They Will Probably Know Him This Year

Would you recognize Texas Coach Mack Brown if you saw him in public? Gary Dimkich didn’t when Brown came into his restaurant for lunch before last January’s Rose Bowl game.

Dimkich asked a patron, former Trojan and longtime booster Sam Tsagalakis, to follow Brown into the restroom and find out who he was.

“I didn’t catch his name, but I think he’s with the Texas athletic department,” Dimkich told Tsagalakis.

“He might be the athletic director.”

When Tsagalakis asked Brown if he was the Texas athletic director, Brown said, “No, I’m Mack Brown, the head football coach.”

Trivia time: At what school was Brown coaching when he took the Texas job in 1998?

More on Brown: Dimkich, a bit embarrassed, apologized to Brown for not recognizing him. But Brown wasn’t offended. In fact, he returned for lunch later in the week, and after the Longhorns’ victory over Michigan he sent Dimkich a note that read, “Hope to see you same time next year.”

Brown later also sent Dimkich an autographed Texas helmet.

Spendthrift: Harry Hugasian, who claims to be the only Armenian to ever score a touchdown in the Rose Bowl game, briefly played for the Chicago Bears and scored Stanford’s only touchdown in a 40-7 loss to Illinois in 1952.

Of Hugasian, USC alum Tony Psaltis says, “We call him Harry the Wallet. Two things I’ve never seen are the back side of the moon and Harry Hugasian reach for his wallet.”

According to Psaltis, Hugasian once said he wanted to buy dinner for the late Heckle Lynn, a restaurateur who was also the Rams’ assistant equipment manager.

“Harry offered Heckle half of the food on his plate,” Psaltis said.

A real rarity: After Kirk Gibson’s improbable home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, the late Jack Buck said, “I don’t believe what I just saw.”

After the penalty-prone Oakland Raiders were called for no penalties Sunday, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News wrote: “I can’t believe what I just didn’t see.”

Another rarity: It went largely unnoticed, but Delaware State did not take a free throw in its 56-37 loss to UCLA on Nov. 19.

Veteran broadcaster Tom Kelly, who has seen a few basketball games, said he’d never seen that.

Looking back: On this day in 1973, Jerry West of the Lakers had 10 steals in a 115-111 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics to set an NBA record.

The record is now 11, held by Kendall Gill and Larry Kenon.

Trivia answer: North Carolina. Brown previously was the head coach at Appalachian State and Tulane.

And finally: Noting the final score of USC’s victory over UCLA, Jay Leno said, “66-19, or as the University of Colorado calls it, a close game.”

*

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