This Runner Looks for Cracks in the Defense

Here’s what Edgerrin James of the Indianapolis Colts says about his running style:

“I like getting past the big guys up front and then running over the little guys. They’re my size. A lot of them are smaller than me. I like cracking heads with those guys.”

James has been cracking heads in the NFL during his rookie season, gaining 746 yards in eight games.

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Trivia time: While playing football for UCLA in 1939 and 1940, which statistical category did Jackie Robinson lead the nation in?

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Front-runners? When the St. Louis Rams were 6-0, local writers were almost giddy with the team’s sudden success. Not so now, after two losses.

Bernie Miklasz in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “The Rams, all but shivering in a hostile stadium, melted under pressure early on in the 24-21 loss at Tennessee. And on Sunday, they collapsed in a disgusting, inexcusable, 31-27 defeat to the Detroit Lions.”

Disgusting? Inexcusable? Wait until they really get whacked.

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Satisfied, Jim? Jerry Greene of the Orlando Sentinel wonders if Jim Gray expected Pete Rose to say something like this:

“Jim, you’re right, the guilt is killing me. I bet on the Reds, I bet against the Reds, I still owe the mob $1 million, and I fixed the balloting on the All-Century team.”

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Nosy guy: In his book, “Bird Watching,” Larry Bird tells this story about an incident with Gray:

“We’re in a timeout . . . and Gray is trying to listen in on our huddle.”

Bird said he told David Brenner, the Pacer media relations director, “You tell Mr. Gray if he sticks his nose in my huddle again, I’m going to pull him over those seats and kick his butt in front of 20,000 people.”

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Poor taste: Ron Rapoport in the Chicago Sun-Times: “Francisco Marcos of the United Soccer League won the politically incorrect award of the week when he said a tie is ‘like kissing the ugliest sister in a multi-sister family.’ ”

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Stuck in place: From Mike Lupica on ESPN: “The Dolphins move the ball about as much as Jimmy Johnson’s hairdo.”

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For the record: The trivia question in Tuesday’s paper should have read, “Which Pacific 10 coach holds the record for appearances in bowl games?”

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Trivia answer: Best average on punt returns. Robinson averaged 20.0 yards in 1939 and 21.0 in 1940.

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And finally: Bill Lyon of the Philadelphia Inquirer, writing on the Eagles’ 33-7 loss to Carolina:

“The score was 30-something to 6 or 7. You can look it up if you really care. They lost to one of those teams that is from one of the Carolinas.

“You have to look up which one. The team that’s named after some big cat.

“The Eagles have now lost seven times this season, or is it eight? You have to look that up too.”