With Any Luck, They Burned the Game Film

Hank Stram and John McKay will be forever linked. Stram, who died Monday, was coaching the New Orleans Saints when they lost to the McKay-coached Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 33-14, on Dec. 11, 1977.

It was the Buccaneers’ first victory in their two-year history after starting out 0-26, and it led to Stram’s firing by the Saints.

There is another connection between Stram and the late USC coach. They were running backs together at Purdue before McKay transferred to Oregon, where he still holds the school record for yards per carry.

Trivia time: As a broadcaster, Stram and play-by-play partner Vin Scully worked the memorable NFC championship game on Jan. 10, 1982, when Dwight Clark’s catch gave San Francisco a victory over Dallas. But Stram started that season with another broadcast partner. Who was he?

Don’t blame Dad: Scully, on the phone from Denver on Tuesday, recalled that Stram was quite a character.

Scully remembered Stram’s once telling him one of his sons was a good college quarterback.

“I asked him, ‘Good enough to make it as a pro?’ ” Scully said. “Hank replied, ‘No, he’s too small,’ and then in the blink of an eye added, ‘His mother is very short.’ ”

Persistent: Scully also recalled that Stram would never let up once he started asking questions about a particular topic.

“One time we were in Washington for a Redskin game and on our way to Saturday Mass -- we always went to Saturday Mass together,” Scully said. “Because my agent, Ed Hookstratten, also represented John McKay, Hank wanted me to tell him details of the contract McKay got when he went to Tampa Bay. I told him I didn’t feel comfortable telling him.”

McKay, in 1976, got a five-year deal worth close to seven figures a year -- about triple what Stram and other NFL coaches were making at the time.

“Right in the middle of Mass, Hank leans over and says, ‘Come on, at least tell me how many years he got,’ ” Scully said.

Stating the obvious: Stram had a way of simplifying football. One of his more memorable quotes: “The receivers are an integral part of the passing game.”

Looking back: On this day in 1975, the match race between Ruffian, an undefeated filly, and Foolish Pleasure, the Kentucky Derby winner, was run. Ruffian severely injured her leg and had to be destroyed the following day.

Trivia answer: Pat Summerall -- for four games. Scully and John Madden worked four games together before Summerall was paired with Madden and Scully with Stram.

And finally: The Dodgers have two more games in their series with the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field, where the thin air can drive pitchers bonkers.

Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times points out that at least Colorado pitchers have the perfect Class-A California League farm team for rehabilitating wounded psyches: the Modesto Nuts.

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