz of his city.

“Our motto is: Set the pace and make them chase. This town is built on excitement. People can choose between Siegfried & Roy or us. We have to entertain.”

The pass-oriented Rebels have a 4-3 record.

Mystique myth: Wide receiver Tim Brown in an interview with Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald on the so-called Raider mystique:

“I never believed in all that stuff anyway. I came from Notre Dame, which has more tradition probably than any other school in America, and I never got caught up in that.

“All that tradition and Raiders’ mystique stuff happened years before any of the players now were here.”

Looking back: On this day in 1924, Red Grange scored six touchdowns, four in the first 12 minutes on runs of 95, 67, 56 and 44 yards, as Illinois beat Michigan, 39-14, at Champaign, Ill.

Also on this day in 1924, Notre Dame beat Army, 13-7, at the Polo Grounds in New York, prompting this famous story lead from Grantland Rice:

“Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as Famine, Pestilence, Destruction and Death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden.”

Shrewd thinking: Edwin Pope in the Miami Herald: “If I were booking luncheon speakers, the first thing would be to make sure each had a 1:30 plane to catch.”

Trivia answer: Halfback Frank Sinkwich of Georgia played against UCLA on Jan. 1, 1943. Georgia won, 9-0.

Quotebook: Florida State football Coach Bobby Bowden: “I’ve got a suspicion we’re trying to run a Charlie Ward offense and we don’t have Charlie Ward.”