Bowl Could Have to Roll Out Many Barrels

Tina Kunzer-Murphy, the executive director of the Las Vegas Bowl, and Bruce Binkowski, executive director of the Holiday Bowl, were among the guest speakers Friday at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club luncheon.

Kunzer-Murphy named Wyoming as a team she’d like to see in her bowl game because the fans are so enthusiastic.

Said Binkowski: “Tina, I’ve got to warn you about those Wyoming fans. Wyoming has been to our bowl twice, and both times we ran out of beer at the stadium.”

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Trivia time: What former NFL coach -- he was in the league 11 years with two teams -- coached at Texas El Paso?

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Now, this is big: Accompanying Pasadena City College Coach Tom Maher to Friday’s Quarterbacks luncheon was Louis West, an offensive lineman from Baton Rouge, La., who plans to play for the Lancers next season.

West was recruited by a number of major colleges but ended up at Pasadena because of poor grades and a low SAT score. He arrived at college too late to play this season because, he said, he was tending to his sick mother.

Watch out for this guy. He is a solid 6 feet 9 and 400 pounds.

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Add PCC: The Lancers (3-5) upset previously undefeated and nationally ranked El Camino, 38-31, in overtime last weekend.

Maher said, “Our players get so excited when they win, you’d think they’d want to win more often.”

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Pluses and minuses: Former NBA player John Salley, speaking at an L.A. Sports and Entertainment Commission “Basketball 101” seminar Thursday night at Staples Center, said that, generally, fans were great. But he cited these exceptions:

* “Fans who don’t let you eat.”

* “Fans who come to your house when it’s not Halloween.”

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Dry humor: Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times found this quote from Ian Hamilton of Canada’s Regina Leader-Post, on why the Miami Heat waived former Mississippi State forward Tang Hamilton: “Apparently, he didn’t fit into the mix.”

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Natural tie-in: A number of Olympic athletes will attend a charity premiere of “National Treasure,” starring Nicolas Cage, on Monday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Publicists for the event like to say it salutes another group of “national treasures” -- it will benefit U.S. Olympic and Paralympic programs.

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Looking back: On this day in 1993, Evander Holyfield regained the WBA and IBF heavyweight championships from Riddick Bowe in a fight disrupted by a parachutist. During the seventh round at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, the parachutist tumbled into the ringside seats, interrupting the fight for 21 minutes.

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Trivia answer: Bum Phillips, who coached the Miners to a 4-5 record in 1962.

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And finally: Phillips got his nickname because his little sister pronounced “brother” as “bumble,” which later became just “Bum.” Of the nickname, he used to say, “I don’t mind being called Bum, just as long as you don’t put a ‘you’ in front of it.”

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.