Miami Even More Cocky Than Usual

The Heisman Trophy winner will be announced today at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York, but the University of Miami already declared quarterback Gino Torretta the winner.

An awards page prepared for the top-ranked Hurricanes’ postseason media guide listed Torretta as the 1992 Heisman winner--even though the deadline for ballots to arrive in New York was last Thursday.

The gaffe by the apparently confident Hurricane sports information office came to light when San Diego State’s student newspaper, The Daily Aztec, requested Torretta’s final season statistics. It inadvertently received a fax of the page that listed Torretta as the Heisman winner.

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Add Torretta: “It’s very embarrassing,” said Linda Venzon, Miami’s sports information director. “The newspaper wasn’t supposed to receive that form.”

Venzon said a student intern put together the postseason media guide. “I guess that person was a little anxious to name Gino as the winner,” she said.

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Trivia time: Who won the first Heisman Trophy in 1935?

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Bowl hype: The Blockbuster Bowl matchup Jan. 1 in Miami between Stanford and Penn State is being billed as “The Genius” versus “The Legend.”

Stanford Coach Bill Walsh is the so-called “genius,” and Penn State Coach Joe Paterno is reportedly the “legend.”

“If it comes down to Walsh and Paterno, I’m not going to show up,” Paterno said. “I’m not sure I can spell genius. I’m over the hill, and if you want to call me a legend, that’s fine.”

Television tip: San Francisco Examiner columnist Ray Ratto on Dick Vitale, the high-energy, nonstop-talking college basketball television analyst:

“If Dickie V gives you a headache after all these years, if you hate the way he openly recruits on air for his favorite coaches, if you can’t stand the way he talks in initials, let me suggest a four-letter word: mute.”

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Sound bites: Jason Kidd, California’s standout freshman basketball player, is available for interviews for only a 10-minute period after games.

California Coach Lou Campanelli said he formulated the policy at the request of Kidd and his parents.

At least, he’s available part-time. In 1966, Lew Alcindor and other members of a famous UCLA freshman team were off-limits to the media for an entire season.

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Wrong way: Ruben Rodriguez was recently cut by the Denver Broncos because he couldn’t control the direction of his punts. His nickname? “Senor Shank.”

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Trivia answer: Jay Berwanger, of the University of Chicago.

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Quotebook: Raider defensive end Howie Long on kickers: “In my next life, I want to come back as a kicker, or some fat lady’s poodle. It’s basically the same life.”