Nothing Would Be Random About Kemp’s Game Plan

Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne remembers Republican vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp as someone who was energetic, smart and a fan of author Ayn Rand.

“He read some very conservative stuff,” said Osborne, who roomed with Kemp on road trips during the 1959 season with the San Francisco 49ers. “Ayn Rand was one of his favorite authors, and she was very conservative, so I knew he was a very conservative guy. He at least thought about things.”

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Trivia time: What was Occidental College’s record during Kemp’s tenure as starting quarterback?

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No gold medal: The Olympic spirit faded fast in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Ga., where taxpayers may be stuck with a $330,000 bill for a festival last month that flopped.

“I feel cheated,” said Stella Guan of Roswell. “I’d rather my tax money go to schools and roads. I was promised my tax money wouldn’t be touched for the Games.”

The city made that pledge before its two week-long Olympics jamboree, featuring performances by Ray Charles, Three Dog Night and the Atlanta Rhythm Section, attracted crowds so sparse that officials gave away $45,000 in tickets to city employees.

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Playing with pain: Reader Fran Menudier of Pacific Palisades can’t understand all the commotion over gymnast Kerri Strug landing on an aching ankle in the Olympics.

“Why isn’t there more excitement over what race drivers go through?” she asked. “Dale Earnhardt drove over 200 miles on a road course with a broken collarbone and sternum, and Dale Jarrett drove with a broken kneecap and Bill Elliott with a broken leg. Not enough is made over what they do.”

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Reggie’s impressed: As he nears a career feat of 3,000 hits and 500 home runs, Baltimore’s Eddie Murray is attracting more attention than usual. Reggie Jackson’s appraisal, in Baseball Weekly, of the Oriole designated hitter:

“Eddie Murray is what this game’s all about. He never backs down in the big spot. It’s the time of the game when he’s at his best. You might get Eddie Murray out. But you’re never going to beat the sucker. He’ll always fire back at you.”

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Don’t argue: Hidemichi Tanaka, who wore a shirt with a picture of an ant on it during the World Series of Golf, stands 5 feet 6 and weighs 128 pounds, yet consistently drives the ball more than 300 yards off the tee.

“An ant is small but powerful,” he said. “I am small but powerful.”

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Trivia answer: Occidental was 6-2 in 1955 and 3-6 in 1956.

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And finally: Ailing New York Yankee pitcher David Cone threw under simulated game conditions while rehabilitating from surgery. One of the batters, teammate Tim Raines, had a word of warning for future opponents.

“If he’s going to get any better than that, the American League better watch out.”