A play that will live in infamy

From the network that brought you “Instant Classics” comes its evil twin, Instant Infamy.

Tony Romo is still stacking sandbags to protect his off-season bunker, and already ESPN.com is asking fans if the Dallas quarterback’s bobbled hold that cost the Cowboys a playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday is the worst gaffe in NFL playoff history.

That’s a very long and sordid history to sift through, but in the spirit of the day -- which is: Nothing that happened before last week matters anymore -- Romo was indeed the early leader, pulling in 24.6% of the vote by noon Monday.

Second place was Scott Norwood’s missed field-goal attempt at the end of the 1991 Super Bowl. (Can missing a pressure-packed 47-yard field goal truly be considered a “gaffe?”)

Third place was Leon Lett’s showboat routine that cost the Cowboys a touchdown in the 1993 Super Bowl. (Dallas still won, 52-17.)

Fourth place was Cowboys tight end Jackie Smith dropping a certain touchdown pass in the end zone during Dallas’ 35-31 loss to Pittsburgh in the 1979 Super Bowl. (Now we’re getting somewhere.)

Curiously, no Los Angeles Ram was mentioned among the 10 nominees, which will puzzle any Southland fan who remembers Nolan Cromwell dropping an interception with a clear path to the end zone in the 1980 Super Bowl against Pittsburgh ... or Chuck Knox going for a first-quarter field goal inches from the Minnesota goal line and having the kick blocked and returned for a Vikings touchdown (1976)

Trivia time

Trey Junkin and Dan Turk were among ESPN.com’s “worst gaffe” nominees. For what are they infamous?

Still bitter after all these years

Speaking from experience, and with no small amount of bitterness, former Notre Dame coach Bob Davie said on ESPN Radio that the Charlie Weis-Notre Dame honeymoon is over.

“When you lose to Michigan, you lose to USC and you lose to LSU in a bowl game by a significant score, there will be ramifications from that for Charlie Weis,” Davie said.

“I think the shine is off, to be quite honest. I know going around the country talking to football coaches, particularly head coaches, I think a little bit of the mystique is definitely off.”

Davie, currently a football analyst for ABC and ESPN, said he believes the Fighting Irish regressed from 2005 to 2006.

“It’s hard to say Notre Dame improved this year with probably the No. 1 player in the NFL draft, Brady Quinn, with Jeff Samardzija, with potentially five first-round NFL draft picks.... I don’t think they’re as good a team as they were last year. On defense they continued to go backward.”

Finally, Davie delivered a dart directly targeted for Weis’ lofty reputation among college football coaches.

“Notre Dame has had two successful seasons, two BCS bowl games in a row,” he said, “but I think it’s hard to say that the program is really going in a positive direction right now.”

Next week: Davie assesses Tyrone Willingham’s inability to win the BCS title at Washington.

Football played here, at last

Arizona football fans received a rare treat Monday night when Ohio State and Florida played a championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium.

What do the Arizona Cardinals and the University of Phoenix have in common?

Neither plays football.

Trivia answer

Junkin and Turk were veteran centers whose bad snaps on field-goal attempts cost their teams playoff victories.

Junkin’s miscue came at the end of the New York Giants’ 39-38 loss to San Francisco in the 2002 season’s playoffs; Turk’s cost the Washington Redskins in a 14-13 playoff loss to Tampa Bay in the 1999 season.

And finally

From David Letterman’s “Top Ten Signs You’re Watching Too Much College Football”:

* “During breakfast, you ask your son to pass the Nokia Sugar Bowl.

* “Canceled family trip to Mexico, going to Boise State instead.

* “Insist on being called ‘Coach’ even though you’re a dentist.

* “Told your daughter, ‘I’d love to go to your wedding, but the Northern Illinois-TCU game is on.’

* “Every time you walk 10 yards, three of your friends have to move the chains.

* “Instead of a shower, you dump a bucket of Gatorade on yourself.

* “Always asking, ‘What would Joe Paterno do?’

* “Your solution to Iraq -- ‘I dunno, a playoff system?’ ”

mike.penner@latimes.com