Carroll Asked His Players to Take a Dive

In a feature on Pete Carroll that will be televised on HBO on Tuesday night, Bryant Gumbel asks USC defensive end Shaun Cody about some goofy things the coach does.

Cody relates that Carroll had players soaring off a diving platform before the season “and he was the first to go,” Cody says. Carroll says that at the time he said to himself, “There’s no way out of this. You dumb jerk.”

Trivia time: What does Cody have tattooed on his right biceps? (Hint: It has a double meaning.)

Ballot bumbling: A recent Morning Briefing item noted that Roy Campanella edged Brooklyn Dodger teammate Duke Snider for the 1955 National League MVP Award, even though Snider was fourth in the league in home runs and led the league in RBIs. Snider was, somehow, left off a Philadelphia writer’s ballot.

Reader Dave Perkins of Redondo Beach e-mailed this explanation:

“The Philadelphia writer was in the hospital at the time. He voted Campanella No. 1 and No. 5. Baseball authorities counted the first-place vote but not the fifth-place vote.

“If Snider had been given the fifth-place vote, it would have been worth six points. As it was, Campy finished with eight first-place votes and 226 points, Duke with eight and 221.”

Sounds as though they did the ballot counting in Florida.

Cleaning house: From reader Alex Kaseberg: “President Bush has dismissed practically his entire White House staff. Who does this guy think he is, Kobe Bryant?”

Old joke: Also from Kaseberg, on 42-year-old Evander Holyfield’s indefinite suspension: “That’s too bad. They already had the title for Evander’s next Las Vegas fight: ‘The Geezer at Caesars.’ ”

Little competition: Of Bob Curtis, who is quitting after 48 seasons as the radio voice of Idaho football, John Blanchette wrote in the Spokane Review-Journal, “He has been Idaho’s sportscaster of the year 32 times, which would be impressive if Idaho had more than one sportscaster.”

Ouch: Pete McEntegart of si.com, on the opening of the Charles Barkley Reading & Learning Center in Peoria, Ariz.: “The center is expected to perform important work in teaching youth to speak without thinking.”

Looking back: On this day in 1953, top-ranked Notre Dame avoided a loss to Iowa with a 14-14 tie. The Irish, out of timeouts, faked injuries at the end of both halves, saving time to run a play. The Irish scored both times.

Associated Press called it “quick thinking.” Under current rules, it would be called a rules violation.

Trivia answer: SC, which stands for both Cody’s initials and his university’s.

And finally: Carroll, speaking at the Pasadena Quarterbacks Club luncheon Friday, mentioned a high school coach who spoke earlier and said it wasn’t about the wins and losses.

“Well, at SC it is,” Carroll said.

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