He Thought It Was a Terrific Opportunity to Stop the Media

By HARLEY TINKHAM

March 3, 1990 12 AM PT

The subject was the Super Bowl, and George Young, general manager of the New York Giants, recalled a party that agent Leigh Steinberg held for the media before the game.

Young: “When I heard he was taking all those writers out on a river boat in New Orleans, I spent about an hour trying to see if I could rent a submarine.”

Wizard speaks: From John Wooden, defending Pacific 10 basketball: “Whenever people talk negatively about the Pac-10, I ask, ‘How many schools in the Pac-10 have won an NCAA championship?’ The answer is four--UCLA, Cal, Stanford and Oregon. ‘And how many in the Atlantic Coast Conference?’ Two--North Carolina and North Carolina State.”

Even the Western Athletic Conference is ahead of the ACC with three--Wyoming, Utah and Texas El Paso (Texas Western). The leader, on the strength of Michigan’s victory last season, is the Big Ten with five. The Wolverines joined Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio State and Michigan State.

Trivia time: Name the only man who has been the head coach of teams in both the Rose Bowl and the Super Bowl.

Tough life: The Sporting News reports that Pete Rose, in a speech at the University of Florida, for which he was paid $11,000, said, “I made some mistakes, and I paid the price.”

Said the Sporting News: “The price he is paying? He is living in his newly built, $1-million home in Plant City, Fla., where he hits golf balls in the morning, plays 18 holes in the afternoon and takes his family to dinner at night.”

Artist at work: Chi Chi Rodriguez, on Lee Trevino, who is carving up the opposition on the Senior PGA Tour: “This guy can do drawings with a golf ball. He looks like Pablo Picasso out there.”

Woman’s touch: The best putter in golf? Curtis Strange votes for Nancy Lopez. “From eight feet in, she is the best, man, woman or child,” says Strange.

Just asking: Would NBC still be happy with its Notre Dame package if Lou Holtz pulled up stakes?

Holtz has completed four years at South Bend. In five previous head coaching jobs, his average stay was three years. In six assistant coaching jobs, his average stay was two years.

Holtz’s wife said, “Whenever we go to a new town the first thing I do is check out the resale value of houses.”

The Judge speaks: Former Raider cornerback Lester Hayes, on former Seattle Seahawks receiver Steve Largent, whom he called, “the Caucasian Clydesdale”: “I tried to intimidate Steve, and Steve only smiled. I put bull’s-eyes all over Steve’s anatomy and I missed him.

“It’s all because he has a halo around him. He’s God’s gift. He looks like a silver surfer from Venice Beach.”

Trivia answer: Dick Vermeil (UCLA, 1976; Philadelphia, 1981).

Quotebook: NBC’s Al McGuire, on sometimes broadcasting partner Joel Meyers: “One of the best voices since Nelson Eddy.”