Young Lions Are Meant to Be Seen, Not Heard

Freshman Eric McCoo gained 163 yards in 18 carries and caught a 12-yard pass for a touchdown to lead Penn State to a 31-13 victory over Purdue last Saturday.

So what did he have to say after the game? Nothing. Freshmen at Penn State operate under a media gag order.

Wrote Lori Shontz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Penn State sports information issued a statement from McCoo, but the authenticity of those quotes could not be verified.”

Good for Shontz. You can’t talk to us; we don’t use secondhand quotes.

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

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Modern mayhem: Steve Rosenbloom in the Chicago Tribune: “A Russian soccer team was fined and banned from five home games after one of its fans broke the referee’s nose by whacking him with a cell phone.

“Good to see hooligans going high tech.”

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A pro game? John Crumpacker of the San Francisco Examiner points out that the Raiders rushed 18 times for 18 yards in their “epic 7-6 high school win over San Diego” on Oct. 11.

By the way, UCLA upset Rose Bowl-bound Stanford, 7-6, in . . . 1935!

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Can they shoot? Cincinnati basketball Coach Bob Huggins, on his team during a news conference in Las Vegas to publicize the Las Vegas Shootout in December:

“I’ve got 650 pounds of point guard. I have the fattest point guards in America. I’ve got one guy who set a school record for turnovers. I’ve got one guy who can’t dribble at all.”

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Spaceman: Tino Martinez, on his New York Yankee teammates: “Our staff comes from all over. We have a pitcher from Cuba, a pitcher from Japan, a pitcher from Panama and Boomer Wells from Mars.”

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Small consolation: From Jay Leno: “I hate to brag, but at the beginning of the season I predicted the Dodgers would have good luck getting to the World Series. And sure enough, it’s a short drive to San Diego. They can be there in two hours.”

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Pretzel windup: Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune, on the Yankees’ Orlando Hernandez: “El Duque looks like he’s doing all the letters of ‘YMCA’ before he releases the ball.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1933, Primo Carnera retained the world heavyweight title with a 15-round decision over Paolino Uzcudun in Rome.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1950, the Rams routed the Baltimore Colts, 70-27, at the Coliseum.

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Trivia answer: Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals, 17, against the Detroit Tigers on Oct. 2, 1968.

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And finally: Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars, on one of the things he would change if he were NHL commissioner:

“Don’t you think it would be really cool to make rinks like stadiums? Outdoors with tailgating, the blimp, the moon? That would be unbelievable.”