He Had Right Idea, but Facts Were Wrong

Running back Marshall Faulk of San Diego State rationalized recently why he was the runner-up to Miami quarterback Gino Torretta in the Heisman Trophy balloting, using the 1967 UCLA-USC game as an example.

“Gary Beban played for UCLA, had a great team around him (and) was a mediocre quarterback,� Faulk told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

“You had O.J. (Simpson)--great running back. The team was pretty good. . . . They played the last game, UCLA won, so Gary Beban wins (the Heisman). He wasn’t the better player . . . but just because USC lost to UCLA. That sort of explained it to me.�

Interesting theory, Marshall, except that USC won the game, 21-20, on Simpson’s 64-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

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Add Faulk: USC’s “pretty good� team went on to win the national championship by beating Indiana, 14-3, in the Rose Bowl game. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy the next season.

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Trivia time: Four Dodgers each hit 30 or more home runs in 1977. Who were they and what were their numbers?

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Locked out: George Abraham coached basketball the past two seasons at George Jr. Republic, a reform school in Grove City, Pa.

An unpleasant experience? Hardly. “The two greatest years of my life were at George Jr. Republic,� Abraham told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “There were no parents at George Jr., which was the greatest part of the job.�

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Shocking thought: From a Kansas City reporter on the debut of quarterback Joe Montana with the Chiefs: “The electricity in the air was amazing. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife.�

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Reunion: Ralph Kiner, Met broadcaster and former Pittsburgh Pirate slugger, told Newsday that he once dated movie star Janet Leigh before she married Tony Curtis.

Kiner ran into Jamie Lee Curtis recently at a Los Angeles restaurant and walked over to introduce himself and joke about how he once dated her mom.

Before Kiner could say a word, Curtis jumped from her seat, threw her arms around his neck and screamed: “Daddy!�

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Pope’s popularity: San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler commenting on recent events in the news:

“Everyone seem so surprised that the Pope outdrew the Rockies in Denver. They’re forgetting this is not an expansion Pope.�

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In name only: From Tom Weir of USA Today: “For his Sept. 10 fight with Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez has trained at camps 8,300 and 11,300 feet above sea level.

“Whitaker took an easier route, training in Houston at Heights Gym.�

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Trivia answer: Steve Garvey, 33; Reggie Smith, 32; Ron Cey and Dusty Baker, 30.

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Quotebook: Ray Ratto of the San Francisco Examiner on New York Met pitcher Bret Saberhagen: “Hey, Saberhagen, no problem. Nobody understood Soupy Sales in his time, either.�