They Will Read the Defense, but That’s About All

Coach Phil Jackson of the Chicago Bulls has a penchant for hand-picking books for his players to read. But Jackson is thinking of giving up the habit this season.

“When you have so many guys who don’t read books, after a while it’s like beating a dead horse,” Jackson told the Chicago Tribune. “You’re not going to get anything out of it.”

Neither are the players.

* Trivia time: What are the nine NFL franchises that haven’t played in the Super Bowl?

* Prudent investment: It has been reported that Jason Bohn won $1 million by getting a hole in one Sunday in a charity tournament at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

His investment was buying 10 golf balls at $1 each to enter the tournament.

* Wise move: Bill Cowher, the new coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, made a career decision early on when he was an undistinguished player with the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.

“Every team I was on, I was the 46th or 47th guy,” Cowher told Pro Football Weekly. “I always knew that I better have some secondary options.”

Cowher’s Steelers are in first place in the AFC Central with a 6-2 record.

* Guilt by association: Olden Polynice was fined $8,000 during the exhibition season, in line with the NBA’s crackdown on rough play and fighting.

“It was very excessive,” Polynice said of the fine. “My whole career, if you added up half the fines, they wouldn’t be half that. Now I know how it feels to be a (Detroit) Piston. If I were still a Clipper, it would have been $1,000.”

* Leave him alone: When Washington Redskin quarterback Mark Rypien banged his head on the Minnesota turf and wobbled off the field in a recent game, he anticipated the usual question by trainers, so he started answering: “Hey, it’s Oct. 24, Oct. 24.”

Said teammate Brian Mitchell: “Mark, it’s Oct. 25.”

Said a coach: “Quiet. He’s getting close.”

* Best ever?: Oregon football Coach Rich Brooks, who has been associated with the Pacific 10 Conference for 33 years as a player and coach, says that California wide receiver Sean Dawkins “is the best receiver I’ve seen in this league--maybe ever.”

* Take your choice: The University of Pittsburgh has a 3-6 record and Coach Paul Hackett’s job may be in jeopardy.

However, under Hackett, Pitt has cleaned up previous off-field problems, such as player arrests, college-board test irregularities and alleged recruiting improprieties that occurred in previous seasons.

Asked if Hackett should be fired, Pitt quarterback Alex Van Pelt said: “If you want to recruit convicts and thugs and go 11-0, fine.”

* Going back: On this date in 1960, the Rams beat the Dallas Cowboys, a first-year expansion team, 38-13.

* Meadowlark Jordan: Sir Arthur Gold, a former chairman of the British Olympic Assn., wasn’t enthralled by the Dream Team in Barcelona.

“Sport is only sport if the results are unpredictable,” Gold told the Boston Globe. “Otherwise, we would gain the same entertainment by watching the Harlem Globetrotters.”

* Trivia answer: Atlanta, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, Seattle, and Tampa Bay.

* Quotebook: General Manager Jerry Reynolds of the Sacramento Kings: “There are drug dealers I rate higher than some agents.”