Tombstone Formation Will Work

Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Some college football crowds may be loud enough to raise the dead. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff wants to do it literally.

“It wants to build a $75-million stadium on a site that includes part of a cemetery. As many as 50 graves will have to be moved.”

Comment: Opponents might be wary of scheduling Pine Bluff on Halloween.

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Add cemetery: Scott Ostler of MSNBC: “When the team switches from one formation to another before the snap, it will be called ‘the graveyard shift.’ And we will have an entirely new meaning of the term ‘coffin-corner kick.’ ”

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Trivia time: Which pitcher holds the record for strikeouts in a World Series game?

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Likable Worm: Highly regarded rookie Tim Duncan’s work ethic and affinity for mixing it up in the paint has impressed his San Antonio Spur teammates.

Said forward Chuck Person, “We have another Dennis Rodman, only we have a good-natured Dennis Rodman.”

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Say it isn’t so: Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe: “Dean Smith will no longer be coaching at North Carolina? I am reminded of something someone or the other said of George Gerhswin’s death: “I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to.’

“College basketball without Dean Smith? That’s the Celtics without Auerbach, General Motors without the Cadillac, or the Senate without Strom.”

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Add Smith: Gil Le Breton in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “How good was Dean Smith? As good as John Wooden, as absurd as that sounds.”

Yes, Gil, that’s absurd.

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His scare clothes: Toronto Maple Leaf goaltender Glenn Healy recalled his days playing for the Kings:

“I remember being in those ghastly purple and gold uniforms . . . which, I might add, I still wear to the mall on Halloween.”

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Loaded: Kevin Garnett, the $128.1-million man of the Minnesota Timberwolves, missed an easy shot in camp.

“I can’t buy a layup,” he moaned.

“Yes, you can,” teammate Tom Gugliotta shot back.

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Looking back: On this day in 1965, Sandy Koufax pitched his second shutout in a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins as the Dodgers won the World Series in seven games.

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Looking back, again: On this day in 1962, Houston’s George Blanda threw six touchdown passes to lead the Oilers to a 56-17 rout of the New York Titans in the American Football League.

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Trivia answer: Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, 17 against the Detroit Tigers in 1968.

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And finally: Craig MacTavish retired after last season, the last NHL player to compete without a helmet. He went 17 years without one.

Now he is an assistant coach for the New York Rangers. In a recent game, MacTavish was hit on the side of the head by a puck.

“I didn’t get much sympathy from the guys,” he said. “They were doubled over in laughter. Guys were tossing me their helmets.”