Germans’ Reaction to Foreman Victory Not Exactly ‘Hot Dog!’

George Foreman beat Axel Schulz on a majority decision in Saturday night’s International Boxing Federation heavyweight title bout in Las Vegas, but not according to the newspapers in Germany, Schulz’s homeland.

“The greatest surprise in heavyweight history was prevented by a wrong decision,” the Frankfurter Allgemeine said. “Schulz won the fight against the boxing legend after 12 glorious rounds, but not the fight against the judges.”

The Cologne Express, a tabloid, was a bit more pointed, if less literary. Its headline: “Fixed. Boxing scandal in Las Vegas, Axel is the robbed hero.”

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Of course: It’s still the dead of winter at the North Pole, where a group of Russian soccer fanatics staged a tournament Sunday on snow about 20 inches deep atop thick ice. The temperature was minus-17 degrees.

Fittingly, perhaps, the winning team represented the Biryusa refrigerator plant.

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Trivia time: Fullback Ray Zellars was the first Notre Dame player taken in the NFL draft, going in the second round, No. 44 overall, to the New Orleans Saints. When was the last time the first Irish player was taken that low?

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School’s out: John Lucas, grading himself on his first year as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, was generous.

“As a teacher, I’d probably have to give myself an A,” he said. “And as a game coach, as far as knowing how to use my players, around a B.”

The 76ers finished 24-58, out of the playoffs for the fourth consecutive year, so F probably comes to mind for most of Philadelphia’s unforgiving fans.

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Times a-changin’ . . . From a book on training for a foot race, written by one J. Rickerby, Esq., and citing a technique from before the turn of the century:

“He must rise at 5 in the morning, run half a mile at the top of his speed uphill and then walk six miles at a moderate pace, coming in about 7 to breakfast, which should consist of beefsteak or mutton chops, underdone, with stale bread and old beer.”

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. . . maybe to this: From Tom Fleming, a marathon coach, citing the success of Africans in the sport:

“Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning, a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle. When the sun comes up, you’d better be running.”

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Bet the over: In the last weekend of spring training, the hitters were well ahead of the pitchers.

The evidence? Scores of 21-13, 15-11, 12-11 and 12-5 in Florida and 17-5 in Texas. And then there was Henry Rodriguez of the Dodgers, who hit four home runs against the Mets.

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Flier on a flier: In the waning moments of the NFL draft, the Denver Broncos chose Air Force linebacker Steve Russ in the seventh round, even though he will head to pilot training upon graduation and faces at least a two-year military commitment.

Russ, a 6-foot-5, 237-pound player who led the Falcons with 113 tackles last season, had mixed emotions.

“It would be selfish on my part to want to just get out,” he said. “I want to serve in the military. I want to serve my country. That’s one of the reasons I came here. But I also want to play pro football.”

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No retirement: At 83, golfer Sam Snead is still hustling. He winters in Florida where, he says, “The pigeons fly in and out every year.”

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Trivia answer: In 1987, tackle Wally Kleine was taken No. 48 overall by the Washington Redskins.

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Quotebook: Lee Trevino on the deep bunkers at PGA West, site of the weekend’s Legends of Golf: “After the tournament, they ought to have a roll call because I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple of (players) have been down there for a couple of days.”