For $4 Million, San Francisco Is About to Blow Out Candle

San Francisco officials are about to close to a deal that would change the name of Candlestick Park to 3Com Stadium.

The Santa Clara computer company has agreed to pay $4 million over the next four years to have its name associated with the stadium until at least 2000, said Jim Lazarus, a spokesman for Mayor Frank Jordan.

Some fans were unhappy about the pending change.

“To me, it smacks of greed,” said Jerry Flaherty, who was at Friday night’s Giant game at Candlestick. “What’s next, Burger King Park?”

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Trivia time: Who holds the NFL record for most yards gained rushing in a game?

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Up to date: “You can’t give guys all that money and guarantee it to them and expect them to be dedicated, expect them to bust their tails. Human nature isn’t like that.”

Bob Cousy, the famous Boston Celtic player, made that statement a quarter of a century ago when he was the coach of the Cincinnati Royals.

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Food language: Mike Lupica wrote in Esquire magazine that Dodger pitcher Hideo Nomo is the first player in the door for Manager Tom Lasorda’s postgame spread.

Said Lasorda: “He may only speak Japanese, but the guy sure can eat Italian.”

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Ouch! Bill Reynolds of the Providence (R.I.) Bulletin has a better nickname for Peter McNeeley than “Hurricane”--it’s “The Great White Hopeless.”

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Twilight Zone? Jack Faulkner, the longtime Ram executive, still remains headquartered at the team’s former facility in Anaheim, scouting teams and grading players on film.

“There’s no team here, no team in the Coliseum. We don’t even have an arena team,” he told Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “How weird is that?”

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Stone-age thinking: Buddy Ryan, Arizona Cardinal coach, isn’t interested in acquiring Deion Sanders. Said Ryan: “I’ve never been a Deion fan. I like a guy who can tackle.”

Yeah, and it was once said that Jim Brown couldn’t block. So what?

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Curious statistic: Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle notes that Andy Van Slyke of the Philadelphia Phillies has reached base on catcher’s interference 17 times in his career.

“Just wondering: Is his bat of regulation length?”

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FYI: Of the the 10 most-requested tickets to the 1996 Olympic Games, five gymnastic events are included.

No. 1 on the list is the opening ceremony, according to the Atlanta Committee to Organize the Games.

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Trivia answer: Walter Payton of the Chicago Bears, with 275 yards against the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 20, 1977.

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Quotebook: ESPN’s Joe Theismann on Pittsburgh Steeler running back Bam Morris: “I’ll tell ya. He’s got the running back of a feet. I mean the feet of a running back.”