Here’s the Scoop: Robinson Looking for an Eye Patch

Jerry Magee in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “ ‘Rumor of the week.’ No, make that ‘rumor of the year.’ John Robinson will move on from USC and replace Joe Bugel as coach of the Raiders.

“In some ways, it makes sense. Bugel’s position can’t be secure. Players, one can hear, have soured on him. His defense isn’t much.

“Robinson once served for a year as a Raider assistant coach and could co-exist with Al Davis. He is a master of public relations, an area in which the Oakland club is bereft.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only person to have played in a Rose Bowl game, the Canadian Football League Grey Cup and the Super Bowl?

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Music men: Glenn Nelson in the Seattle Times: “In the symphony of professional basketball, Michael Jordan comes off like a trumpet solo, bold and brassy. Grant Hill, in comparison, is more the harp solo, pleasant and light--an enhancer.”

Don’t ask what instrument Dennis Rodman is.

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What about Jones? Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe supplies this bit of trivia:

“Michael is the most popular first name in the NFL [54 players]. There also are 28 Smiths and 28 Williamses. But there is no player named Michael Smith or Michael Williams.”

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False hopes: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle, recalling a comment from master of ceremonies Bob Sarlatte at a pregame Stanford-California luncheon:

“Cal began the season with great promise by beating Houston and Oklahoma--the Grenada and Panama of Division I football.”

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Just a softy: Buffalo Sabre enforcer Matthew Barnaby was upset after Coach Lindy Ruff benched him during a game against Edmonton.

“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Barnaby said. “Lately, I’ve had to psych myself up just to go out there and punch somebody in the face. That’s not me.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1980, Roberto Duran, saying, “No mas! No mas!” quit with 16 seconds left in the eighth round in New Orleans, allowing Sugar Ray Leonard to regain the World Boxing Council welterweight title.

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Trivia answer: Joe Kapp. As a quarterback, he played for California in the 1959 Rose Bowl game, for Vancouver in the 1964 Grey Cup and for the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970 Super Bowl.

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And finally: A.C. Green of the Dallas Mavericks broke Randy Smith’s NBA record by playing in his 907th consecutive game Thursday night.

Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News pointed out that NBA Vice President Rod Thorn was representing the league in place of Commissioner David Stern, “whose absence will break his own streak of 1,146 consecutive photo opportunities.”