Yeah, They Don’t Know Football Either

In its ongoing attempt at rowing out of the mainstream, Sports Illustrated’s preseason pick as the No. 1 college basketball team in the land is . . . UCLA?

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Jim Harrick would rather the magazine go with the flow.

“Why would you do that when Arkansas is clearly the No. 1 team?” the Bruin coach asked. “A bunch of us could be No. 2, maybe, but the consensus thought has to be that the defending national champions with five starters back has to be No. 1.”

Besides, anybody remember Sports Illustrated’s No. 1 football pick?

Arizona.

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Trivia time: Who holds the American pro football record for most passing yards in a game?

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Incredible: John Steigerwald in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “You’ll know the new NFL drug policy is working when you notice the players beginning to shrink.”

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Anatomy edge: Jeff Fisher, the new coach of the Houston Oilers, was an assistant coach under Buddy Ryan at Philadelphia from 1986 to 1990, prompting this observation from Mike Ditka:

“Jeff Fisher has more class in his little finger than Buddy has in his whole fat body.”

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Sour grapes?

Bob Jacobsen in the Arizona Republic on Coach Paul Westphal of the Phoenix Suns:

“It must gall Westphal, a Southern Cal graduate, to hear that a former UCLA Bruin, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, is being talked about to take over the USC basketball program.

“Then again, Westy said USC gave up basketball years ago.”

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Don’t quit now: Prairie View A & M’s fourth consecutive winless season has left the Panthers with a 46-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I-AA history.

It might not be extended, however, because the school is considering dropping football.

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Crying out loud: If the Minnesota Timberwolves continue to struggle, Christian Laettner will be heard, loud and clear.

“I’m not going to settle for us stinking,” he said. “That bothers me. If we stink again this year, you’ll hear from me. You’ll hear I’m causing problems or turmoil.”

Oh, no, not again.

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Diet time: The Associated Press reports that when it comes to football seating, Penn State might be getting narrow-minded.

Penn State officials are discussing a plan to decrease the width of seats at Beaver Stadium by 1 1/2 inches, to 16 inches, to boost stadium capacity.

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FYI: Vince Lombardi’s 1965 NFL championship ring, won with the Green Bay Packers and inscribed with the coach’s name, was sold for $33,000 at a New York auction house--reportedly the highest price ever paid for a football ring.

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Looking back: On this day in 1984, Doug Flutie passed for 482 yards and led Boston College to a 47-45 upset of Miami with a last-second touchdown throw to Gerald Phelan.

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Trivia answer: Jim Kelly of the Houston Gamblers passed for 574 yards in a USFL game against the L.A. Express at the Coliseum in 1985.

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Quotebook: Ahmad Rashad, who was known as Bobby Moore when he played for Oregon in the early 1970s, on the Ducks clinching a Rose Bowl berth: “I’d sing the Oregon fight song if I knew it.”