And Maybe They Can Get Bush in Next Round

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald received an e-mail that made him laugh out loud, even though the e-mailer was probably being serious.

“In its entirety and verbatim,” Cote wrote, “the e-mail read: ‘The Dolphins should draft Vince Young!!!’ ”

Added Cote: “There you have it, Nick Saban. Why didn’t you think of that? Such smart advice, and so simple! You contact the 15 teams drafting ahead of you, request that they kindly pass over Young (be sure to send thank-you notes), and then select him at No. 16.”

Trivia time: USC players were selected first in the NFL draft for two consecutive years. Who were they and what were the years?

A Barry good team: Last month veteran sports publicist Milt Kahn submitted to Morning Briefing a list of the 15 greatest NBA players, as compiled by a group that calls itself the Senior Basketball Junkies Anonymous. Rick Barry, voted the greatest, was joined on the first team by forward Larry Bird, center Bill Russell and guards Bob Cousy and Magic Johnson.

Wilt Chamberlain didn’t make the second or even the third team.

However, Barry, recently asked by Kahn to select a top five, made Chamberlain his center. Rounding out Barry’s top five were Karl Malone, power forward; Larry Bird, small forward; Michael Jordan, shooting guard; and Johnson, point guard.

Barry added that if he were the small forward, “I’d take the other four guys and play against any five.”

Making a point: Barry said he had a difficult time selecting the power forward and point guard. Of the power forward position, he said that if permitted, he’d put Bill Russell there.

As for the point guard, Barry said, “This was the toughest pick because I loved John Stockton and I love Steve Nash, who are more true point guards. But Magic created so many match-up problems.”

Another point: Barry asked that this be included as well: “I feel the single-most unstoppable shot (not dunk) in the history of the game was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sky hook.”

Looking back: On this day in 1982, Joe Montana’s touchdown pass to Dwight Clark at the back of the end zone with 51 seconds remaining lifted the San Francisco 49ers to a 28-27 win over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC title game. The play became known simply as “The Catch.”

Trivia answer: Ron Yary in 1968 and O.J. Simpson in 1969.

And finally: The Winter Olympics will open a month from today in Turin, Italy. So how are things going?

According to the Associated Press: “Signs or flags trumpeting the games aren’t up yet, ticket sales are lagging, snow is scarce as usual, and Italian athletes are complaining openly about a lack of interest.”

Not to worry, said Sandro Pertile, competition manager at the ski-jumping venue.

“Today, I’m very relaxed,” he said. “A year ago, I was much worse. Athens gives us a lot of confidence. They were in much worse shape, and they pulled it off. If they did it ... “

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