If His Nickname Was Maq, Maybe He’d Be on List

Former Laker Bob McAdoo, now an assistant coach with the Miami Heat, wasn’t on the list of the NBA’s 50 greatest players--and he’s upset about it.

Of the 19 players to have won the league’s most-valuable-player award since its inception in 1956, he’s the only one not on the list.

“I look at some people on the list and I should be on there,” McAdoo said. “The biggest glare is Bill Walton. He played only two full seasons. He had one good year.”

Because of injuries, Walton played in only 468 games in 10 seasons. However, he led Portland to the NBA championship in 1977 and was the NBA’s MVP in 1978.

Trivia time: Which school holds the NCAA Division I-A record for most yards penalized in a football game?

Sunday’s heroes: The Philadelphia Eagles are the only NFL team that hasn’t lost on Sunday. They’re 7-0. Unfortunately for them, they played twice on Monday night, losing to Green Bay and Dallas.

Lunch time: Bill Lyon in the Philadelphia Inquirer on new Eagle quarterback Ty Detmer before last Sunday’s rematch with Dallas:

“He is the newest sporting hero in this town and, if he can find a way to beat the ‘Boys, they are apt to name a cheese steak after him.”

The Eagles won, 31-21, so get ready for the Detmer Delight.

Cementhead: The Heat’s Pat Riley reached 800 NBA victories faster than any other coach when his team beat Indiana last Saturday, 97-95.

In celebration, Heat players tried to muss Riley’s slicked-down hair.

“They couldn’t get through the concrete,” Riley said. “I think Tim [Hardaway] broke his hand trying.”

Back to school: Tom Sweeney, the doorman at the St. Francis Drake Hotel, ran in the New York City Marathon and was amused when the runner in front of him at the start was disqualified for wearing a counterfeit number. How did they know it was a fake?

Because the word “marathon” was spelled “maraton.”

Said Sweeney: “He was disqualified for bad spelling.”

Looking back: On this day in 1970, Tom Dempsey kicked the longest field goal in NFL history, 63 yards, on the final play of the game, giving the New Orleans Saints a 19-17 victory over the Detroit Lions.

FYI: Chicago Bull center Robert Parish, 43, is older than five NBA coaches: Philadelphia’s Johnny Davis and Minnesota’s Flip Saunders, 41; New Jersey’s John Calipari, 37; Toronto’s Darrell Walker, 35, and New York’s Jeff Van Gundy, 34.

Trivia answer: Arizona State, 238 yards against Texas El Paso on Nov. 11, 1961.

And finally: Brian Cashman, New York Yankee assistant general manager, at a forum of New York sports executives: “You can ask any player or anybody in the front office, there’s more pressure here in New York to win. It’s tougher to do it here, but when you do it, the rewards are so great.”