Now He Knows the Meaning of the Word

Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, commenting on Celtic Coach Rick Pitino:

“He has made a huge career mistake. Never again will he be able to say, with accuracy, that he has been a success everywhere he’s been. He will leave Boston as, yes, a failure.

“His four years as president/head coach will have been a textbook example of ‘nonperformance of something due, required, or expected [the dictionary definition of failure].’ ”

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Trivia time: Who was the left-handed Notre Dame quarterback who came off the bench to throw the winning touchdown pass against USC in the inaugural game of the series at the Coliseum in 1926?

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No big deal: In an interview with running back Edgerrin James of the Indianapolis Colts, Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald asked, “You’ve said the NFL is easy. Are you serious?”

James replied: “High school, college, what’s the difference? I’m still waiting on the difference. It’s all the same. You work hard, practice hard, you get results. It’s a little faster and more detailed now, but I’m a little faster and more detailed too.”

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Choking pals: Temple basketball Coach John Chaney, on his friend Bob Knight: “It’s a mystery to me what happened to Coach Knight at Indiana. I’ve put my hands on kids a thousand times; I’ve used profanity.

“I once choked John Calipari, when we were coaching against each other. The next time I saw him, I said, ‘Your turn. You can choke me.’ ”

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More Chaney: “The president of the university gave Coach Knight zero tolerance. The pope couldn’t live under zero tolerance.”

Soaring: Philadelphia Eagle Coach Andy Reid, on quarterback Donovan McNabb, who drew *

considerable criticism, even by Philadelphia standards, when he was drafted ahead of Ricky Williams:

“He was used to the pressure [at Syracuse], used to the magnitude of it. There aren’t many players who get a five-minute standing ovation after their last game. He has a unique personality. You know he’s in the huddle. He gets everybody’s attention.”

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Same old game plan: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “When Nebraskan Tom Osborne won his congressional race with 81% of the vote, wags accused him of running up the score, not a new rap on the former Cornhusker coach.”

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Grrr! A recent episode of “People’s Court” featured a woman suing because another woman’s dog attacked her dog and bit off part of its ear. The name of the aggressive pit bull? Tyson.

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Looking back: On this day in 1933, USC defeated Notre Dame, 19-0, at South Bend, Ind. It was the Trojans’ third consecutive victory over the Irish.

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Trivia answer: Art Parisien. Final score: Notre Dame 13, USC 12.

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And finally: Former New England Patriot General Manager Patrick Sullivan told the Boston Globe about the time quarterback Tony Eason came off the field and former coach Ron Meyer grabbed him and started talking to him.

“But there was no noise coming from his mouth, only his lips were moving. Tony looked at him and said, ‘Ron, what are you doing?’

“Ron finally made some noise and said, ‘Listen, Tony, I have nothing to say to you, but we’re on national TV and the cameras are on us. Just work with me.’ ”