As Welcomes Go, This Is One That Takes Some Beating

Phil Anastasia of the Courier-Post in Camden, N.J., on the New York Jets’ hiring of Rich Kotite, recently fired as coach of the Philadelphia Eagles:

“Never mind that Kotite proved himself, over time, to be a poor judge of talent, indecisive leader and administrator lacking in vision.

“Never mind that Kotite was perceived (in the Philadelphia area) as an insecure, abrupt, combative personality who couldn’t spell PR if you spotted him the P.”

Other than that, Phil, what is it you don’t like about the man?

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Trivia time: Which is the only NFL team that has not won a division title since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970?

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Ho hum: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Cowboy safety James Washington issued his warning that if Steve Young tries that naked bootleg stuff again Sunday, ‘He’ll pay for it, pay in the worst way.’

“And what way would that be? By revolving credit?”

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Warm-up show: Dick Enberg, on the fact there is more interest in Fox’s Dallas-San Francisco game on Sunday than the one he will announce for NBC, San Diego-Pittsburgh:

“We’re the hors d’oeuvres, and the main course is coming after us.”

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Long odds: Alonzo Highsmith, a former fullback for the Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers, is now a heavyweight fighter and says he knows people expect him to fail.

“Ninety percent of the people will be coming to see me get knocked out,” he said. “Five percent are curious, three percent are family and friends and the other two percent will be pure boxing fans.”

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Desperate: Clyde Drexler of the Portland Trail Blazers, a 12-year veteran and eight-time All-Star, reportedly wants to be traded. “I’ll even play for the Los Angeles Clippers,” Drexler said. “I don’t care where.”

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Long road: Linebacker Kevin Greene refuses to compare the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense to the Steel Curtain of the 1970s.

“They won four Super Bowls and have four or five Hall of Famers,” Greene said. “We haven’t done squat yet.”

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Sign ‘em up: Paul Egins, assistant director of player personnel for the Colorado Rockies, on people who have called to offer their services as replacement players:

“We’ve had some guys who claimed to be sandlot legends in Brooklyn. One guy said, ‘I’ve never really gotten a chance to play, but seeing is believing.’ We’ve also gotten calls from fast-pitch softball players. That’s been a real popular one.”

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Makes sense: Woody Woodburn in the Ventura Star Free-Press: “If baseball owners go ahead with using replacement players, they’d better schedule 81 Fan Appreciation nights at every ballpark.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1968, the Green Bay Packers won their second consecutive Super Bowl by defeating the Oakland Raiders, 33-14, at the Orange Bowl.

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Trivia answer: The New York Jets.

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Quotebook: NBC’s Greg Gumbel: “Newt Gingrich’s mother told me that the Steeler defense is a bitch.”