And Don’t Even Think About Calling a Bomb

Bruce Allen, son of George Allen, the late NFL coach, now works for the Oakland Raiders with the title of senior assistant.

He told the Oakland Tribune that when his father was coach of the Rams in 1969, he was asked to sit with President Richard Nixon at an exhibition game at the Coliseum and provide information.

When the Kansas City Chiefs lined up in a formation in which the quarterback wasn’t under center, 12-year-old Bruce called out “shotgun.”

“I guess that’s not a great phrase to yell out with Secret Service all around,” Allen said. “They looked kind of shook up, but the President said, ‘The boy knows what he’s talking about. Relax.’ ”

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Trivia time: Which Dodger stole five bases in one game, tying the National League record?

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Hazardous fall: Former Olympian Veronica Ribot-Canales in the Miami Herald on the hazards of platform diving:

“You’re diving off a three-story building and landing in a handstand. You come out of the water smiling, and everybody’s clapping and you feel like you left your neck at the bottom of the pool.”

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Wrong number: If you call the Colorado Avalanche Information Center in Denver expecting to reach the Stanley Cup champions, as many people have, you get this message: “We’re not the hockey team. We’re the guys that deal with snow on the mountainsides. . . . “

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No vacation: Peter May in the Boston Globe: “The Lakers are hoping against hope that Vlade Divac lives up to his word and (a) hits the weight room this summer, (b) stops smoking and (c) dedicates himself to conditioning.

“The feeling is that Divac, who turned 28 last February, can’t get by just by showing up anymore.”

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No interference: Scott Ostler in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Dennis Rodman has said that when he plays his final NBA game, he wants to play it naked.

“If he does, that figures to be a big rebounding night for Rodman, because nobody’s going to want to box him off the boards.”

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To be, or . . . : Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post: “Here’s something about [Marge] Schott’s two-plus years in oblivion. By the time Schott gets back, Bud Selig will be in his seventh year as acting commissioner. The guy’s had so much practice acting, he ought to be Laurence Olivier by now.”

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Trivia answer: Davey Lopes on Aug. 24, 1974, against the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.

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And finally: Bruce Seldon will defend his World Boxing Assn. heavyweight title against Mike Tyson on July 13 in Las Vegas and said his strategy will be to stay in the fight until the later rounds.

“Like a thoroughbred racehorse or a cheetah going after its prey, you know he’s going to slow down eventually,” Seldon said. “When he slows down, I’ll be there.”

But where, Bruce: Upright or prone?