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Deep Thoughts From Allen or Only Blubber?

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Marcus Allen of the Kansas City Chiefs is moving up in several all-time NFL statistical categories for running backs. The 35-year-old veteran player is reluctant to talk about his accomplishments, though.

“I’m really not comfortable talking about myself,” Allen told Kent Pulliam of the Kansas City Star.

“You know, it’s a little bit like a whale. He doesn’t get harpooned until he comes up to blow. I feel a little like the whale coming up to blow when I am talking about myself.”

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Trivia time: What is the NCAA Division I-A record for the longest field goal?

Try again: Bruce Jenkins in the San Francisco Chronicle before the 49er-Carolina Panther game last Sunday:

“The Carolina game is a victory, OK? You let [Elvis] Grbac handle it. And if things get rough, go with [Steve] Young in the fourth quarter. The ultimate relief pitcher.”

Things did get rough. Grbac got hurt late in the game. Young didn’t play and the 49ers were upset, 13-7.

The elite 10: The Sports Marketing Letter identified the estimated incomes of several athletes by endorsements.

No surprise that Michael Jordan was No. 1 at $35 million, followed by Shaquille O’Neal at $14.5 million. However, two aging stars, Jack Nicklaus, at $13 million, and Arnold Palmer, at $12.6 million, were third and fourth.

Wayne Gretzky was No. 6 at $8.8 million, and Bonnie Blair No. 10 at $3.6 million.

How big is big?After the Vancouver Grizzlies, an expansion team, had beaten the Trail Blazers, 92-80, Nov. 3 in Portland, Dwight Jaynes of the Oregonian wrote:

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“And it may have been the worst loss in the history of the Portland franchise. And one of the biggest upsets in the history of the NBA.”

Surely, Jaynes has researched NBA upsets since the league was formed in 1946.

Memorable moment: Last Wednesday was the 25th anniversary of New Orleans Saint kicker Tom Dempsey’s NFL-record 63-yard field goal against the Detroit Lions in a 19-17 victory.

Detroit Coach Joe Schmidt was so stunned by Dempsey’s last-second accomplishment that he said, “It’s like winning the Masters with a 390-yard hole in one on the last hole.”

Ouch!Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “Tommy Morrison is accused of punching one woman and biting another in a Jay, Okla., altercation. Bet the bite hurt more.”

Looking back: On this day in 1911, Jim Thorpe kicked four field goals and an extra point in leading the Carlisle Indian School to an 18-15 upset of Harvard.

Trivia answer: 67 yards, shared by three players--Steve Little of Arkansas and Russell Erxleben of Texas in 1977, and Joe Williams of Wichita State in 1978.

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Quotebook: Jon Koncak of the Orlando Magic on replacing injured center Shaquille O’Neal: “Pressure to me is being in an airplane and the pilot dies and they ask me to fly the plane.”

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