Perhaps Steeler Coach Should Sign Louis Lipps

Jerome Bettis, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ powerful running back, visited an elementary school in the city and was peppered with questions, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. A sampling:

“Has [Coach] Bill Cowher ever kissed you?”

(The emotional Cowher has been known to kiss players coming off the field.)

Replied Bettis: “No. Bill Cowher has not kissed me. I would be the first one to tell you. He has not kissed me. And he will not kiss me.”

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Trivia time: Who are the only coaches with perfect Rose Bowl records while participating in a minimum of four games?

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Hard to do: A memorable 1997 quote from Cowher on quarterback Kordell Stewart’s performance in a comeback victory over Baltimore: “He came of age and surpassed it.”

Forever young: R.C. Slocum said recently that he was a young coach when he fired Bob Toledo as his assistant at Texas A&M; in 1994.

Slocum was 37 years old when he worked as an assistant coach at USC in 1981. You do the math.

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Pass the caviar: Joe Falls of the Detroit News commenting on tailgating at the Rose Bowl: “You don’t see much smoke from barbecues because they don’t have many barbecues.

“This is a finger-sandwich-martini crowd, not much substance but swell in style.”

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Job incentive: Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden on why he wants to keep coaching at the age of 67:

“You get to be my age, you start wondering if you’re dying. My dad retired when he was 64, and he died two months later. Coach [Paul] Bryant retired, and he was dead a month later.”

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Body silence: A classic 1997 quote came from injured Florida Marlin pitcher Al Leiter: “My groin has no comment.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1961, George Blanda passed for three touchdowns and kicked the extra points and a field goal to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first American Football League championship game.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1984, UCLA defeated favored Illinois, 45-9, in the Rose Bowl game. The Bruins’ Rick Neuheisel threw a record-tying four touchdown passes.

Trivia answer: USC’s Howard Jones (5-0) won in 1930, 1932, 1933, 1939 and 1940, and USC’s John Robinson (4-0) won in 1977, 1979, 1980 and 1996.

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And finally: Boston Celtic Coach Rick Pitino yelled to forward John Thomas after his second-quarter shot was blocked out of bounds by the Clippers’ Rodney Rogers in a game Dec. 21:

“John, you’re not going up against Bill Russell.”