Short Rutts
09/07/10
The late E.C. McKENZIE: "Anyone depending on a rabbit's foot for good luck needs to remember it didn't work too well for the rabbit."....Comedian JERRY PERISHO on the Arizona Cardinals releasing quarterback MATT LEINART, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner: "Leinart will stay in shape by tossing vegetable soup to KURT WARNER in a canned-goods aisle."....Monday night/Tuesday morning marks the 40th anniversary of a group of players from the Amarillo Giants and Dallas-Ft. Worth Spurs invading The Ballpark Southeast of the Stockyards in the dead of night and flooding its field in a futile attempt to force the cancellation of the final game of the Texas League baseball season the following afternoon. Spurs infielder and future screenwriter RON SHELTON recreates the stunt in "Bull Durham", his 1988 masterpiece based on his six seasons as a player in the Baltimore Orioles farm system....Professional wrestling legend TED "THE MILLION DOLLAR MAN" DiBIASE devotes a chapter in his recently-released autobiography to his days as a football player at West Texas State, including homage to his head coach GENE MAYFIELD, his position coach JERRY BEHRENS, his quarterback and eventual fellow pro wrestler TULLY BLANCHARD and his roommate JEFF LLOYD, later an NFL player with the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. Unfortunately, references to Behrens in the book do not include the correct spelling of his last name, having it only phonically correct as "Barons"....New York Jets running back DAVID CLOWNEY says head coach REX RYAN calls him his "butt back". He explains, "You go up and ask, 'Coach, can I get into the game?' and he answers, 'Boy, get your butt back'."....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1984, WT quarterback TOD MAYFIELD was named the Missouri Valley Conference's Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Buffs' 40-33 loss to Northern Illinois at DeKalb, Illinois. Starting his first varsity game for the Buffaloes, the sophomore from Panhandle and recent inductee into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame completed seven of 10 passes and ran for two touchdowns against the Huskies of head coach LEE CORSO. In 1977, a fired-up, near-capacity crowd at the Amarillo Sports Arena watched a frenzied tag team tussle between the notorious team of BRUTE BERNARD and J.J. DILLON and the popular duo of ANDRE THE GIANT and ERVIN SMITH. The teams split the first two falls before things went haywire as Dillon and Bernard tossed salt into the eyes of their opponents and Bernard chased the blinded Smith out of the ring before whacking him over the head with a chair. Referee RANDY BREWER then immediately awarded the conflict on a disqualification to Smith and Andre the Giant, the late 7-foot-4, 640-pound icon. Additional action on the evening had REGGIE PARKS and RIP HAWK battle to a 15:00 draw, CYCLONE NEGRO put away JOHNNY STARR with a somersault press at 17:01 and RAPID RICKY ROMERO finish BOB ORTON with a Mexican cat leap at 11:45. In 1967, after a scoreless first half, the Perryton offense came to life as quarterback MIKE HARGROVE completed touchdowns passes of 29 yards to BOB GOBIN and 33 yards to BEN RUPPRECHT before DICK McWHORTER found end SCOTT DOORES with a 6-yard scoring strike as the Ranger defense limited the Pampa Harvesters to 87 total yards in a 21-0 win at Perryton. In 1949, Amarillo High School opened its new football stadium at the Tri-State Fairgrounds in grand fashion as quarterback JACK NEWBY threw a touchdown pass and ran for two more scores as the Golden Sandies of head coach HOWARD "BULL" LYNCH rolled past Denton High School, 56-13, before 13,000 fans....Unknown: "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and apt to fix his own breakfast."....All seats cost a robust $75 when Wisconsin visited Nevada-Las Vegas on Saturday as the teams opened their 2010 football seasons. Noting only 31,107 fans showed up for Wisconsin's 41-21 win, RON KANTOWSKI of the Las Vegas Jounal-Review commented, "Yes, Wisconsin is a 'marquee' opponent. But with all due respect to AL TOON, ALAN "THE HORSE" AMECHE and a bratwurst with grilled onions, I only paid $34 to see U2 at Sam Boyd Stadium. And BONO and THE EDGE weren't coming off a 5-7 season."....Overheard: "Why is it when I am late for work my boss is early, and when I am early my boss is late?"---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
09/02/10

DAVE HENRY of the Amarillo Globe-News, offering a thought on the usual mismatches taking place during the first few weeks of football season at the NCAA's Division I level: "You would have hard time finding a bakery with as many cupcakes."....Head and Shoulders shampoo has cut a deal with Pittsburgh Steelers safety TROY POLAMULA that includes his famous shoulder-length hair being insured for one million dollars. A newsflash at sports satire website Sportspickle.com states, "Polamula to be charged with insurance fraud after burning down hair."....The West Texas State/A&M football program makes its second-ever visit to the state of Michigan--and its first in just short of 40 years--Thursday night as the Buffaloes open the sixth year of the DON CARTHEL era against perennial Division II power Grand Valley State at Lubbers Stadium in Allendale. Previously, WT lost a 20-0 game in 1970 to Western Michigan at Kalamazoo in JOE KERBEL's last road game at the helm of the Buffs....The WT-GVSU game will be televised live on KAMR-TV (channel 4, cable channel 5) as the local station picks up the broadcast originating on the CBS College Sports cable channel with JASON KNAPP doing play-by-play and former NFL linebacker AKBAR GBAJA-BIAMILA offering color commentary. Broadcast time on both channels is 7 p.m. CDT....The longtime tandem of play-by-play voice NEIL HORN and commentator PHIL WOODALL return for another season on the Buffalo Sports Radio Network on Amarillo's KGNC (710 AM) and Perryton's KEYE (1400 AM). The pre-game show from Allendale begins at 6:06 pm CDT....The Tampa Tribune reports Florida State University is threatening to sue Southeast High School in Bradenton, Florida over the use of their common nickname of "Seminoles". The high school has carried the name for 51 years....Texas Tech formally dedicates the East side expansion and renovation of Jones AT&T Stadium at 4 pm Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony prior to the Red Raiders' season opener against SMU. No part of the impressive project is more breathtaking than the series of mosaics paying tribute to the history of Tech football by renowned Amarillo artist KEN PIRTLE....Following the erection of a statue outside Milwaukee's Miller Park of baseball commissioner and former Brewers owner BUD SELIG, Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel columnist REGGIE HAYES asks, "In  a beer-based city, who would have ever thought there would be a tribute to Bud outside Miller Park?"....JOHN GAGLIARDI, head football coach at Minnesota's St. John's University since 1953 and the winningest college coach in the sport's history: "One thing I have thought about my whole life is what it would be like to sit up in the stands and know all the answers like the rest of the experts up there. One flash and they know what happened. I have to look at a play about 15 times on video to see what happened and they can see it in one sweep. It must be wonderful up there, there must be some magic up there, because they know everything."....New Vanderbilt head football coach ROBBIE CALDWELL says he lost 15 pounds his first two weeks on the job and adds, "I know it is hard to believe, but even a fat man sometimes forgets to eat."....Overheard: "I am working on my bucket list, and growing old will not be on it."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
08/26/10

Bumper sticker: "We do not have to attend every argument we are invited to."....A world record was set August 14 prior to a game played by minor league baseball's Savannah Sand Gnats when TED BATCHELOR ran around the bases while on fire, thus setting the all time mark for distance run by an ablaze human not using an oxygen tank. Batchelor began the run after being lit by a fan that had entered a contest to have the honor of doing so, and he completed it with a head-first slide into home plate. Team president JOHN KATZ later said, "It was the coolest thing I have ever seen on a baseball diamond, bar none."....After catcher RONNY PAULINO of the Florida Marlins was suspended for 50 games following a failed drug test he blamed on diet pills, GREG COTE of the Miami Herald commented, "The diet pills sure worked. The Marlins lost 250 pounds of catcher overnight."....Questions and answers with former Amarillo High and West Texas A&M basketball great EMILY (BRISTER) COOPER, now kindergarten teacher at Amarillo's Glenwood Elementary School: First sports hero? "DAVID ROBINSON of the San Antonio Spurs, because of his faith and determination." Biggest sports thrills as observer? "Anytime the Spurs win." Biggest sports thrills as participant? "Beating Emporia State and Central Oklahoma to win the South Central Region championship of the 2009-10 NCAA women's Division II tournament in front of our own fans at the First United Bank Center in Canyon." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Losing to Delta State a week later in the Elite Eight in San Antonio. After working so hard all year, it all ended in 40 minutes." Sports event would like to have seen in person? "Duke winning the 2009-10 men's NCAA championship at Indianapolis because it was a really close game and I love the Blue Devils." Favorite sports nickname? "The 'Dream Team' that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics because they are the most talented team ever assembled." Favorite athlete in the clutch? "MICHAEL JORDAN, without a doubt, because he was a fierce competitor that refused to lose." Living person would most like to have lunch with? "TIM DUNCAN of the Spurs. I am a huge fan of his, he seems to have an interesting personality, and I would want to know how he handles the pressures and expectations of being a true champion." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Kailua Kona, Hawaii." Most famous person ever shake hands with? "MICHAEL COOPER, formerly with the Los Angeles Lakers."....Unknown: "Do not hug your children so they will hug you back. Hug them so they will hug your grandchildren."....Comedian ALAN RAY: "The Little League World Series is all about kids having fun. So says ESPN, broadcasting it with 2 satellite trucks, 17 cameras, 8 reporters and an HD transmitter."....BRAD DICKSON, Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald: "In his day, baseball pitcher BILL LEE was dubbed 'Spaceman' because of his outrageous statements, a huge ego and for dabbling in illegal substances. Today, his nickname would be 'Normal'."....Two Northwestern University football players got into a fight during a practice on Wednesday and were ordered by Wildcats head coach PAT FITZGERALD to walk around the field while holding hands....Overheard: "I have multiple personalities, and none of them like you."---MIKE HIGGINS
Short Rutts

 08/24/10
PHIL WOOSMAN, once commissioner of the North American Soccer League: "The rules of soccer are simple. It the ball moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does."....Following the hiring of MIKE LEACH by CBS as a color commentator for its college football broadcasts, DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times says, "You want startled? CRAIG JAMES immediately locked himself in the ESPN production truck."....The passing over the weekend of college football legend JOHNNY BAILEY from pancreatic cancer at age 43 was sad to learn. After leading Houston's Yates High School to the 1985 class AAAA state championship, he faced academic issues and passed on having to sit out a year at Nebraska, choosing instead to play immediately at Texas A&I --now Texas A&M-Kingsville. He was just 23 yards short of breaking TONY DORSETT's record for career rushing yards by a collegian in 1989 when the Javalinas came to Canyon to play West Texas State but was held out of the contest with a thigh injury, many feeling the move was made so he would break the record the following week in Kingsville. Otherwise, his absence was of little factor as A&I--also featuring recent Pro Hall of Fame inductee JOHN RANDLE on its defensive line, rolled past the Buffaloes, 39-3....West Texas A&M head football coach DON CARTHEL held the same position at Eastern New Mexico during Bailey's college days. He says, "Johnny was always a class act with the way he played and handled himself. We came within an eyelash of signing him to play at Eastern, and a lot of our athletes stayed close to him throughout his career. I will miss his smile, the sincere respect he had for his opponants and for the game of football."....DON SUTTON, baseball Hall of Famer-turned-broadcaster: "Evidently, ROGER CLEMENS must think that in order to lie to Congress, you only have to be a member of Congress."....It will be refreshing to get the college football season started in nine days so there will be news on the field rather than the seemingly usual stuff happening off it, including Oregon State's TYLER THOMAS being kicked off the Beavers after Corvallis police subdued him with a stun gun as he lay naked on the floor in the home of someone he said he didn't even know....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1987, longtime Palo Duro High School girls basketball coach and former Wayland Baptist University All-American PEARL TRIMBLE was named to an assistant athletic director position with the Amarillo Independent School District. In 1969, Shreveport Braves outfielder DUSTY BAKER led off the evening at The Ballpark Southwest of the Grand Street Overpass by swatting a GARY RYERSON pitch over 3rd Street before going 4-for-5 at the plate as the Braves--with seven players and manager LOU FITZGERALD left behind at the team hotel with food poisoning--scored an 8-2 win over the Amarillo Giants. Baker moved on to a productive major league playing career over sixteen seasons and is now in his third season of managing the Cincinnati Reds after holding the same position with the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants, whom he led to the 2002 World Series. In 1958, a rowdy, near-capacity crowd rocked the Amarillo Sports Arena as a triple main event had IRON MIKE DiBIASE put away TOKYO JOE with a claw hold, HARD BOILED HAGGERTY defeat BOB GEIGEL on a disqualification and CHIEF ZUNI WARCLOUD handle ART NELSON with a flying cat leap. In 1952, National Football League exhibition action came to Amarillo (now Dick Bivins) Stadium for the second consecutive year as the Detroit Lions played the Chicago Cardinals before a crowd of 10,500. Former West Texas State great CLOYCE BOX scored two touchdowns for Detroit in their 28-10 win, including one on a 48-yard scoring pass from quarterback BOBBY LAYNE. Also playing were the Cardinals' BILL CROSS of Canadian and WT along with Detroit rookie KEITH FLOWERS of Perryton and TCU....The Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald celebrates its 125th anniversary this week. Columnist BRAD DICKSON writes, "The first issue was published August 24, 1884. The headlines were 'JOE PATERNO Takes Job With Nittany Lions' and 'All Potholes To Be Repaired By June'."....From sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "With the final month of the regular season fast approaching and their centerfield situation a question mark due to JACOBY ELLSBURY's injury problems, the Boston Red Sox have made a bold move by signing 65-year old singer-songwriter JOHN FOGERTY to play centerfield."....Overheard: "My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves me completely."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
 08/17/10
Unknown: "Do not worry about what people think of you because most of them don't."....From the readerboard at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Stillwater, Minnesota: "JESUS CHRIST is coming back, and so is BRETT FAVRE."....JERRY CROWE of the Los Angeles Times points out MARK REYNOLDS of the Arizona Diamondbacks has struck out more times since the beginning of the 2009 season than JOE DiMAGGIO did in his entire career....Note to MARK LEE, Amarillo Dillas general manager: I have worked at various capacities and attended baseball games at The Ballpark Southeast of the Stockyards off-and-on since 1963, and I cannot remember the beautiful playing field you and your staff have produced at the 53-year old facility ever looking better....Bumper sticker: "Keep the dream alive. Use the snooze button."....REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel: "University of Kentucky basketball coach JOHN CALIPARI wrote on his Facebook page that junior guard DARNELL DODSON is off the team, but can come back. I'm confused. Is Dodson suspended or unfriended?"....JOHN HENSON, a 6' 10" former Round Rock High School basketball star now beginning his sophomore season at North Carolina, has gained 27 pounds since arriving in Chapel Hill weighing a mere 183 pounds as a freshman. He says, "The nutrition coach told me to eat anything that swims, runs, jumps or flies, and that's what I have been doing."....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1991, CAROL BLENDEN overcame a five-stroke deficit with a five-over par 77, including an even-par 36 on the back nine, to win the Amarillo City Women's Golf Championship at Ross Rogers Golf Course. In 1976, another chapter in the bitter rivalry between RAPID RICKY ROMERO and the scandalous DENNIS STAMP was written at the Amarillo Sports Arena. With Stamp having utilized questionable tactics to defeat Romero the previous two weeks, officials placed a seven-foot chain link fence around the ring in an attempt to keep him in check. Still, Stamp entered the ring with his fists illegally taped, and when the tape was ordered removed he was wearing a set of brass knuckles and managed to keep them on throughout the conflict. Still, Romero experinced a taste of revenge and delighted most in the near-capacity crowd by pinning him with a back-slide at 9:02. In 1965, University of Texas signee DANNY ABBOTT of Tascosa High School was named the outstanding lineman in the Big 33 High School Football All-Star Game as a squad of Texas prep standouts defeated the Pennsylvania Coal Crushers 26-10 at Hershey, Pennsylvania. In 1951, MAL WHITSETT and ROGER GRIFFIN knocked home runs to pace the Lee Bivins Magpies to a 14-6 win over the Wolflin Kingfishers and capture the softball championship of Kids, Inc.'s Midget Division. Wolflin pitcher DOUG THORTON yielded 11 hits and walked seven while being tagged with the loss....Following a visit to The White House by the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, NBC's JAY LENO said, "That is an interesting switch--people from New Orleans visiting a disaster area."....The Buffalo Bills have a promotion going with first prize being a free roundtrip ticket on JetBlue. GREG CONNORS of the Buffalo News writes, "Second prize is a beer on the plane's exit slide with STEVEN SLATER."....JOE TAIT, radio voice of the Cleveland Cavaliers for 38 years, was asked by the Akron Beacon-Journal why professional basketball did not go over well in hockey-crazed Vancouver, British Columbia in the seven seasons the city had an NBA team before the franchise moved to Memphis, Tennessee. He answered, "Because a basketball isn't hard, small and black, and you don't hit it with a stick."....With London hosting the 2012 Olympics, STEPHEN COLBERT of Comedy Central asks, "Will the athletes have to learn how to run on the other side of the tracks?"....Overheard: "I seem to have spent half my life looking for things I thought I had right in front of me just a minute ago."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
08/16/10

ART ARACON, retired boxer: "I had a record of 27-0. That's 27 arrests and no convictions."....Rookie wide receiver ANTHONY ARMSTRONG of West Texas A&M caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback DONOVAN McNABB for the Washington Redskins in a 42-17 rout of the Buffalo Bills in the team's exhibition season opener Friday night at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo....New York Jets head coach REX RYAN has caught some heat over his use of off-color language on HBO as the cable network documents the team's training camp on this year's edition of its annual "Hard Knocks" series. Ryan says, "Sometimes you get rolling, and that's what happens. I don't know why. I apologize if I have offended more people than I usually offend."....Questions and answers with Perryton native and former major league player and manager MIKE HARGROVE, a 2000 inductee into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame: First sports heroes? "MICKEY MANTLE of the New York Yankees and quarterback Y.A. TITLE of the New York Giants." Biggest sports thrill? "Being named the American League's Rookie of the Year in 1974 while with the Texas Rangers." Biggest sports disappointment? "Losing the 1997 World Series in seven games to the Florida Marlins while managing the Cleveland Indians." Sports event in history would liked to have seen in person? "JACK NICKLAUS winning his last Masters golf tournament in 1986." Favorite sports nicknames? "Dallas Cowboys quarterback 'DANDY DON' MEREDITH and the University of Akron 'Zips'. What the hell is a 'Zip'?" Baseball players would want holding the bat with a game on the line? "ALBERT PUJOLS and SANDY ALOMAR." Living person would most like to have lunch with? "TIGER WOODS". Favorite city outside of Texas? "Tuscon, Arizona." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "GEORGE H.W. BUSH, GEORGE W. BUSH and BILL CLINTON."....I did not ask Hargrove what he feels is the stupidest question he has ever been asked by a member of the media, but I wouldn't be surprised if he said it came in the winter of 1976 when he visited Amarillo on the Texas Rangers Winter Caravan along with infielder TOBY HARRAH, outfielder TOM GRIEVE and broadcaster DICK RISENHOOVER. KGNC Radio, at the time without a sports director, sent a naiive news reporter to interview the players and he asked Hargrove, "How would you compare the Rangers to a professional team?"....Unknown: "Two of the biggest concerns people seem to have these days is how to feed the world and how to lose weight."....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1988, DOTTIE LANIER and HEIDI STICKSEL recorded nine kills each as the Tascosa Rebels won the 17th Annual City Volleyball Tournament with a 7-15, 15-9, 15-8 win over Amarillo High before 700 sweltering fans at an unairconditioned Tascosa Gym. In 1970, the East defeated the West 19-14 in the Greenbelt Bowl at Fair Park Stadium in Childress with the East's LEON SAVAGE of Amarillo's Palo Duro High School returning an interception 72 yards for a touchdown with 58 seconds left in the first half. Two-way starter JOE FORAN of Amarillo High School and the West won the game's Outstanding Lineman Award, while going the distance at linebacker for coach GRANT TEAFF's West squad was Friona High School's DON CARTHEL, currently starting his sixth season of a highly successful run as head football coach at WTAMU. In 1965, Levine's Clothiers won the YMCA Baseball Midget Division city championship with a 10-8 win over Gifford Hill Construction at The Ballpark Southwest of the Coors Distribution Center. Starting at catcher and taking over to pitch in the fourth inning for Gifford Hill was 11-year old JERRY MANUEL, now in his second full season as manager of the New York Mets after serving in the same position with the Chicago White Sox from 1998 to 2003....STEVE McCOMAS, age 56, has won the 178-pound masters division of Ringside World Amateur Boxing for the fifth time. He tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press, "Boxing is good exercise. I have tried golfing, but I keep getting hurt when I play golf."....Overheard: "If the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, you can be sure the water bill is higher, too."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
 08/13/10

CRAIG FERGUSON of CBS: "Disney World has announced they are opening a special resort for dogs. Let's just hope MICHAEL VICK doesn't win the Super Bowl this year."....Three products of coach JAN BARKER's state power volleyball program at Amarillo High School have been named to the pre-season All-Big 12 Conference team, they being sophomore middle blocker TORRI CAMPBELL of Baylor, junior setter BRIANNE BARKER of Oklahoma and junior outside hitter KELSEY BLACK of Texas A&M....From Fark.com: "ISIAH THOMAS has declined to accept a consulting position with the NBA's New York Knicks, explaining, 'I just can't respect an organization that would hire me twice.' "....DAVID WHITLEY of Fanhouse.com: "The Knicks rehiring Thomas isn't like the Washington Redskins rehiring STEVE SPURRIER or Enron exhuming KEN LAY. It is like the Titantic rehiring the iceberg."....West Texas A&M hosts its annual Buffalo Club Golf Classic on Friday, August 27 at Canyon's Palo Duro Creek Golf Club. All proceeds benefit the Buffalo Club Student-Athlete Scholarship Fund. Details are available at www.gobuffsgo.com ....JAY LENO on TIGER WOODS shooting a career-worst 18-over par at the Bridgestone Invitational: "The last time he hit this many trees, he was trying to get out of his driveway."....SHERMAN WILLIAMS, age 37, fights four-time heavyweight champion EVANDER HOLYFIELD in November at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. With the bout coming just weeks after Holyfield turns 48, sportscaster LEN BERMAN comments, "Nothing says athleticism like 85 years' worth of boxers."....A good read: ESPN baseball commentator and former Dallas Morning News scribe TIM KURKIJAN's book "Is This A Great Game Or What? From A-Rod's Heart To Zim's Head--My 25 Years In Baseball"....JERRY GREENE of ESPN.com: "The Miami Heat sold out their season tickets and immediately fired their tickets sales staff. How is that for an incentive program?"....Newsflash at sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "ALBERT HAYNESWORTH of the Washington Redskins found dead after completing a full practice."....LANCE BERKMAN entered the 2010 season with a career batting average of .296 over 11 seasons with the Houston Astros but was hitting just .245 last month when he was traded to the New York Yankees. He has hit just .176 since and tells the Houston Chronicle, "It is no fun to stink."....BRAD DICKSON, Omaha World-Herald: "WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO is getting ready to defend his IBO, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles. His goal is to add one more belt so he can moonlight as an eyechart."....Overheard: "The 2012 Olympic games in London have retained BP as a sponsor. It will be a dramatic moment when the marathon runner enters Wembley Stadium and lights the water fountain with the Olympic torch."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
08/12/10
Bumper sticker: "Support bacteria. It's the only culture some people have."....MICHELLE TEBOW of Colorado Springs, Colorado: "Nine times out of ten, when I am talking to a guy, I get asked, 'Are you any relation to TIM TEBOW?'. If I had a dime for every time someone asked me if I am related to him, I'd be at least half as rich as he is at this point. I have even had a few friends hit me up to see if he was single for their daughters."....Noting that team managers in this year's Little League World Series have an option to challenge certain calls by umpires to then be reviewed through an instant replay system, REGGIE HAYES of the Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel says, "The only downside is if they lose the challenge, they must forfeit three postgame juice boxes."....Asked by the Dallas Morning News for his thoughts on the retirement/unretirement/retirement, etc. plans expressed over the last two years by BRETT FAVRE, Cowboys head coach WADE PHILLIPS said, "Just use the same quotes I had last year, and then use the ones I had year before that."....Amarillo Globe-News columnist JON MARK BEILUE, analyzing the possibility of frying an egg on an area sidewalk with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees: "According to my investigation, a sidewalk needs to be between 144 and 158 degrees for an egg yoke to go from liquid to solid. So we have a ways to go. It doesn't have to be quite as hot on asphalt, although you might get grit and pebbles in your egg. Now, as far as making a grilled cheese sandwich on your car, you probably could do that right now."....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1974, DENNIS ECKERSLEY, a 19-year old pitcher for the Texas League's San Antonio Brewers, threw a seven-hit, complete game shutout in a 6-0 win over the Amarillo Giants at The Ballpark South of the Railroad Tracks. The Freemont, California product went on to become one of the game's great relief pitchers in a career capped by his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1971, an evening of mayhem before a near-capacity crowd at the Amarillo Sports Arena had local favorite CYCLONE NEGRO defeat the despised FARMER BROWN by disqualification after the unsportsmanlike Brown punched referee AL VELASCO in the face. Earlier, COWBOY CARLSON won the deciding fall in a battle of midgets when he picked up THE MIGHTY ATOM and weaved him through the ringside ropes. In 1932, MRS. FRANK WOLFLIN defeated MRS. WALTER SIKES 7-6 to take the championship flight of the Amarillo City Women's Championship Golf Tournament at the Amarillo Country Club....DENNIS RODMAN was unhurt after his friend driving an SUV flipped on a Florida highway two weeks ago. BRAD DICKSON of the Omaha World-Herald wrote, "Rodman is reported to be 'stable', which I believe is a first."....Shedding light on the time today's college students give to text-messaging, cell phones and social media, new University of Kansas head football coach TURNER GILL tells the Kansas City Star, "Their thumbs are working more than their mouths."....Little debate can be given to what has to be the new college football season's "Mismatch of the Year", that being Georgia State--playing it's first season of football --visiting defending national champion Alabama on November 18....Overheard: "Former Dumas High School football greats JIM BOXWELL and MIKE BOXWELL will not be participating in Friday night's tackle football game between alumni of DHS and Sunray High School at Demon Stadium in Dumas. Let's keep our fingers crossed that the professional services of the longtime area funeral directors will not be necessary during or after the game for those that are playing."---MIKE HIGGINS 

08/11/10
Comedian JERRY PERISHO on television's "Survivor" having former Dallas Cowboys coach JIMMY JOHNSON as a contestant: "In the first challenge as they swim ashore, everyone has to survive the oil slick coming off his hair."....Headline from sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "Cincinnati Reds receive player to be named later in 1963 trade with Houston Colt 45s."....New Era has declared itself "The official cap of Minor League Baseball batting practice since 2005." RON KANTAWOSKI of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says, "Those who throw batting practice fastballs in the New York-Penn League are no doubt impressed."....DWIGHT PERRY, Seattle Times: "Seattle meteoroligists' knee-jerk forecasts for the Mariners number one pick in 2011: Vanderbilt pitcher SONNY GRAY."....The new field turf at Demon Stadium in Dumas will be broken in Friday night with a football game--the tackle version with pads, no less--between alumni teams from Dumas High School and Sunray High School. Taking the field for the Dumas team will be 49-year old DARREN STALLWITZ, a two-way starting lineman for the Demons over thirty years ago. Here is hoping City of Dumas and Moore County medical services are well-stocked with extra oxygen tanks, stretchers and a plentiful amount of emergency medical workers for the occasion. The game can be head on radio station KDDD-FM in Dumas and will be streamlined at kddd953fm.com....ANDRE DAWSON says he got in a workout at his Cooperstown, New York hotel during his busy weekend that climaxed with his induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He told the Chicago Daily Herald, "I found a stationary bike in the hotel that I think was left behind by BABE RUTH."....This week in Panhandle sports history: In 1997, the Amarillo Rattlers of the Western Professional Hockey League named former Clarendon College, Wayland Baptist University and West Texas A&M head men's basketball coach MARK ADAMS as the team's new general manager. In 1977, named to the All-Missouri Valley Conference pre-season football team from West Texas State as voted by conference sports information directors were running backs ROBERT MAYBERRY and BO ROBINSON, offensive linemen WILLIAM FIFER and GEORGE HENNING and linebacker LARRY SPEARS. Also named to the squad was New Mexico State senior defensive lineman DAVID THOMAS, a former Amarillo High School standout. In 1955, the West team of West Texas State's FRANK KIMBROUGH took on the East team of Abilene Christian College's GARVIN BEAUCHAMP in the Sixth Annual Greenbelt Bowl Football Classic at Fairpark Stadium in Childress. The East seemed to be on its way to pad a 7-0 with less than a minute remaining when 135-pound Borger defensive back JOHNNY BASKIN raced 75 yards with an interception for a touchdown, but the ensuing extra point was muffed by the West on a bad snap, sealing the 7-6 win for the East....TERRENCE CODY, a 350-pound rookie defensive tackle with the Baltimore Ravens, took three attempts over two days before finally passing the team's conditioning test of running six consecutive 25-yard sprints. BILL LANKHOF of the Toronto Sun comments, "Maybe someone should have marked the finish line with a supersized Happy Meal."....GREG COTE of the Miami Herald after interviewing SENTREAL HENDERSON, a 6' 8", 330-pound freshman tackle for the University of Miami: "I stood next to him the other day. Not for the interview, but for the shade."....Overheard: "Whenever we are together I immediately start to miss being lonesome."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
07/26/10
IAN HAMILTON of the Regina (Sask.) Leader-Post, suggesting some possible reality television appearances after the announcement that former NFL coach JIMMY JOHNSON will be a contestant on "Survivor: Nicaragua": "MICHAEL VICK's cameo on 'Dog The Bounty Hunter', ELI MANNING turning up on 'Big Brother' and TRAVIS HENRY's recurring role on 'How I Met Your Mother'."....Sunday's attendance figure of 8,012 at the Amarillo Dillas-Laredo Broncos game represents the largest in Dillas history and the second-largest in the 53-year history of The Ballpark on East Third. An Amarillo Gold Sox-El Paso Diablos game on July 4, 1976 produced the still-record figure of 8,655....Senior defensive end GOD'S POWER OFFOR of American Senior High School in Hialeah, Florida is seen as one of the top football prospects in the country and is the latest inductee into the Short Rutts Name Hall of Fame....The personal feeling here in those pranks of baseball players getting splattered with shaving cream in their faces by their teammates during post-game television interviews are getting old, but DONNIE MURPHY of the Florida Marlins seems to disagree after getting a pair of game-winning pinch hits last week. He says, "The first time, I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for at least a couple of hours. It was the nastiest feeling ever. When you get it in your eyes it stings, your nostrils actually burn, and it takes forever to clean out. But it is definitely a good time."....Correction: A typographical goof in the Friday edition of Short Rutts produced the statement that JIM VAN PELT is president of "Herring Band". Truth be told, the 1968-69 Amarillo High School Golden Sandie football captain is president of Amarillo's Herring Bank. Short Rutts regrets the error....Is this a promotional first? One way or another, hopefully it will be a promotional last: Cupcake Gourmet has been named the "official cupcake" of the National Hockey League's New York Islanders....The perjury trial for BARRY BONDS has been pushed back again and is now scheduled for sometime in 2011. JANICE HOUGH of LeftCoastSportsBabe.com comments, "By the time they finally bring this case to court, the only performance-enhancing drug Bonds will be using will be Metamucil."....Bumper sticker: "Quit acting so humble. You just aren't that great."....A Rutthead Nation welcome to Carrollton, Texas resident CHUCK HARTMAN, one of only a handful of football players to see varsity action as a member of both the Golden Sandies and the Tascosa Rebels as some did in the late 1950s when Tascosa opened and in the mid-1970s when AHS relocated from downtown to Puckett Place....EPSN baseball analyst BOBBY VALENTINE, a former manager of the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, has expressed interest in replacing the retiring LOU PINIELLA as manager of the Chicago Cubs, calling the position "one of the most coveted positions in all of sports."....After University of Alabama head football coach NICK SABAN referred to sports agents as "pimps", DREW CURTIS of Fark.com stated, "Presumably, he then took an entire breath before calling a recruit from his million-dollar house, promising him an NFL career."....Reacting to the announcement that most minor league baseball players will now be subject to blood tests attempting to detect use of banned human growth hormone, BOB MOLINARO of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot says, "With these tests, chicks better now learn to dig the drag bunt."....Overheard: "If stupidity hurts, plenty of people in this world need a morphine drip."---MIKE HIGGINS      

Short Rutts

TIM BUTLER of KGNC Radio points out the 'magic number' for the Texas Rangers clinching the American League West championship is 60, meaning the number of Ranger wins combined with the number of losses by the second-place Los Angeles Angels equaling that figure will give the Rangers their fourth Western Division title in franchise history....Chicago Cubs manager LOU PINIELLA has announced he is retiring after this season, thus joining BOBBY COX of the Atlanta Braves and CITO GASTON of the Toronto Blue Jays as managers that have won the World Series and are calling it a career in October....Note to JIM VAN PELT, president of Amarillo's Herring Band and a onetime football captain at Amarillo High School: Visiting with you this week about your AHS grid days was highly enjoyable. I will always remember your participation in what is possibly the biggest upset in Dick Bivins Stadium history when your Sandstorm knocked off Tascosa 21-0 with the Rebels ranked as the top class AAAA team in Texas in 1968....Questions and answers with RICK COOPER, head men's basketball coach at West Texas A&M: First sports heroes? "DARYLE LAMONICA, KEN STABLER, JACK TATUM, LESTER HAYES, CLIFF BRANCH, RAYMOND CHESTER, JIM PLUNKETT and coach JOHN MADDEN, all of the Oakland Raiders. I grew up in Pittsburgh Steeler territory, so you can imagine what it was like having the Raiders as my favorite sports team when I was young. I am certain the aggressive play the Raiders were famous for in those days has shaped my coaching philosophy. Also, everyone in West Virginia idolized JERRY WEST, and I am no different. ROBERTO CLEMENTE of the Pittsburgh Pirates was also a childhood hero of mine, and I was devastated when he lost his life in a plane crash on New Year's Eve of 1972." Biggest sports thrills? "My daughter KORI COOPER winning the national championship as a volleyball player at the University of Nebraska was spectacular, and watching her waive a towel on the sidelines after she tore her ACL her junior year as Nebraska made another run at the national championship was fun. Coaching my son TYLER COOPER for four years at WT was the thrill of a lifetime, as was once watching him take the baton during a mile relay at a track meet to move his team from last place to first place before handing it off to the final leg." Biggest sports disappointments? "I have been blessed to be part of some great teams as a player and coach at Wayland Baptist and coach at WT, and it is difficult to find much disappointment. It was fun to reach the 1985 NAIA championship game as an assistant coach under eventual WT head coach MARK ADAMS at Wayland, and it was very disappointing when we lost the national championship game to Fort Hays State in overtime at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. Also, Tyler battling knee problems during his playing days. He had seven surgeries of some type, and I credit DR. BILL BARNHILL for keeping him in the game. Also, Kory tearing her ACL for the first time as a senior volleyball player at Amarillo High. It was also disappointing to see EMILY BRISTER, now Tyler's wife and my daughter-in-law, go down with an injury against Midwestern State in the last of her four spectacular seasons as a Lady Buff, but it was rewarding to see her teammates rally and reach the Elite Eight after losing her." Favorite sports nicknames? "West's nickname of "Mr. Clutch", Stabler's of "Snake" and Tatum's of "The Assassin." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "Stabler, Plunkett, West, ROGER STAUBACH and MICHAEL JORDAN." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "GEORGE W. BUSH, RUSH LIMBAUGH and maybe even BILL CLINTON if he would tell me the truth about things." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "I have had the opportunity to shake the hands of many famous coaches over the years. I once had an interesting lunch with BOB KNIGHT and JERRY BEHRENS following a scrimmage we had at Texas Tech. TOM OSBORNE was interesting to meet and visit with, but a boy from West Virginia that grew up in West Texas just doesn't meet that many famous people."....Next week's appearance by TED "THE FAMOUS CHICKEN" GIANNOULAS at The Ballpark Southeast of the Stockyards likely will be his last of many in Amarillo as he has indicated plans to retire after over 30 years of entertaining millions. I'll never forget him being interviewed by the late BILL TEEGINS prior to his first local appearance in 1979 and whispering to the popular KAMR-TV sports director, "Bill, I understand you are a real mover-and-shaker with those at NBC. Do you think you could set me up with THE NBC PEACOCK?" Asked by Teegins what his parents thought of him earning a living by dressing up in a chicken suit, he answered, "They know nothing of this. They think I am a doctor in Wisconsin."....Quipster BILL LITTLEJOHN of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, noting TERRY BRADSHAW is endorsing an RV: "He must want to try to sell something he can also spell."....Overheard: "In case of fire, do not use elevators. Use water instead."---MIKE HIGGINShort Rutts
07/19/10
BRAD DICKSON, Omaha World-Herald, following the wedding of country music singer CARRIE UNDERWOOD and MIKE FISHER of the National Hockey League's Ottawa Senators: "The hard part was figuring which side of the aisle had fewer teeth."....Immediately after winning the 'veggie race' during a Reading (Pa.) Phillies minor league baseball game, a man dressed as a broccoli proposed to his girlfriend. Comedian ARGUS HAMILTON says, "Word is he once asked her to sneak off and get married, but she said, 'Im sorry, I cantaloupe.' "....Correction: Reader ROSS CLOPTON writes point out he is no longer employed by High Plains Public Radio as was reported in the Friday edition of Short Rutts. Clopton, likely Amarillo's biggest supporter of the athletic fortunes and the general well-being of the University of Kansas, says, "In the great tradition of old retired guys, I don't do anything anymore, and I don't even do that until noon." Short Rutts regrets the error....JASON TAYLOR, New York Jets defensive end, offering his feelings on playing in The Big Apple for for the first time for the home side: "They have been chanting my name there for 12 years. It's what they say after my name that I am working on changing."....A Rutthead Nation welcome to EMILY BRISTER-COOPER, kindergarten teacher at Amarillo's Glenwood Elementary School and undisputably the greatest women's basketball player in West Texas State/A&M history....Like many across the country, I laughed at SAMMY SOSA of the Chicago Cubs a few years ago after he sneezed, pulled a muscle in his back and wound up on the disabled list. San Diego Padres pitcher MAT LATOS experienced the same fate recently, and I did not laugh after having basically the same thing happen to me more than once. For those that don't know, the force created by a sneeze is capable of being equal to that of running into a wall as fast as 40 mph....JACKIE SMITH, KACV-TV: "I just heard my favorite quote of the year on National Public Radio. It was, 'The future is about innovation, it is not about protecting the past'."....ANTISA KHVICHAVA, a Russian woman who is reportedly the world oldest person, recently celebrated her 130th birthday. DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times comments, "Witnesses say she is sharp as ever, regaling the locals with her early 20th-century tales of Chicago Cubs World Series parades and Rose Bowl victories by the University of Oregon."....Headline at sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "Dallas Cowboys select creatine in NFL supplemental draft"....From the sports area of TheOnion.com: "SHAQUILLE O'NEAL to announce free-agency decision on ESPN Classic"....After CHARLES BARKLEY knocked a shot into the water at last week's American Century Golf Classic in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, the fortmer NBA star said, "Things could be worse. I could be MEL GIBSON."....Former Texas Tech and NFL quarterback BILLY JOE TOLLIVER won the American Century for the third time on Sunday, finishing ahead of runners-up JOHN ELWAY, TONY ROMO, JOHN SMOLTZ and actor JACK WAGNER....Overheard: "GEORGE STEINBRENNER hadn't been dead for five minutes before he demanded to know what GOD was doing sitting in the owner's box."---MIKE HIGGINS     


Short Rutts
07/16/10

JOHN STUART MILL, 19th century British philosopher and civil servant: "As long as justice and injustice have not terminated their renewing fight for ascendancy in the affairs of mankind, human beings must be, when need is, to do battle for one against the other."....Congratulations to eight-year old AUBREY MATTHEWS of Brazleton, Georgia, winner of the 'armpit serenade' segment of the 15th annual Summer Redneck Games last week in East Dublin, Georgia with what had to have been a breathtaking version of 'Mary Had A Little Lamb'....VANEISHA ROBINSON of Akron, Ohio went to a garage sale in 2006 and purchased a LeBRON JAMES pendant for $5, unaware that the 307-diamond jewel was actually worth $10,000. GREG CONNORS of the Buffalo News comments, "She got it listed on ebay, explaining, 'I've got to do what is best for Vaneisha Robinson'."....A request from ROSS CLOPTON of High Plains Public Radio that likely reflects the feelings of many and will heretofore be granted in coming editions of Short Rutts. Clopton writes, "I think I'd like to take a couple of months away from hearing any more about LeBron James."....Get your hands, up, Dude! A man entered a San Diego bank this week, robbed it, stuffed the money in his backpack and made his getaway on a skateboard....Note to KEVIN LONG, Dallas: You must not have read the entire piece I sent you on notable football coaches and players that have practiced their crafts over the years at Canyon's Buffalo Bowl/Kimbrough Stadium against West Texas State/A&M. Former University of Tennessee head coach PHILLIP FULMER was indeed among those I listed and came to Canyon as an assistant coach for Wichita State University twice in the mid-1970s....As the Big Ten Conference explores the possibility of having a championship football game beginning in 2011, Green Bay Packers president and CEO MARK MURPHY has approached conference officials about the game taking place at Lambeau Field in Green Bay....Armchair quipster BILL LITTLEJOHN of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, following the death this week of GEORGE STEINBRENNER: "This just in--all of the 'Angels in the Outfield' have just been traded."....Overheard: "The body of BOBBY FISCHER was exhumed this week over a paternity flap. What an insult to one of the greatest chess players of all time to say he has a checkered past."---MIKE HIGGINS   

Short Rutts
07/13/10

DAVID THOMAS, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, following the relocation from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat of NBA free agent superstar LeBRON JAMES: "The Heat have hit the lottery and the Cavaliers will be in it."....With a new law now in effect in Louisiana that allows legal possession of guns in churches, comedian ALAN RAY says, "Parishioners can now go to study the four gospels--MATTHEW, MARK, SMITH & WESSON."....What will be the legacy of GEORGE STEINBRENNER following the passing of the longtime New York Yankees owner on Tuesday? Certainly he will be remembered for unintentionally helping open the door for players gaining free agency in the mid-1970s and then taking full advantage of their doing so with unquestionably the deepest pockets of any owner in professional sports history--followed by mixed results on the field....Steinbrenner's death comes just two days after the passing of another Yankees icon in BOB SHEPPARD, the unmistakable voice who served as the public address announcer at Yankee Stadium from 1951 until 2007. DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times says, "I guess we can say GOD has gotten his voice back."....Bumper sticker: "I have ten fingers. Guess which one is for you"....The football career of former Amarillo High great and University of Texas captain RICK FENLAW came to an abrupt and sad end in 1977 when he wrecked a knee during an exhibition game as a rookie linebacker with the since-relocated St. Louis Cardinals. Noting the recent death of former Cardinals head coach DON CORYELL, the Wichita Falls businessmen writes, "Coach Coryell showed an amazing amount of concern and compassion towards me the night I got hurt, and I will never forget that. He had a 'tough guy' persona on the field, but we was a very kind gentlemen who truly loved his players and cared for them."....The bullpen staff of minor league baseball's New Hampshire Fisher Cats includes 5-foot-7 closer TIM COLLINS and 6-foot-7 TRYSTAN MAGNUSON. A headline in the Concord (N.H.) Monitor states, "Long and short relief"....BRAD DICKSON of the Omaha World-Herald on the DUI arrest of Detroit Lions president TOM LEWAND: "Based in the Lions' performance the past few years, I think that stands for 'Drafting Under the Influence'."....Overheard: "Home is where we grow up wanting to leave and grow old wanting to return."---MIKE HIGGINS

 Short Rutts

07/12/10
Chinese proverb: "Love your neighbors, but don't take down the fence."....PAUL GOYDOS, all of 5' 9", became only the fourth golfer in the history of the PGA Tour to shoot a round of 59 last weekend in the the John Deere Classic at Silvis, Illinois. He later said, "Most players try to shoot their age. Today, I shot my height."....DR. HAROLD JEFFCOAT is retiring after ten years as president of Texas Wesleyan University. The 1968-72 pitcher for the Amarillo Giants of baseball's Texas League will continue his long and distinguished career in higher education in a professorship at TWU as he and wife MARIE JEFFCOAT commute between their homes in Fort Worth and in the mountains of Norway....A Little League father in Wilson, North Carolina is facing assault charges after he showed up late for an all-star game which his son had already played and the coach and alleged victim was not allowed to put him back in. In similar news, two parents are suing a youth hockey league in Toronto for $25,000, claiming their son suffered psychological damage after being cut from a team....As LANCE ARMSTRONG fell to the back of the field in the Tour de France after blowing a tire, BRAD DICKSON of the Omaha World-Herald commented, "What killed him was having to wait three hours for the AAA to show up."....Trivia question: "Who was the only player to pinch hit for baseball Hall of Famer ROD CAREW during his major league career?" Answer: Current Amarillo Dillas hitting coach and Clovis product JOHN HARRIS, with the California Angels in 1979....The Boston Red Sox currently have nine players on the disabled list. A blogger in the Boston Globe says, "I am waiting to hear that shortstop MARCO SCUTARO has sprained his lips while kissing his wife good morning."....In other baseball injury news, the season-ending ankle injury to KENDRY MORALES of the Los Angeles Angels while landing on home plate following a walkoff home run isn't the only time a player has gone on the shelf this season in a bizarre manner. GEOFF BLUM of the Houston Astros went on the diabled list after injuring his elbow while putting on a shirt, KEVIN YOUKILIS of the Red Sox left a game after injuring a ankle while stepping into the batter's box and LUKE SCOTT of the Baltimore Orioles was trotting out a home run and pulled a hamstring....The recent passing of DON CORYELL was sad to learn. I'll never forget the future head coach of the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers bringing his San Diego State University gridders and the nation's longest college win streak to Canyon's Buffalo Bowl in 1969 to play West Texas State. The Aztecs, featuring a lineup that included eventual pro standouts DENNIS SHAW at quarterback, HAVEN MOSES at wide receiver and future "Rocky" actor CARL "APOLLO CREED" WEATHERS at linebacker, escaped with a narrow 24-17 win over the Buffaloes....Overheard: "An optimist sees the glass half full, a pessimist sees the glass half empty, and a mother sees one more thing she has to wash."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
06/28/10
GREG COTE. Miami Herald: "The Women's National Golden Gloves boxing tournament has ended in Hollywood. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but nothing turns me on like a woman with cauliflower ears who can beat the crap out of me."....Former West Texas State reserve quarterback DON NAVA received national attention recently as he and wife BECKY NAVA watched from the stands of Boston's Fenway Park as their son DANIEL NAVA of the Red Sox became only the second player in Major League Baseball history to hit the first pitch he ever saw in the big leagues for a grand slam. The elder Nava saw little playing time during his WT football days but still gained a free agent tryout with the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs. He is a highly respected personal trainer and motivational speaker in his home state of California and trained the likes of Pro Football Hall of Famers JERRY RICE, JOE MONTANA and RONNIE LOTT during their time with the San Francisco 49ers....Bumper sticker: "At least we are winning the war on the environment."....Note to STANLEY SCHAEFFER: Thank you for your kind note....Oakland A's outfielder COCO CRISP completed a rehab assisgnment with the Sacramento RiverCats, the team's class AAA affiliate of the Pacific Coast League, and hit .591 in six games. He says, "I don't know if six games will get me a ring, but if they win it all, maybe I will get half a ring."....Headline at sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "Several future busts taken in first round of NBA draft."....A Rutthead Nation welcome to TIM GILLILAND, Canyon High School principal....Sports editor LANCE LAHNERT presented an outstanding column on former Amarillo High School baseball coach and onetime University of Texas baseball standout GUSS HRNCIR in the Sunday edition of an Amarillo newspaper. I'll never forget having Coach Hrncir as a World History teacher during both my sophomore and senior years at AHS. While I obviously struggled with his test questions on world history, I scored 100% over all four semesters on his bonus questions that were on every test and always on the subject of sports....After catcher RUSSELL MARTIN of the Los Angeles Dodgers was ejected from a game after he made the contest's final out, Dodgers radio announcer VIN SCULLY told his audience, "Russell Martin has just been thrown out of the game, although there is no longer a game for him to be thrown out of."....Overheard: "The longer we wait for the future the shorter it will be."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
05/12/10
 
JANE AUER: "Voting is one of the few things where boycotting in protest clearly makes the problem worse than better."....Comedian JERRY PERISHO, skeptical of the perfect game pitched on Sunday by DALLAS BRADEN of the Oakland Athletics against the Tampa Bay Rays at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum: "In Oakland, a perfect game is where everyone makes it home alive."....Correction: The phone number of the athletic department at West Texas A&M was incorrectly reported in the Friday edition of Short Rutts. Followers of Buffalo athletics seeking information on the new online newsletter centering on WT sports can contact JOE RAY HALSEY at 651-4400. Short Rutts regrets the error and apologizes to whomever in Canyon has the phone number of 655-4400....Information concerning an interesting concept by a company that organizes alumni football games involving former players from high schools around the country is available at alumnifootballusa.com....Oklahoma City resident EDDIE EDWARDS, a starting defensive lineman for Amarillo High School in 1972-73, responding to a suggestion of joining a Golden Sandie version of the concept: "Ain't happening. Can you see me trying to chase down DAVID REAM after 36 years?"....Ream quarterbacked the Caprock Longhorns to a 42-7 win over AHS in 1973 and a 21-0 win over the Sandies in 1972, the latter game featuring a legendary 102-yard interception return for a touchdown by hefty Caprock defensive lineman LOUIE MENDOZA. Ream, the longtime head football coach at Waxahachie High School, comments, "An alumni game would be a bad idea for both the fans and the participants. It is better to be remembered for how you played then than to prove you can't play anymore. These days, I run more like Louie did then, except I might not be able to even run 102 yards like he did."....The past weekend marked the 40th anniversaries of two of sports more famous moments, they being WILLIS REED limping onto the court at Madison Square Garden and playing a few token minutes to inspire the New York Knicks to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers and win the NBA championship, plus BOBBY ORR's epic overtime goal that gave the Boston Bruins a sweep of the St. Louis Blues and possession of hockey's Stanley Cup. In between those events, the Los Angeles Stars eliminated the Denver Rockets in the American Basketball Association playoffs with a 109-107 win on national television at the Denver Auditorium-Arena. After having followed the Lakers, Rockets and Blues religiously throughout the 1969-70 season, it was also the 40th anniversary of me having a really rotten weekend....A supposed homeless 16-year old calling himself JERRY JOSEPH enrolled at Odessa's Permian High school last year, was taken in by Panthers head basketball coach DANNY WRIGHT and then helped lead PHS into the state basketball playoffs. It turns out "Joseph" is actually 22-year old GUERDWICH MONTIMERE, a native of Haiti and a former prep star in Florida who graduated from high school in 2007. Odessa Independent School District superintendent LEON FULLER, a onetime assistant football coach at West Texas State, says, "I feel like I was hit by a ton of bricks. In my 50 years in education, I have never heard of anything like this."....Overheard: "In the United States, a woman gives birth every 12 seconds. She must be found and stopped."---MIKE HIGGINS    

Short Rutts
05/10/10
Unknown: "It is no virtue to do a good thing for a bad reason."....Syndicated scribe NORMAN CHAD: "The MLB Network now carries 'Batting Practice' nightly, live coverage of, well, batting practice. Coming next: 'Whirlpool 2Nite'."....The Cleveland Browns have signed free agent offensive tackle JOE REINDERS out of the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times observes, "Considering he grew to be 6 feet 7 and weigh 320 pounds, there is little chance that all of the other Reinders used to laugh and call him names."....The New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners have announced their July 10 and July 11 games at Seattle's Safeco Field will be the first Major League Baseball games to be televised in 3D....Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver HINES WARD, explaining his reason for planning to retire if he earns his third Super Bowl championship in 2010: "I don't want to be like BRETT FAVRE, and I don't want to be like OLD YELLER, where they take you behind the barn and shoot you."....Oakland Athletics pitcher and Stockton, California native DALLAS BRADEN--who pitched the 19th perfect game in big league history on Sunday in a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays--played one season of his college baseball at Texas Tech, that coming in 2004 as he helped lead the Red Raiders to their last appearance in the NCAA tournament....Braden isn't the only Oakland pitcher with Lubbock roots. Left handed starter BRETT ANDERSON is the son of former Tech pitching coach FRANK ANDERSON (now head coach at Oklahoma State) and lived in the Hub City until he was 11 years old....REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel on the popularity of the Kentucky Derby: "The whole thing is over in two minutes, has no halftime analysis, drinking and gambling are encouraged, and no horse has ever uttered 'It is what it is'."....Followers of West Texas A&M athletics will enjoy a new free online newsletter produced by JOE RAY HALSEY, executive director of The Buffalo Club. Further information may be obtained by contacting Halsey at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 655-4400....After Florida Marlins pitcher JOSH JOHNSON pitched a three-hitter, struck out 12 and got three base hits and three RBI in a 10-1 win over the San Diego Padres, GREG COTE of the Miami Herald commented, "I cannot confirm that on the drive home, Johnson wrote a novel, saved a drowning man and brokered world peace."....Sportscaster LEN BERMAN on the Philadelphia police using a Taser to subdue a fan that had run onto the field during a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park: "What, a crossbar wasn't available?"....SCOTT OSTLER of the San Francisco Chronicle, suggesting public address music for the next time a fan runs onto a playing field: "PAT BENATAR's 'Hit Me With Your Best Shot'."....STEVE SIMMONS, Toronto Sun: "I am sure MONICA SELES has no problem with any fan being Tasered for entering the playing field."....Overheard: "We can evade reality, but we cannot evade the consequences of evading reality."---MIKE HIGGINS 


 

Short Rutts
05/03/10
Bumper sticker: "There is only one direction to which we can coast."....Next time you want to skip work over a headache, consider Colorado Rockies catcher MIGUEL OLIVO stepped into the restroom of the team's dugout at Coors Field last Monday to pass a kidney stone, returned to the field to catch--by squatting, of course--and then got a base hit in a 5-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks....Sports Illustrated reports outfielder/designated hitter HIDEKI MATSUI of the Los Angeles Angels owns a collection of around 50,000 "adult" movies. DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times says, "Here's hoping he withholds any comment until after he has seen the films--which hopefully figures to be about 30 years from now."....As Major League Baseball explores ideas to shorten the time of its games, sports satire website Sportspickle.com has come up with some interesting ways for them to do so. They include, "Turning the clock back one hour during the fifth inning of every game, indefinitely suspending both pitchers that lead each league in the number of walks, continuously blaring JOHN MAYER music over the public address system to make everyone want to leave as soon as possible, providing managers and pitching coaches with jet packs to wear on their backs for trips to the mound and eliminating not only the seventh inning stretch, but the entire seventh inning itself."....Questions and answers with Amarillo native TOMMY UPSHAW, financial analyst with the Dallas law firm of Thompson and Knight: First sports heroes? "HERSCHEL WALKER, NOLAN RYAN, TROY AIKMAN, DALE MURPHY and CHARLES BARKLEY." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Getting a game-winning RBI in YMCA baseball." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Watching three strikes go by with the bases loaded and my team down by a run a year earlier." Biggest sports thrills as observer? "Watching as my brother DOUG UPSHAW won the JEFF SCOTT Sandman Award and receiving a standing ovation at the 1990 Amarillo High School football banquet and the Texas Longhorns defeating Nebraska 13-12 in the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game on a last-second field goal by HUNTER LAWRENCE." Biggest sports disappointment as observer? "Texas losing 42-38 in football to Texas Tech in 2002 at Lubbock." Best athletes in the clutch? "MICHAEL JORDAN and VINCE YOUNG." Sports events in history would liked to have seen in person? "Dallas Cowboys defeating the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, WILT CHAMBERLAIN's 100-point game in 1962, Games 4 and 5 of the 2004 American League Championship Series as the Boston Red Sox came back to defeat the New York Yankees after being down three games to none and also the 2006 Rose Bowl, fourth down and five with 19 seconds to play when Young runs it in to give Texas a 41-38 win over USC as the Longhorns won their fourth national championship." Favorite sports nicknames? "WALTER 'SWEETNESS' PAYTON, ROGER 'CAPTAIN COMEBACK' STAUBACH, FRANK 'THE BIG HURT' THOMAS, the Dallas 'Cowboys' and their 'Doomsday Defense' and 'BEVO'." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Rio de Janeiro, Brazil." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "KARL ROVE, ADAM SANDLER, MACK BROWN, MICHAEL SCOTT and STEVE CARRELL." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "JASON WHITTEN, CHAD LEWIS, JASON WADE and TY DETMER."....STEPHEN COLBERT, Comedy Central: "What is the problem with the Goldman Sachs scandal? There is nothing illegal about selling consumers a product that is designed to fail. The Chicago Cubs do it every year, and they aren't going to jail."....A Forbes survey shows THE FAMOUS CHICKEN is the country's most popular sports mascot followed by THE PHILLIE PHANATIC. Buffalo News scribe GREG CONNORS adds, "Coming in last was SNIFFLES THE ALIEN-TRACKING BLOODHOUND of the Arizona Diamondbacks."....Overheard: "We cannot always do things right, but we can always do the right thing."---MIKE HIGGINS   


Short Rutts

 04/27/10
Bumper sticker: "I have not failed. I just have gloriously not succeeded."....The passing of Panhandle Sports Hall of Famer STEVE GERGINI is sad to learn. The longtime Amarillo teacher, coach, administrator and nationally-prominent basketball official was a huge proponent of physical education as anyone who ever had him as a teacher will strongly attest....It was five years ago this week that DON CARTHEL was hired as head football coach at West Texas A&M. The opinion here is the success that he and his staff have brought to the Buffalo football program has resulted in the biggest turnarounds--on the field and in the record numbers of people finding their way to Kimbrough Stadium--in Panhandle sports history....A dog ran onto the field and relieved itself near second base last week during a Texas League game at the home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals in Springdale, Arkansas. BRAD DICKSON of the Omaha World-Herald says, "I don't know who was more upset--the grounds crew or the guy on first base with the steal sign."....BARRIE STAFFORD was a highly popular player with the Amarillo Wranglers of the Southwest Hockey League in the mid-1970s and has been equipment manager of the National Hockey League's Edmonton Oilers since 1988. The Oilers had the worst record in the NHL this season before its front office reacted in a bizzare manner by firing Stafford, trainer KEN LOWE and assistant equipment manager LYLE KULCHISKY. A headline in the Vancouver (B.C.) Sun asks, "Shouldn't the stick boys be next to go?"....Former West Texas State quarterback STEVE KRAGTHORPE, back on the coaching staff at Texas A&M after stints as head coach at Tulsa and Louisville, will be the featured speaker for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes/West Texas A&M character coach fundraiser May 13 at the Civic Center. More information may be obtained by contacting PAT FORD of the FCA at 806-212-0771....Football fans in Arkansas look forward to the annual release of "Hooten's Arkansas Football" every bit as much as followers in Texas anticipate "DAVE CAMPBELL's Texas Football". HAF is co-edited by CHRIS HOOTEN,  a former sportswriter for an Amarillo newspaper and an outstanding fellow....From TheOnion.com: "Former relief pitching great ERIC GAGNE has retired, two years after his arm did."....The NCAA has officially approved the addition of the Dallas Football Classic to its bowl lineup. The initial game will be played New Year's Day of 2011 at the Cotton Bowl between the seventh-ranked team from the Big 12 and the sixth-ranked team from the Big Ten....Overheard: "Democrats believe the glass is half full, while Republicans believe the glass is theirs."---MIKE HIGGINS    
 

Short Rutts

04/28/10
Some quotes I'll never forget....BRIAN TRACY: "There will never be enough time to do everything, but there is always time to do the most important thing."....Asked if the football team at Nebraska does things other teams don't, Kansas coach MIKE GOTTFRIED replied, "Yes, I have never seen a team kick off so much."....BLACKIE SHERROD, Dallas News: "Our neighbor Jones says his old lady has the worst memory in the world because she never forgets anything."....Addressing the media after a lopsided loss, Cleveland Browns coach SAM RUTIGLIANO said: "If you can't make the putts and can't get the man home from second in the bottom of the ninth, you aren't going to win enough football games in this league, and that is the problem we had today."....WILLIS CASEY, head swimming coach at North Carolina State University: "Swimming is the toughest sport to get in shape for. You hear a lot about conditioning in football and basketball. They aren't in condition, not even 20%, and baseball is the worst conditioned sport in the world."....M. SCOTT PECK: "Our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy or unfulfilled. It is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for better ways and different answers."....As an Amarillo newspaper continued to publish letters containing inaccurate information from a registered sex offender and convicted felony embezzler in its "Letters To The Editor" section, Amarillo College president DR. PAUL MATNEY--then chairman of the school's Language and Communication department--explained, "One of the sacrifices we make for living in a free society is to be exposed to weird, controversial and disgusting ideas. Such is a burden of 'freedom of speech'."....St. Peter's College basketball coach DON KENNEDY, analyzing HARRY LAURIE, his 6' 1" center and top rebounder: "He doesn't get up that high, but he has the tallest fingers in the world."....Olympic gold medalist FRANK SHORTER  on why he runs marathons: "Because I am good at them."....EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON: "A good heart is better than all the heads in the world."....DREW BERGEN, general manager of Amarillo's Zip Print: "The football players in history I would not want carrying the ball with a game on the line would be JIM MARSHALL of the 1964 Minnesota Vikings and ROY RIEGELS of the 1929 University of California Golden Bears."....When Jack Daniels become an official sponsor of the seventh-inning stretch at Oakland Athletics games, ESPN.com's TIM KEOWN commented, "It seems they would be better off sponsoring the bottom of the fifth."....Unknown: "The key to success does not fit everyone's ignition."....At the peak of baseball's steroid troubles in 2004, ELLIOTT HARRIS of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "Oh, for the days when CECIL FIELDER was swatting home runs and the only question about his performance-enhancing substances involved triple cheeseburgers."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
 04/26/10
DALE EARNHARDT, JR., explaining how he was dealing with numerous tornado warnings during Sunday's NASCAR race at Talladega, Alabama: "I ain't got my plan together yet. I reckon I'll just look up into the sky a lot."....With the Texas Rangers (formerly the Washington Senators) being the oldest franchise among MLB, NHL, NBA and NFL teams to never win a championship, club officials are using "It's Time" as the team's promotional slogan in 2010. West Texas A&M athletic director MICHAEL McBROOM suggests frustrated Rangers fans counter with a slogan of their own stating, "No Need To Rush Things On Our Account--We Are Always Just One Day Closer To Death Without a Title"....The NCAA will not allow football players to wear eye black containing messages beginning next season. BOB MOLINARO of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot suggests, "A better idea would be to require players to advertise the graduation rate of their school's football program on their eye black."....Questions and answers with RICHARD MASON, former football standout at Palo Duro High School and Baylor University and winner of the Blair Cherry Memorial Award as the top college football player from Amarillo in 1973: First sports hero? "BOB LILLY of the Dallas Cowboys." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Being chosen to play in the Blue-Gray college football all-star game in Montgomery, Alabama on Christmas Day of 1973." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Losing in bi-district to third-ranked Abilene Cooper my senior season at Palo Duro." Biggest sports thrills as observer? "Baylor's 34-24 win over Texas at Waco in 1974 to clinch the Southwest Conference championship, any of the Super Bowl wins by the Dallas Cowboys, particularly in the 1990s with TROY AIKMAN, EMMITT SMITH and MICHAEL IRVIN and sitting in the second deck of the outfield seats at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington last season when JOSH HAMILTON hit a home run about 20 feet over my head." Sports event in history would liked to have seen in person? "Baylor's MICHAEL JOHNSON setting the world record in the 220-meter dash at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta." Favorite sports nickname? "My nickname of 'Snake', given to me in high school." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "JOE MONTANA, MIKE SINGLETARY and MICHAEL YOUNG." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "My closest friends, GEORGE W. BUSH and the Navy SEALs that rescued CAPT. RICHARD PHILLIPS by shooting the pirates that held him captive last April." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Washington, D.C." Most famous person ever shaken hands with? "GRANT TEAFF, my coach at Baylor. He is the real deal, a special person that has lived his faith and accomplished many great things.".....Comedian JERRY PERISHO, noting the New York Yankees pulled off their first triple play since 1968 on Friday night in a 6-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels: "That is, if you don't count ALEX RODRIGUEZ dating MADONNA, KATE HUDSON and CAMERON DIAZ, back-to-back-to-back."....With the new "Madden NFL 11" video game now available, DAVID LETTERMAN jokes some of the new features include, "Playing it is guaranteed to make you an NFL player in three months, electrontic pants that let you feel every groin pull, PEYTON MANNING shooting commercials between plays and whenever he drops a pass, TERRELL OWENS cries."....Overheard: "Real success does not depend on how fast we can climb, but on how high we can bounce."---MIKE HIGGINS   

Short Rutts
04/21/10

Bumper sticker: "If Iran wants a nuke so bad, maybe we should just give them one."....RYAN LEAF, reflecting on being taken second in the 1998 NFL draft behind PEYTON MANNING and later being labeled the biggest draft bust in history: "I dodged a bullet. A case can be made that Manning is the best quarterback since JOHNNY UNITAS. It's bad enough as it is, but imagine if I had been picked ahead of Peyton."....Colorado Rockies pitcher UBALDO JIMENEZ pitched a no-hitter against the Atlanta Braves Monday night and says he was so excited he couldn't sleep and thus took a six-mile run at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday morning through downtown Atlanta....Sports editor LANCE LAHNERT, offering a "Thumbs Down" to embattled Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER in the Wednesday edition of an Amarillo newspaper: "Pittsburgh doesn't have the guts to trade him. Not sure I would want this punk in my locker room even if he can throw a spiral from Follett to Amarillo."....Followers of University of Texas football recall heralded recruit DARNELL McDONALD of Cherry Creek (Colo.) High School being headed to Austin to play for the Longhorns in 1997 before the Baltimore Orioles intervened and he chose instead to play professional baseball. Although McDonald had played in only 68 major league games and hit two big league home runs prior to his being called up from the minor leagues early Tuesday by the Boston Red Sox, the Texas Rangers and their fans won't be forgetting him anytime soon, either. He hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and singled in the winning run in the last of the ninth as Boston overcame a 6-2 deficit to hand the Rangers their fifth straight loss as the Red Sox snapped a five-game losing streak of their own....ESPN and The NFL Network will air over 12 hours of coverage prior to Thursday's start of the NFL draft. GREG COTE of the Miami Herald comments, "I am particularly looking forward to their competing features, 'Inside the Vertical Leap' and 'History of the Shuttle Run'."....Forbes Magazine estimates the World Series champion New York Yankees brought in $441 in revenue last season while spending $416 million, thus turning a profit of $25 million....After injured pitcher CLIFF LEE put in an encouraging performance for the Seattle Mariners in a simulated game, BUDD BAILEY of the Buffalo News joked, "Team officials then awarded him a simulated win and a simulated shutout."....Overheard: "How am I supposed to love my enemies when I can barely stand my friends?"---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
04/19/10
GREG COTE, Miami Herald: "ANDY RODDICK won the Sony tennis tournament in Key Biscayne last Sunday and is married to swimsuit model BROOKLYN DECKER. Hey, who said life was fair?"....With the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs having the three biggest payrolls in baseball, REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel says, "Spending obviously works. All three of those teams have won the World Series in the last 102 years."....There were 652 pitches thrown Saturday night during the 20-inning game that had the New York Mets defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1. That figure also seems to closely represent the number of times Fox Sports color commentator TIM McCARVER said "Unbelievable" over the course of the game that lasted six hours and 53 minutes....Thursday's passing of CLAIR MAYES is sad to learn. The longtime Amarillo educator and onetime assistant football coach under JOHN REDDELL and GEORGE KIRK at Palo Duro High School had the distinction of losing his first game and his last game in a three-year career as a football player at the University of Oklahoma, but the Sooners of BUD WILKINSON won 31 straight games and two Orange Bowls in between. I will always appreciate Mayes taking time to talk sports with me during his days as an assistant principal at Amarillo High School, including after unrelated matters were first addressed during my many visits to his office....DAVE HENRY, assistant sports editor of an Amarillo newspaper: "Yours truly had the honor of doing color commentary on the Amarillo Venom radio broadcast with Venom play-by-play voice CODY EASTWOOD. Here's why it will be the first and last time. My comment on CEDRIC WILSON's teeth-rattling hit on Corpus Christi's REUBEN FLOWERS on a kickoff return: 'Wilson just planted Flowers'. Ugh! I said it, but I never would have written it."....Saturday's spring football game at the University of Alabama drew 91,312 fans to Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium....Commenting on the recent lifestyle of TIGER WOODS creating a new word--"sexting"--in the English language, R.J. CURRIE of Sportsdeke.com says, "Think of it as lipstick on your caller."....A current exhibition at the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon titled "On. On, Buffaloes" showcases not only the history of athletics at West Texas State/A&M, but also on the cultural impact WT sports has had on Panhandle life. Attention is paid to the Buffaloes' football program being among the first schools in the state to integrate with running back PETE PEDRO--of Puerto Rican heritage--coming to Canyon in 1960 shortly before WT quarterback HANK WASHINGTON became the first black quarterback to start for a Southern school in 1965....Bumper sticker: "I am totally convinced that everyone thinks I am paranoid."....BILL LITTLEJOHN of Lake Tahoe, Nevada, noting a similarity between LARRY KING, the Houston Astros and ELIZABETH TAYLOR: "They were all 0-for-8 at some point during the month of April."....According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, fans attending big league baseball games this season will consume 21,378,064 hot dogs....Overheard: "It is not whether you win or lose, but where you place the blame."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
04/16/10


Some quotes I'll never forget....BLAISE PASCAL: French mathematician and physicist: "Imagination disposes of everything. It creates beauty, justice and happiness, which are everything in the world."....Noting his $65,000 yearly salary was far higher than the national average for an American worker in 1975, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver ROY JEFFERSON commented, "Some people might consider me rich, but I consider myself poverty-stricken in many respects. When you make a lot of money, there is a lot of pressure to spend it."....JACKIE MOORE, Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach, after being informed world-renowned economist JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH was on the same flight as the team: "I remember him. A short guy with a mustache who played third base for Pittsburgh."....Baylor quarterback AARON KARAS, asked by a reporter to describe the mood in the Bears locker room following a 73-10 loss to Texas A&M: "We got beat by 63 points. What do you think it is?"....MARGARET A. WILLIS: "It is a lot better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you're aren't."....After the New York Giants drafted 6' 6", 285-pound offensive lineman GORDON KING, fullback LARRY CSONKA said, "It's good to now have a lineman you can look straight in the belly button."....The late GENE HOWE, pioneer Amarillo newspaper publisher: "Columnists can go one of two ways. They can be absolutely dull and liked by everyone. Or, they can be honest and opinionated, like by a few, despised by a few, and read by everyone."....Lubbock native GARY ASHBY, 1979-80 Amarillo Gold Sox first baseman and later head baseball coach at Texas Tech University: "My favorite city outside of Texas is the city at whose airport I am in when I am about to return to Texas."....Swedish proverb: "Worry gives a small thing a large shadow."....PETE DAWKINS, 1958 Heisman Trophy winner: "Sports are square. They are hard work. Most kids like to be aloof and cynical, but one of the great inconsistencies is that college kids like to play games."....Shortly before his wife JOY ZORN delivered their first child, Seattle Seahawks quarterback JIM ZORN stated, "If it's a boy, my neighbors have some friends who want me to name him 'Bjorn' so the headline will read, 'BJORN ZORN born'."....Reflecting his distaste for the counterculture moment of the 1960s, California governor RONALD REAGAN said prior to the start of Cal's football season in 1969: "They should have a good year if they find a way to put some cleats on their sandals."....BLACKIE SHERROD, Dallas News: "Our neighbor Jones says his old lady is such an erratic dresser he never knows whether she is going to dress for an opera or an operation."....Prior to Texas Tech and Texas A&M starting a 2003 football game at Lubbock that had been moved to a 9:10 pm kickoff to accommodate television, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal scribe DON WILLIAMS said, "This will be the first time Texas A&M fans will be having Midnight Yell practice between the third and fourth quarters."....Cleveland Browns lineman GERALD WARREN, entering his third season of pro football: "I am not a seasoned veteran yet, just a marinated one."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
04/15/10

Some quotes I'll never forget....BLAISE PASCAL: French mathematician and physicist: "Imagination disposes of everything. It creates beauty, justice and happiness, which are everything in the world."....Noting his $65,000 yearly salary was far higher than the national average for an American worker in 1975, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver ROY JEFFERSON commented, "Some people might consider me rich, but I consider myself poverty-stricken in many respects. When you make a lot of money, there is a lot of pressure to spend it."....JACKIE MOORE, Toronto Blue Jays pitching coach, after being informed world-renowned economist JOHN KENNETH GALBRAITH was on the same flight as the team: "I remember him. A short guy with a mustache who played third base for Pittsburgh."....Baylor quarterback AARON KARAS, asked by a reporter to describe the mood in the Bears locker room following a 73-10 loss to Texas A&M: "We got beat by 63 points. What do you think it is?"....MARGARET A. WILLIS: "It is a lot better to be hated for who you are than to be loved for who you're aren't."....After the New York Giants drafted 6' 6", 285-pound offensive lineman GORDON KING, fullback LARRY CSONKA said, "It's good to now have a lineman you can look straight in the belly button."....The late GENE HOWE, pioneer Amarillo newspaper publisher: "Columnists can go one of two ways. They can be absolutely dull and liked by everyone. Or, they can be honest and opinionated, like by a few, despised by a few, and read by everyone."....Lubbock native GARY ASHBY, 1979-80 Amarillo Gold Sox first baseman and later head baseball coach at Texas Tech University: "My favorite city outside of Texas is the city at whose airport I am in when I am about to return to Texas."....Swedish proverb: "Worry gives a small thing a large shadow."....PETE DAWKINS, 1958 Heisman Trophy winner: "Sports are square. They are hard work. Most kids like to be aloof and cynical, but one of the great inconsistencies is that college kids like to play games."....Shortly before his wife JOY ZORN delivered their first child, Seattle Seahawks quarterback JIM ZORN stated, "If it's a boy, my neighbors have some friends who want me to name him 'Bjorn' so the headline will read, 'BJORN ZORN born'."....Reflecting his distaste for the counterculture moment of the 1960s, California governor RONALD REAGAN said prior to the start of Cal's football season in 1969: "They should have a good year if they find a way to put some cleats on their sandals."....BLACKIE SHERROD, Dallas News: "Our neighbor Jones says his old lady is such an erratic dresser he never knows whether she is going to dress for an opera or an operation."....Prior to Texas Tech and Texas A&M starting a 2003 football game at Lubbock that had been moved to a 9:10 pm kickoff to accommodate television, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal scribe DON WILLIAMS said, "This will be the first time Texas A&M fans will be having Midnight Yell practice between the third and fourth quarters."....Cleveland Browns lineman GERALD WARREN, entering his third season of pro football: "I am not a seasoned veteran yet, just a marinated one."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
04/14/10

Bumper sticker: "Calm down, relax and have a cupcake"....Moments after LEE WESTWOOD finished second to winner PHIL MICKELSON at the Masters, a reporter referred to him at a press conference as "Phil". Westwood responded, "I'm Lee. Phil will be coming in a minute. He'll be the one wearing a green jacket."....In just a year's time, Augusta National Golf Course took what was a parking lot and constructed a new driving range/practice area with features mirroring the breathtaking beauty of the course that is the home of the Masters. Spinning around a line from singer JONI MITCHELL's 1970 hit "Big Yellow Taxi", a headline in the Augusta Chronicle declared, "They made paradise, pulled up a parking lot"....Richmond, Virginia returns to organized baseball this season after a year's absence as the class AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants and with the offbeat nickname of the "Fighting Squirrels". DARREN FORD, the team's centerfielder, says, "When they told me I was coming to Richmond to be a Fighting Squirrel, I wasn't too sure about it. I am kind of afraid of squirrels. But it will work for the jersey and the hat."....Questions and answers with JOE STAFFORD. head wrestling coach at Tascosa High School, a two-time state wrestling champion for the Rebels in 1984-85 and later an All-American at the University of Oklahoma: First sports heroes? "Football players DICK BUTKUS and MIKE SINGLETARY, both of the Chicago Bears, JACK LAMBERT of the Pittsburgh Steelers and my father CARROLL STAFFORD of Amarillo High School and West Texas State." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Winning my match against a member of the Russian National Team in a USA-Russia dual match in Stillwater, Oklahoma." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Losing to BROOKS SIMPSON of Iowa in the semi-finals of the NCAA wrestling tournament." Biggest sports thrill as observer? "Watching as Amarillo's BRANDON SLAY made the United States Olympic team at Reunion Arena in Dallas." Biggest sports disappointment as observer? "Watching my OU teammate ANDY FOSTER lose in the finals of the NCAA tournament." Sports events in history would liked to have seen in person? "My father fighting in the National Golden Gloves Tournament in Chicago, the United States hockey win over Russia in the 1980 Winter Olympics and the boxing match in 1973 when KEN NORTON defeated MUHAMMAD ALI and broke his jaw." Favorite sports nicknames? "University of Oklahoma 'Sooners' and University of Wyoming 'Cowboys'." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "JOE MONTANA, ROGER STAUBACH, CAEL SANDERSON and CAL RIPKEN, JR." Persons would most like to have lunch with? "JESUS CHRIST, BARACK OBAMA, Israeli prime minster BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Venezuela president HUGO CHAVEZ and Iran president MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Centenial, Wyoming." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "CHUCK BEDNARIK, MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY and RANDY COUTURE."....Controversy is brewing in baseball over concerns surrounding the length of the games, with current big league games averaging approximately 25 minutes longer than they were in the 1970s. Why are some people in such a hurry for them to end?....BARRY BONDS has stated he is "proud of" MARK McGWIRE for publicly confessing his use of performance-enhancing drugs. REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel observes, "And if WILT CHAMBERLAIN were alive today, I'm sure he would lend some perspective on TIGER WOODS."....Car racing pioneer JANET GUTHRIE, addressing the issue of physical strength being important in the sport: "You drive the car, you don't carry it."....Overheard: "A fanatic is one who will not only never change their mind, they will never change the subject, either."---MIKE HIGGINS 


hort Rutts 
04/13/10
TOMMY MASON-GRIFFIN, University of Oklahoma freshman basketball player, announcing on Facebook he is leaving school for the NBA: "Its a official dat I am leavin skool and enterin draft. I aint doin anotha yr."....With four University of Kentucky freshman basketball players also bolting school with hopes of being picked in the NBA draft, DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times semi-echoes the words of "Animal House" character JOHN "BLUTO" BLUTARSKY in saying, "Seven months of college down the drain."....JEFF GORDON, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "With JOHN CALIPARI as head coach at Kentucky, why don't the Wildcats just leave the NCAA and join the NBA's developmental league?"....Questions and answers with JOHN KANELIS, editorial page editor for an Amarillo newspaper: First sports hero? "MICKEY MANTLE." Living person would most like to have lunch with? "MUHAMMAD ALI." Favorite sports nicknames? "WILLIE "THE SAY HEY KID" MAYS and the University of Oregon 'Ducks', which Esquire Magazine once rated as the most mediocre nickname in college sports." Favorite athlete in the clutch? "MICHAEL JORDAN." Favorite city outside of Texas? "My hometown of Portland, Oregon." Sports event in history would liked to have seen in person? "The 'Rumble In The Jungle' between Ali and GEORGE FOREMAN in 1974 at Kinshasa, Zaire." Biggest sports thrill? "Center BILL WALTON and head coach DR. JACK RAMSEY leading the Portland Trailblazers to the NBA championship in 1977." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "GEORGE W. BUSH and ARNOLD PALMER.".....Golfer MICHELLE WIE says she has recently taken up three new hobbies in sewing, cooking, and painting. The 20-year old says her art work leaves much to be desired in stating, "It's like to drawing you do in the fifth grade and someone steps in and says, 'You need help'."....SHAWN RICKEL of Golden, Colorado was a football standout at Monterey High School in Lubbock and later a starting defensive lineman on West Texas State's team that won the 1986 Lone Star Conference championship. He and wife KATE DENDRINOS-RICKEL were involved in a devastating motorcycle accident in 2002 that originally had doctors saying Kate would not live and later saying she would never walk or speak again. Her miraculous recovery is documented in a highly inspiring book titled "I Am Not Supposed To Be Here--A Story of Love, Miracles and Never Giving Up". Details are available at www.iamnotsupposedtobehere.com....The late TONI FRITSCH, a native of Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria, noting his placekicking role during the Dallas Cowboys run to the 1972 Super Bowl championship: "How much English I have means very small. What means much is that the Cowboys need three points. All I have to know is they get those three points or they say 'good-bye'."....Overheard: "The best way to convince a fool he or she is wrong is to let them have their own way."---MIKE HIGGINS      

Short Rutts
04/12/10
REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, commenting on Duke coach MIKE KRZYZEWSKI turning down a reported $15 million offer to coach the lowly New Jersey Nets of the NBA: "He might want to reconsider. It isn't every team that offers a coach $15 million per win."....Amarillo High product CLAYTON COOK begins his first full season in the Cleveland Indians farm system with the Midwest League's Lake County Captains, a class A affiliate of the team based in the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake, Ohio. The 2008 AHS graduate makes his first start of the year Monday night as the Captains visit the South Bend (Ind.) Silver Hawks, an affilate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. A broadcast of the game beginning at 5:30 pm CDT is available at www.welw.com ....As 16-year old Italian MATTEO MANASSERO becomes the youngest golfer to ever make the cut at the Masters, Buffalo News columnist GREG CONNERS says, "This means there are only two golfers in the field whose families check to see that they are in bed by 11: Matteo and TIGER WOODS."....Questions and answers with BILL BANDY, Vice President/Director of Development and Marketing for Kids, Inc.: First sports heroes? "DONNY ANDERSON and ROGER STAUBACH." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "As there are mountains in Colorado, it would be finishing the MS150 run from Denver to the Royal Gorge." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "The day I began training for my first 5k run." Biggest sports thrills as observer? "West Texas A&M winning the 1997-98 Lone Star Conference men's basketball tournament with a 105-101 win over Central Oklahoma and future NBA player EDDIE ROBINSON at 'The Box' in Canyon plus DON CARTHEL's first season as head football coach at WT in 2005 when the Buffs went 10-2 after going 5-27 over the previous three seasons." Biggest sports disappointment as observer? "University of Houston losing 54-52 to North Carolina State in the finals of the 1983 NCAA men's basketball tournament at The Pit in Albuquerque." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "Staubach, WILLIE MAYS and LARRY BIRD." Sports event would like to have seen in person? "West Texas State's 54-49 football win over Texas A&I at Kingsville in 1986 on their way to the Lone Star Conference championship." Favorite sports nickname? "Toledo 'Mud Hens'." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "All 25 members of my family." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Boston, Massachusetts." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "PRINCE CHARLES, GEORGE H.W. BUSH, BARBARA BUSH, GEORGE W. BUSH, LAURA BUSH, BEN STEIN, NOLAN RYAN, MAJOR APPLEWHITE, NELSON MANDELA, and CARLOS SALINAS DE GORTARI, the president of Mexico."....With the Chicago Cubs charging the highest-priced tickets in the major leagues, a line in the Vancouver (B.C.) Sun declares, "One is born each minute, and they have Cub tickets."....Heralded rookie JASON HEYWARD of the Atlanta Braves caught the ceremonial first pitch from HANK AARON at the team's season opener last week and later hit a home run in his first big league at-bat as the Braves stuck it to the Cubs 16-5 at Turner Field in Atlanta. Mixing subplots from baseball movies "Field of Dreams", "The Natural" and "Bull Durham", JIM CAPLE of ESPN.com says, "About the only more dramatic appearance he could have made would be walking out of a cornfield while carrying a bat named 'Wonderboy' in his bassoon case and wearing one of ANNIE SAVOY's garter belts."....Overheard: "If you think I can be difficult to deal with, please allow me to introduce you to my mother."---MIKE HIGGINS              

Short Rutts
04/08/10
Bumper sticker: "Feed the poor and you'll be called a saint. Ask why they are poor and you'll be called a communist."....BRAD ROCK, Salt Lake Deseret News: "St. Louis University head men's basketball coach RICK MAJERUS is now the first coach to have runners-up in the NCAA, NIT and CBI tournaments. I haven't seen a bridesmaid that comely since DENNIS RODMAN married himself."....Headline at sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "New York Mets place six players on abled list"....It is a honor to welcome recently retired NBA assistant coach/scout and 1973-78 West Texas State head men's basketball coach RON EKKER to Rutthead Nation....Oregon State men's basketball coach CRAIG ROBINSON, explaining his feeling of having more job security than BARACK OBAMA, his brother-in-law: "Well, let's see now. I've got six more years on my contract, and I don't have to be re-elected in two years."....A cash-strapped Amarillo newspaper will be laying off an estimated 20-30 employees soon as it relocates the workload of its graphics department to Georgia and Florida. In May, the publication begins a promotional campaign encouraging consumers to spend their money locally. Is that a front for them to begin charging for access to their website and perhaps another rate increase to have their print edition delivered to driveways, bushes, front yards and curbs?....Butler guard RONALD NORED was asked at the Final Four about the tradition of Bulldog players petting the school's live mascot prior to games. He said, "Sometimes he barks, and sometimes he bites. You just have to play through it." STEVE SCHRADER of the Detroit Free Press added, "If it is any consolation, Duke players go through the same thing with MIKE KRZYZEWSKI."....The NCAA has stripped Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis of 18 wins in men's basketball, 14 in women's basketball and 40 in volleyball. RON KANTOWSKI of the Las Vegas Review-Journal says, "IPPUI did not, however, have to vacate its position on the optometrist eye chart."....Catcher MICHAEL BRENLY spent some time in spring training with the Chicago Cubs before being sent to the minor leagues. As he played in a nationally-televised exhibition game against the Arizona Diamondbacks with his father BOB BRENLY serving as the telecast's commentator, the elder Brenly told his audience, "It may sound like I am cool and collected and just doing my job, but the truth is, I am so nervous I could vomit."....Overheard: "Ask your doctor for 'Nuthinatall'. Along with proper diet and exercise, it is guaranteed to improve your health."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
04/07/10

Some quotes I'll never forget....CLARENCE DARROW, pioneer civil liberties attorney: "The first half of our lives is ruined by our parents and the second half of our lives is ruined by our children."....Commenting on Washington State continuing to throw passes in the third quarter with a 37-7 lead on the University of Idaho, head coach Y.C. McNEASE of the losing Vandals said, "I'll say this. No, I guess I won't say it after all."....DON BAYLOR of the New York Yankees, after batting in the hitter-friendly Kingdome in Seattle for the first time: "When I walked to the plate, I felt like I was already in scoring position."....After tying a National Hockey League record with six goals in a game for the St. Louis Blues, forward RED BERENSEN reflected, "It was like planting trees. Some years you plant 12 and five or six grow, and some years they all come up."....HELEN KELLER: "I seldom think of my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is a touch of yearning at times, but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.".....National Football League teams passed on drafting six-foot University of Arizona quarterback TOM TUNNICLIFFE in 1984 due to his lack of height. Tunnicliffe commented, "Any coach who thinks I am too short or too stupid to play is too stupid for me to play for anyway."....San Francisco Giants manager CHARLIE FOX on the eating habits of WILLIE MAYS: "In 20 years, he has gained a pound and a half. He is an athlete who knows how to take care of himself. You spread a buffet for the team after a game, and the young players gobble everything in sight. Willie will take a stick of gum."....Cal State-Hayward head basketball coach JONATHAN STAGGERS on the Pioneers' freestyle offense: "We have a homeostatic type of offense within a certain dynamic status quo."....A sports announcer for an Amarillo television station was filming an interview with Amarillo Gold Sox manager BOB MILLER during the team's media day activities in 1976 and was continuingly referring to him as "Coach". Miller stopped the interview and told the reporter off-camera, "I am a manager. Baseball teams have managers, not coaches."....ELVIS ZARRING PEACOCK, University of Oklahoma, Los Angeles Rams and Cincinnati Bengals running back: "I like my name because not too many other people have it."....Late humorist ERMA BOMBECK on why she did not participate in downhill skiing: "Because I do not take part in sports that have ambulances waiting at the bottom of hills."....Following the epic, late September collapse that cost the Philadelphia Phillies the 1964 National League pennant, outfielder JOHNNY CALLISON was asked if he had any specific plans for the winter. He said, "Well, the first thing I am going to do is hide."....Comedian and social activist DICK GREGORY: "Political promises are much like marriage vows. They are made at the beginning of the relationship between the candidate and voter, but are quickly forgotten."....Speedy outfielder TOMMY HARPER stole 408 bases in a 15-year big league career from 1962 to 1976 and said, "The best pitchers have the worst motions to first base, probably  because they let so few runners get there."....Looking back after a 100-77 loss to Notre Dame, University of Houston basketball coach GUY LEWIS said, "The only good thing about it was, if there were any recruits looking in, they know we need help."---MIKE HIGGINS    

Short Rutts
   04/05/10
Bumper sticker: "What would JESUS tweet?"....DAVID LETTERMAN of CBS, suggesting possible signs your favorite baseball team may not be ready for the 2010 season: "The only thing the players have tested positive for is cheese fries, the star pitcher has defected to Cuba, MARV ALBERT shows their entire games on his blooper reels, their spring training begins in June and when writers compare their cleanup hitter to Ruth, they mean RUTH BADER GINSBERG."....Weather permitting, cable television viewers can catch no less than six Major League Baseball games on Monday as the season begins for most teams. Televised games are Cardinals at Reds on EPSN at noon, Indians at White Sox on ESPN2 at 1 p.m., Blue Jays at Rangers on Fox Sports Southwest at 1 p.m., Cubs at Braves on ESPN at 3 p.m., Giants at Astros on ESPN2 at 6 p.m. and Twins at Angels on ESPN2 at 9 p.m....Local listeners of RUSH LIMBAUGH should brace themselves for KGNC-AM pre-empting his show at 1 p.m. on Monday as the station carries the Rangers and Blue Jays from Arlington. Limbaugh fans may not be happy about missing the final hour of his show, but I am not happy about the Rangers' pre-game show being dumped for him and thus will miss ERIC NADEL and his "A Page From Baseball's Past"....Questions and answers with PAT DAVIS, Amarillo real estate mogul: First sports heroes? "BART STARR, JOHNNY UNITAS and LARRY BIRD." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Defeating MAURICE CHEEKS in a game of one-on-one in 1975. He said it would never happen again, and it didn't." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Being injured while playing football for Bonham Junior High School and never being able to play football again." Biggest sports thrill as observer? "Attending twelve NCAA men's basketball tournaments with my son." Biggest sports disappointment as observer? "Watching from the bench as Amarillo High lost game after game in basketball from 1971 to 1974." Favorite sports nicknames? "EARVIN 'MAGIC' JOHNSON, ANTHONY 'SPUD' WEBB, ED 'TOO TALL' JONES, Texas Tech 'Red Raiders' and the Los Angeles Rams defensive line of LAMAR LUNDY, ROOSEVELT GRIER, MERLIN OLSEN and DEACON JONES known as the 'Fearsome Foursome'." Sports events would liked to have seen in person? "Bird leading the Boston Celtics an NBA championship." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "My wife SHERYL DAVIS, my son JAMES DAVIS, my daughter EMILY DAVIS, my stepchildren TRAVIS McNUTT and KEETON McNUTT, ROGER STAUBACH, DR. BILLY GRAHAM, GEORGE W. BUSH and MAX LUCADO." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Phoenix, Arizona." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "Bush, BARBARA WALTERS, MIKE SYLVA, ED COLE, ARCHIE MANNING, BILL McCARTNEY and JAMES DOBSON."....The passing over the weekend of former Cy Young Award winner MIKE CUELLAR was sad to learn. He combined with JIM PALMER, DAVE McNALLY and PAT DOBSON in 1971 to have one of the greatest seasons ever by a pitching staff as each were twenty-game winners for the Baltimore Orioles. Of the four, only Palmer is still living. DAVID STEVENS, a former sportswriter for an Amarillo newspaper and now editor of Freedom Newspapers of New Mexico, jokes, "In 1965, Cuellar was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals for a basketball shoe when he was sent to the Houston Astros in exchange for CHUCK TAYLOR."....Any big league hitter swatting a ball 470 feet or more this season receives a new set of golf clubs courtesy of Callaway Golf. MARK TIFFANY of the San Diego Union-Tribune comments, "If Callaway had made this offer a dozen years ago, BARRY BONDS, MARK McGWIRE, SAMMY SOSA and RAFAEL PALMEIRO would have made a heckuva foursome and JOSE CANSECO could have picked up some extra money by being their caddy."....Overheard: "Friendship isn't blind. It just knows when to close its eyes."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
4/1/10
Amarillo hosted its only major league baseball exhibition game 41 years ago Thursday as the Cleveland Indians and the San Francisco Giants squared off at The Ballpark on East Third...CHICK O'MALLEY, general manager of the Amarillo Giants, San Francisco's class AA farm club in the Texas League, announced the game would be played months earlier and most media outlets cynically stated that the game would indeed be played and would not be an April Fools Day joke....The playing of the game actually was in limbo four days earlier as America prepared for an official "Day of Mourning" with the passing on March 28 of DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER, our nation's 34th president....BOB ASHWORTH, superintendent of the Amarillo Independent School District, announced that students attending the contest would be given an excused absence for the day's sixth period in order to make the game's 3 p.m. start....I was not so fortunate at having an opportunity to experience Mr. Ashworth's grace. My grandparents made me attend sixth period and endure the class and the often odd methods of teaching by the enigmatic ANNA MAE McCUNE, longtime social studies teacher at Stephen F. Austin Junior High (now Middle) School. She is remembered for many things, most of all her daily fashion statement of wearing chopsticks in her hair. We watched "The Match Game" with host GENE RAYBURN on television that day in Miss McCune's class and it will always be the longest 30 minutes of my life.....I finally got to the stadium in the fourth inning and didn't get to see future Hall of Famers WILLIE MAYS and WILLIE McCOVEY play for the Giants. They both played three innings and were done for the day. Mays walked twice and was picked off first base by Cleveland pitcher MIKE PAUL....One of the game accounts for an Amarillo newspaper was written by LES GILES, then in his second year with the publication. He's still on the staff of the publication today and is an extra nice fellow.....Mays wasn't the only one to commit an embarassing blunder in front of the capacity crowd of over 5,000. KFDA-TV sports director DEAN KELLEY was filming the game down the left field line when a Cleveland batter hit a ball down the line that landed in fair territory. Kelley thought the ball landed foul, picked it and threw it back towards the infield. Umpires then awarded the Indians hitter a ground-rule double.....DREW BERGEN, general manager of Amarillo's Zip Print: "I did not attend the game. I didn't even know they were playing. However, I do recall one time Miss McCune got her wig stuck in a fish hook that had been placed above her classroom door as part of a display.".....For whatever reasons, longtime local sports columnist PUTT POWELL incorrectly reported for many years that Mays refused to play in the game because of the legendary poor condition of the stadium's playing field. Powell did, however, do an extensive feature in his column the following day on the football exploits of Cleveland third baseman MAX ALVIS, a Jasper, Texas product and former footballer under DARRELL ROYAL at the University of Texas.....DR. PAUL MATNEY, president of Amarillo College: "I was in attendance that day and the thought that two major league teams were playing in Amarillo was almost more than I could imagine. It was a tremendous experience for someone who loved baseball more than anything in the world. I would have gladly been the batboy for either team. I also remember when I was a student at Austin, Miss McCune got a pencil stuck in her teeth and she had to leave in the middle of the day to see a dentist and get it removed."......A rather obscure player was the star of the game in Indians outfielder RICHIE SCHIENBLUM. The native of Long Island, New York had a pair of key doubles as the Tribe of manager ALVIN DARK bested the Giants of skipper CHARLIE FOX by a 7-6 score....An anonymous former Austin student, now an Albuquerque attorney and sports agent: "I did not attend the game, but Miss McCune was a freak, chopsticks and all."----MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
03/31/10
JAY LENO, noting OSAMA BIN LADEN seems mad as ever on his latest audio tape: "Apparantly, he, too, had Kansas going all the way in the NCAA basketball tournament."....Wayland Baptist University is expected to announce the return of intercollegiate football beginning in the fall of 2012 at a Wednesday afternoon press conference at the Hutcherson Center in Plainview. The school last fielded a football team in 1940....MICHAEL McBROOM, West Texas A&M athletic director: "Last week's 'A Night With The Pros' fundraiser was a fantastic night for WT with great food, great music and a great turnout of Buffalo fans. CHARLY MARTIN and KEITH NULL were at their best, which endeared them to our fans during their time at WT. It was very rewarding to see two of our finest graduates in recent years donate their time and give back to the athletic program. A big 'thank you' goes out to HELEN PIEHL, STANLEY SCHAEFFER, GENEVA SCHAEFFER, DAVID WILDER, MYRT WILDER and First United Bank for their generous support with time, dollars and work to ensure Charly and Keith's vision became a reality. Charly and Keith are outstanding ambassadors for the university who are proud to call WT their alma mater."....Unknown: "To know yourself, know others first. You are what is left."....Questions and answers with Canyon native and former Texas Tech and Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman CODY CAMPBELL, president of Double Eagle Development, a Dallas-based oil and gas exploration and real estate development company: First sports heroes? "NOLAN RYAN, TROY AIKMAN and all of the 1990s-era Dallas Cowboys." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Texas Tech's 45-31 win over California in the 2004 Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego." Biggest disappointment as participant? "Losing 43-40 to Texas in 2003 because of missing a last-second field goal at Memorial Stadium in Austin." Biggest sports thrill as observer? "Tech's 39-33 win over Texas in 2008 at Jones Stadium in Lubbock on MICHAEL CRABTREE's last-minute catch." Favorite sports nickname? "I have always been a fan of Delta State University with their unofficial nickname of the 'Fighting Okra' and their official mascot of 'MR. OKRA'." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "JOE MONTANA, MICHAEL JORDAN and JOHN ELWAY." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "DONALD TRUMP, BILL CLINTON and HENRY PAULSON." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Chicago". Most famous persons shaken hands with? "GEORGE W. BUSH, PEYTON MANNING and TIM ROBBINS."....The San Antonio Spurs went to the TD Garden in Boston Sunday night with a 44-28 season record and dominated the 47-25 Celtics in a 94-73 win. Just 24 hours later, the Spurs became only the sixth team in NBA history with at least 40 wins in a season to lose to a team whose victory total was in single digits, falling to the 9-64 New Jersey Nets by a 90-84 score....The Nets have now won three of their last four games with Monday's victory assuring them of avoiding the worst season record in NBA history. The 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers hold down that distinction with a 9-73 mark. Fark.com states, "The Nets even fail at failing."....REGGIE HAYES of the Ft. Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel: "Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback BEN ROETHLISBERGER will not report to the team's voluntary offseason conditioning program. However, if they put in a cash bar and a dance floor, he might reconsider."....Overheard: "Why can't the chicken cross the road just once without its motive being questioned?"---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
03/29/10
KEVIN SMITH, Detroit Lions running back, updating his blog readers on his rehab progress following surgery for an ACL injury: "I can do just about anything but run."....It has been just over three weeks since Baylor women's basketball player BRITNEY GRINER socked Texas Tech guard JORDAN BARNCASTLE and broke her nose during a game in Lubbock. In case you missed it on Saturday, a woman was sitting on press row directly behind the Lady Bears' bench during their NCAA women's tournament win over Tennessee with a black eye. Coincidence?....Spotted working on press row behind the Baylor men's basketball bench during the Bears' loss to Duke on Sunday was retired Rice University sports information director BILL COUSINS. The former SID at West Texas State and onetime sports director at Amarillo's KFDA-TV had no black eyes....GREG COTE of the Miami Herald suggests the reason the University of California-Davis dropped its women's wrestling program was, "The rising cost of mud."....Questions and answers with MICHAEL McKISSACK, employee of 2M Companies, Inc. of Dallas and a onetime all-district 3-5A offensive lineman at Amarillo High School: First sports heroes? "CAL RIPKEN, JR., NOLAN RYAN, TROY AIKMAN, EMMITT SMITH and MICHAEL IRVIN." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Walking onto the Dick Bivins Stadium field for the first time as a Golden Sandie." Biggest disappointment as participant? "Being on the AHS team that snapped the playoff participation streak of head coach LARRY DIPPEL in 2004." Biggest thrill as observer? "Watching Ripken play in his record-setting 2,131st consecutive game in 1995 with my dad and the Texas Longhorns winning the Rose Bowl and the 2006 national championship by beating USC." Biggest disappointment as observer? "Watching from the stands at the Rose Bowl this past January as Texas quarterback COLT McCOY was injured in the first quarter of the BCS Championship Game against Alabama." Sports events would liked to have seen in person? "BABE RUTH's 'called shot' in the 1932 World Series and quarterback VINCE YOUNG leading Texas to Rose Bowl wins over Michigan in 2005 and USC in 2006." Favorite nicknames? "EARL "THE TYLER ROSE" CAMPBELL, the 'Bronx Bombers', the 'Purple People Eaters' of the Minnesota Vikings defense and the University of Houston basketball team known as 'Phi Slamma Jamma'." Best athletes in the clutch? "Young, MICHAEL JORDAN, TED WILLIAMS and MICKEY MANTLE." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Washington, D.C." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "DARRELL ROYAL, WARREN BUFFETT, NELSON MANDELA and DR. BILLY GRAHAM." Most famous persons ever shaken hands with? "Smith, BILL CLINTON, GEORGE W. BUSH, RICK PERRY, MAJOR APPLEWHITE, LUCI BAINES JOHNSON and LYNDA BIRD JOHNSON-ROBB."....Sports Illustrated's website polls readers this week as to which sports personality that would least like to yell at them. With the choices being MIKE KRZYZEWSKI, BILL PARCELLS, URBAN MEYER, BILL COWHER or LOU PINIELLA, Middletown (N.Y.) Times Record-Herald columnist KEVIN GLEASON commented, "I think I'll go with ELIN NORDEGREN."....New York Jets head coach REX RYAN underwent lap-band surgery recently and says he regrets not doing so sooner. He adds, "If I had, I'd be down to about 220 pounds, and maybe I would have an opportunity to do a romantic scene with HEATHER LOCKLEAR."....Overheard: "Due to budget cuts during a crippled economy, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
03/26/10
       JACK FINARELLI, syndicatdred scribe: "Which is the bigger shame? The lack of education required to get star athletes in college, the lax educational requirements put upon them once admitted, the bazillions of dollars earned by the coaches that recruit them and enable them or the sanctimonious college administrators who ignore the situation?"....GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI of ESPN.com: "Hey, health care and NFL overtime reform--all in the same week!"....KAMR-TV sports director BRAD FRALICK offers an outlook all baseball fans can agree on in stating, "Opening Day is a national holiday."....Former San Francisco Giants, California Angels and 1968-69 Amarillo Giants third baseman "DIRTY AL" GALLAGHER returns to The Ballpark Southeast of the Stockyards this summer managing the United Baseball League's Coastal Bend Thunder against the Amarillo Dillas. The 64-year old baseball lifer recalls, "My biggest sports thrill as a participant was being a teammate with my boyhood hero WILLIE MAYS on the Giants and playing third base in the two no-hitters NOLAN RYAN pitched for the Angels in 1973. My biggest disappointment as a player came in 1973 at Fenway Park in Boston when I was with the Angels and collided with Red Sox catcher CARLTON FISK in a play at home plate. I hit him so hard I went on the disabled list for two months with several broken ribs and he went to the Hall of Fame."....As the NCAA considers expanding its Division I men's basketball tournament to 96 teams, JANICE HOUGH of LeftCoastSportsBabe.com suggests, "Why not just let all the teams in and call it March, April and May Madness?"....Prior to Cornell's elimination from The Big Dance by Kentucky on Thursday night, guard LOUIS DALE of the Big Red said, "We've got eight seniors on this team, and we want to take this ride as long as we can, because after this it's nothing but babies and memories."....Early exits by the University of California and Siena College didn't prevent Golden Bears freshman center BAK BAK and Saints senior guard JUST-IN 'LOVE SMITH from being inducted into the Short Rutts Name Hall of Fame....Whatever became of the annual award given to the top high school athlete in Texas in each sport by the sports committee of the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce? The honors were considered highly prestigious and respected throughout the state....STEVE JOHNSON of the Chicago Tribune, sending out a request during the downward spiral in the Illinois economy: "Dear Canada: Can my family and I come and visit for, like, the next half-century or so? We bathe regularly and we are willing to learn curling."....The Boston Celtics have compiled a 24-13 road record this season with a roster of several veterans. Head coach DOC RIVERS explains, "With all that crowd noise, maybe they are so old they can't hear it."....Late golf legend BEN HOGAN, assessing his competitive nature: "I dreamed once I made 17 holes in one, and on the 18th hole I lipped the cup. And I was mad as hell."....Overheard: "One who does not make mistakes likely does not make anything."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
3/24/10

DWIGHT PERRY, Seattle Times: "If computers ruled college basketball the way they do football, we'd have skipped all this March Madness monotony and just waited a month for the Kansas-Kentucky championship game. And then watched Northern Iowa play Cornell in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl."....With double-digit seeds reaching the Sweet 16 in Cornell (12th), Washington (11th) and St. Mary's of California (10th), a headline at sports satire website Sportspickle.com declares, "Higher seed moves on in NCAA Tournament shocker."....Northern Iowa center JORDAN EGLSEDER signed with the Panthers after being lightly recruited oug of Marquette High School in Bellevue, Iowa. He says, "I was like, 'Let me think about this. No others schools have shown any interest in me. I'm fat. I'm slow. And let's be honest, I am not very good. OK, sign me up.' "....Comedian ALAN RAY, suggesting a difference in Cornell players and their counterparts in The Big Dance: "On Parents Night, they introduce their au pairs."....DAVE HENRY, assistant sports editor of an Amarillo newspaper: "Those of us who suffer the mediocrity that is the Texas Rangers aren't surprised about manager RON WASHINGTON testing positive for cocaine. Not to condone illegal drug use, but being high would help mask the pain that is the team's won-loss record for about 40 years. What is surprising is no former Rangers skippers have tested positive for drug use."....It's good to know Los Angeles Dodgers radio voice VIN SCULLY is okay after being hospitalized following a fall at his home two weeks ago. The iconic announcer who said over the winter his 61st year of calling Dodger games in 2010 would be his last, joked with reporters upon his arrival at spring training in saying, "My doctors have told me I am supposed to cut back on dangling participles, and I am not allowed to split any infinitives for at least another week."....Reminder: Former West Texas A&M football players KEITH NULL of the St. Louis Rams and CHARLY MARTIN of the Carolina Panthers present "An Evening With The Pros" on Friday night to raise funds for Buffalo athletics. More information and reservations may be obtained by contacting the WTAMU athletic department at (806) 651-4400 or by logging on to gobuffsgo.com....Note to MARK FINKNER, Texas Tech men's basketball radio voice: You did an outstanding job Tuesday night describing the Red Raiders' 90-87 loss to Ole Miss in double overtime in the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Tournament. I'm glad I turned down the sound on ESPN and listened to you instead as you made a highly exciting game even better....FRANK KOSTRO, former utility player with the Minnesota Twins: "I played right field, left field, third base and first base. Since I am Polish, did that make me a utility pole?"....Overheard: "One reflection of a poor economy is cutbacks being made on education spending before the same monies are used on jails and reformatories."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
3/23/10
G.K. CHESTERTON, late British philosopher and writer: "The poor sometimes object to being governed badly while the rich sometimes object to being governed at all."....West Texas A&M's annual Maroon-White spring football game takes place Saturday morning at Canyon's Kimbrough Stadium with kickoff at 10 am. The Buffaloes then conclude spring training next week with three full workouts....Retired professional rassler and former Atlanta Falcons lineman BILL GOLDBERG: "I am 43 years old. Do I want to be RIC FLAIR? Do I want to be HULK HOGAN? In the twilight of my life, do I want to be running around in my underwear trying to injure people? Absolutely not."....GILBERT ARENAS, the Washington Wizards player suspended for the season by NBA commissioner DAVID STERN for bringing a loaded gun into the team's locker room, recently told Esquire Magazine he owns a personal collection of more than 500 guns. Quipster BILL LITTLEJOHN of Lake Tahoe, Nevada comments, "He also revealed that when he signed with the Wizards, he dropped his plans to invade Luxembourg."....DAVID LETTERMAN of CBS on two treatments that will be financed by the heath care reform bill: "Choking by the Kansas basketball team and a vasectomy for JOHN EDWARDS."....Note to DARREN STALLWITZ: Thank you for the interesting reading you sent my way....Monday's mention of Caprock High School defensive lineman LOUIE MENDOZA rambling 102 yards with an interception against Amarillo High in 1972 brought some humorous recollections from a pair of Ruttheads that were at the game won 21-0 by Caprock as the Longhorns of coach RAY BASINGER defeated the Golden Sandies for the first time in the school's histories. DREW BERGEN of Amarillo says, "I went to the restroom at the beginning of the play. When I came back, he was still running." GARY SCOGGIN of Houston, an AHS sophomore at the time and later a two-year starter as an offensive lineman at Tascosa, recalls, "I later kidded him that he made the interception toward the end of the second quarter, but didn't score until the middle of the third quarter. He took it well as he is a great guy."....I'll never forget scribe ED SPAULDING writing the following morning in an Amarillo newspaper that Mendoza's run "...set the world record for the slowest 100-yard dash in history."....Mendoza later joined Caprock teammates DAVID REAM and GERALD NIPP, JR. in having outstanding college careers at Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford. They all moved on to careers in teaching and coaching, with Mendoza a longtime football assistant at Clinton (Okla.) High School, where the "Red Tornado" won three state titles in the 2000s while carrying one of the better team nicknames around....New Texas Tech football coach TOMMY TUBERVILLE was the defensive coordinator at Miami of Florida in 1990 when the Hurricanes came to Lubbock and ran up a 28-0 halftime lead on the Red Raiders of SPIKE DYKES in a 45-10 win. Remembering it was the first time he ever saw Tech's Masked Rider, Tuberville says, "It is what is great about college football. Everyone has their traditions, and they are part of the passion that makes our game special. There are a lot of great mascots in the Big 12 Conference--BEVO at Texas, RALPHIE at Colorado, REVEILLE at Texas A&M and others, but I don't know that there are any better than the Masked Rider."....Overheard: "A retentive memory may be a good thing, but there is something to be said for the ability to forget."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
  03/22/10

BOB THOMPSON, professor of pop culture at Syracuse University: "The NCAA basketball tournament is like a miniseries, with twists and turns along the way. The Super Bowl is this huge, winner-take-all, one-game event, an extraordinary one-night stand. The NCAA tournament is more like a short relationship--short enough not to be boring, long enough to be fulfilling."....St. Mary's of California center OMAR SAMHAN on the Gaels reaching the Sweet 16: "I have gotten tons of emails and text messages, including one from my mom that says, 'I can't believe you won and you've messed up my bracket, but that's great.' "....The Dallas Cowboys open their 2010 exhibition season August 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame game at Canton, Ohio. Kickoff is just over 24 hours after EMMITT SMITH and six others are inducted into the shrine....Questions and answers with JERRY KERN, salesman at Amarillo's Street Toyota and a 1972-73 football standout at Caprock High School: First sports hero? "LARRY CSONKA, Miami Dolphins fullback." Biggest sports thrill as an observer? "United States winning the gold medal in hockey at the 1980 Winter Olympics." Biggest disappointment as observer? "Dallas Cowboys losing 28-27 to the San Francisco 49ers in the 1982 NFC championship game on a last-minute touchdown pass from JOE MONTANA to DWIGHT CLARK." Biggest thrills as a participant? "Coming back after being behind at halftime to defeat Tascosa in 1973 and clinch Caprock's first district championship in school history. Our student body and fans flooded the field at Dick Bivins Stadium crying and embracing us. Also, playing in Caprock's first-ever football win over Amarillo High in 1972 when LOUIE MENDOZA ran back an interception 102 yards for a touchdown for the longest play in Dick Bivins Stadium history." Biggest disappointment as participant? "Losing in bi-district to Hereford in 1973." Favorite sports nicknames? "Csonka and his Dolphins teammate JIM KIICK known as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" plus 'half-man, half-monster' RANDY "MANSTER" WHITE of the Dallas Cowboys." Sports events in history would liked to have seen in person? "1980 Winter Olympics hockey game between the United States and Russia, any or all of the three fights between MUHAMMAD ALI and JOE FRAZIER and the 'Bite of the Century' by MIKE TYSON on EVANDER HOLYFIELD in 1997." Best athletes in the clutch? "Montana, MICHAEL JORDAN, DAVID REAM, BOBBY STEWART, JACKIE RUSSELL, RODNEY SKELTON, GERALD NIPP, JR., BILLY SIMPSON and DAVID COOK." Favorite city outside of Texas? "New York City." Most famous persons ever shaken hands with? "ROGER STAUBACH and MAGIC JOHNSON."....Noting the increasing number of Latin Americans playing professional baseball in the United States, outspoken Chicago White Sox manager and Ocumare del Tuy, Venezuela native OZZIE GUILLEN says, "In ten years, American people are going to need a visa to play this game."....Twins separated at birth? How about investor/philanthropist WARREN BUFFETT and retired Texas Tech basketball and football radio play-by-play legend JACK DALE?....Overheard: "Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from poor judgment."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
 3/16/10

Some quotes I'll never forget....Environmentalist RACHEL CARSON: "If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and impressions of the slanceenses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow."....Chicago White Sox owner BILL VEECK, delivering a pre-season message to the team's fans: "We will scheme, connive and do everything possible to win the pennant--except pay big salaries."....After athletes participating in the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City underwent testing to confirm their gender, 51-year old MAXINE MITCHELL, a member of the United States fencing team, said, "I must admit I was worried for a while. I have four children and eight grandchildren. I was wondering if I was going to have to tell them, 'Call me 'Grandpa'.".....DEBRA McCARTT, Amarillo mayor: "The most famous persons I have ever hugged are OVE JOHANSSON and GEORGE W. BUSH."....Months after his American Express credit card was stolen, tennis player ILLIE NASTASE revealed, "I didn't report it because whoever stole it is spending a lot less than my wife."....Former Washington State basketball coach GEORGE RAVELING on the out-of-the-way location of the school in Pullman, Washington: "My last season there was reviewed in Field and Stream."....Comedian and social activist DICK GREGORY: "I never believed in SANTA CLAUS because I knew no white man would ever be coming into my neighborhood after dark."....Two-two Heisman Trophy winner ARCHIE GRIFFIN on the old-school ways of WOODY HAYES, his coach at Ohio State: "He doesn't know anything about drugs. He still thinks uppers are dentures."....Baseball legend DON ZIMMER was once approached by a stranger for an autograph at a banquet in Los Angeles and later asked a friend who the fellow was. He was told, "That's KEVIN COSTNER. You know, 'Dances With Wolves'." A bewildered Zimmer replied, "He does?"....Asked if his team liked the use of the designated hitter after it was adopted by the American League in 1973, Chicago White Sox manager CHUCK TANNER said, "We had a meeting with league president LEE MacPHAIL and he said that we did."....OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES: "Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it--but we must sail and not drift, nor lay at anchor."....WILLE MAYS on why he didn't eat breakfast during his stellar baseball career: "I didn't have a maid, I didn't have a wife and I couldn't cook."....Former major league infielder and longtime minor league manager ROCKY BRIDGES, offering his opinion on Little League baseball: "I think it's great. It keeps the parents off the streets."....Texas A&M's RANDY BARNES set an NCAA record for freshman in 1986 by heaving a shot put 71' 9 1/2 ". Baylor head football coach GRANT TEAFF commented, "There were cannonballs in the Civil War that didn't travel that far."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
03/11/10
Unknown: "Our fingerprints never fade from the lives we touch."....ROBERT DE NIRO will play pro football coaching legend VINCE LOMBARDI in an ESPN-produced movie due for release prior to the 2012 Super Bowl....It was reported in the Wednesday edition of Short Rutts the odds of filling out a perfect bracket prior to the NCAA basketball tournament are 9,223,372,036,854,755,808 to 1. AL GUARDINO, Tascosa High School math teacher, explains, "To calculate this, you raise 1/2, which is the chance of picking every game correctly, to the 63d power and then divide that figure by 1. This produces the exact number given."....Question: "How many coaches on the staffs of Major League Baseball teams this season played for either the Amarillo Giants or Amarillo Gold Sox during our city's days in the Texas League from 1959 to 1982?" Answer: Five. They are third base coach TIM FLANNERY of the San Francisco Giants and the 1979 Gold Sox, bullpen coach ANDY HAWKINS of the Texas Rangers and the 1981 Gold Sox, bench coach CHRIS SPEIER of the Cincinnati Reds and the 1970 A-Giants, pitching coach LARRY ROTHSCHILD of the Chicago Cubs and the 1978 Gold Sox and third base coach STEVE SMITH of the Cleveland Indians and the 1977-79 Gold Sox....Flannery is remembered locally not only for moving on to a productive big league career over ten seasons with the San Diego Padres, but also for often displaying his musical talents by occasionally taking the stage at the long-gone Texas Moon Palace during his season with the Gold Sox. He has since released seven albums and performed with such personalities as WILLIE NELSON, JACKSON BROWNE, LINDA RONSTADT, JUDY COLLINS, JIMMY BUFFETT and BRUCE HORNSBY....Questions and answers with JACOB ALBRACHT, KFDA-TV sports director: First sports heroes? "Professional wrestler and former West Texas State football player TERRY FUNK, Dallas Cowboys wide receiver ALVIN HARPER and RAFAEL PALMEIRO of the Texas Rangers." Biggest sports thrill? "Being on the sidelines at Texas Tech's Jones Stadium in 2008 when quarterback GRAHAM HARRELL hit wide receiver MICHAEL CRABTREE with the winning touchdown pass as the Red Raiders beat Texas." Sports events would like to attend? "Any Super Bowl, Final Four or Texas Rangers playoff game." Favorite team nickname? "Wellington High School 'Skyrockets'." Favorite individual nickname? "IVAN "PUDGE" RODRIGUEZ." Best athletes in the clutch? "TOM BRADY, KOBE BRYANT, MICHAEL JORDAN and MARIANO RIVERA." Living person would most like to have lunch with? "ERIC NADEL, longtime radio voice of the Texas Rangers." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Chicago, Illinois." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "Funk, LOU HOLTZ. TONY DUNGY, CAL RIPKEN, JR. and CHUCK NORRIS.".....Yates High School of Houston enters this weekend's state boys basketball tournament in Austin ranked as the top prep team in the nation according to USA Today. However, head coach GREG WISE is winning no friends as he ruthlessly runs up the score on opponants with the Lions having won games by 135, 109, 99 (twice), 98, 90 and 88 points. After Yates led Lee High School 100-12 at the half and mounted a full-court press throughout the game in a 170-35 win, RICK REILLY of ESPN The Magazine commented, "When I think of Wise, I become darker than JOHNNY CASH's closet. The things I would like to do to him would curl an executioner's toes. For starters, I'd like to see him dipped in seal butter and dropped into a polar bear's cage.".....Overheard: "What you don't know can't hurt you. Therefore, you must be practically invincible."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
03/10/10
Best of luck to all Ruttheads in filling out a perfect bracket prior to the NCAA basketball tournament. The odds of doing so are calculated at 9,223,372,036,854,755,808 to 1....Winner of a national essay contest and thus earning the honor of pushing the button that will trigger the April 11 implosion of Texas Stadium is CASEY ROGERS of Terrell, Texas, an 11-year old former foster child and advocate to the Dallas homeless with his "Casey's Heart" program....Tuesday's passing of former major league baseball outfielder WILLIE DAVIS was sad to learn. Unfortunately, he will be most remembered not for being one of the fastest runners in the game and a three-time All-Star during his 20 big league seasons, but for making three fielding errors on two consecutive plays in the fifth inning of Game 2 of the 1966 World Series as his heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers were swept in four straight games by the Baltimore Orioles. He also had numerous personal problems that became public following his playing days....DIGGER ELAM, former head basketball coach at Caprock High School: "My twin grandsons NOAB ELAM and PRESTON ELAM have had a great year athletically. Their third grade basketball team won the Amarillo YMCA championship by defeating Bushland and their football team won their championship by beating Canadian.".....JANET GUTHRIE, the car racing pioneer who was the first female to compete in the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500, owns a degree from the University of Michigan and once worked as an aerospace engineer. Noting her 72nd birthday over the weekend, comedian JERRY PERISHO says, "She is also the first person to put a 357-horse power engine with an overhead cam on a Rascal scooter.".....From sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "According to the NBA league office, MICHAEL JORDAN is expected to be approved as the majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats by the end of March. And, according to Jordan's friends, the basketball superstar will lose the team sometime in April by gambling."....Quarterback KEITH NULL and wide receiver CHARLY MARTIN will be forever linked in West Texas A&M football lore for their time with the Buffaloes from 2005-08. Null, now with the St. Louis Rams, and Martin, a member of the Carolina Panthers, team up again March 26 for "A Night With The Pros", a gala to raise funds for the WT athletic department and taking place at the Piehl Barn located north of Bushland. Tables of eight are available for $1,000 with individual tickets priced at $75. The fete begins with a reception at 7 pm followed by dinner at 8 pm with live music and auction opportunities being offered throughout the evening. Reservations and further information may be obtained by contacting the WTAMU athletic department at (806) 651-4400 or online at gobuffsgo.com....DWIGHT PERRY, Seattle Times: "CHARLES GRAHAM obtained the first patent for artificial teeth on March 9, 1822. And, stunningly, not one moment of silence in a National Hockey League rink this week."....TODD ARCHER of the Dallas Morning News rates BILL THOMAS of Boston College in 1972 as the poorest first-round draft choice of a running back in Dallas Cowboys history. He says, "Seen as a replacement for DUANE THOMAS, Bill Thomas lasted one season with the Cowboys, and it wasn't even a full season. He was hurt in training camp, played in seven games and never even got a carry. In a way, he was the MOONLIGHT GRAHAM character from 'Field of Dreams'."....Overheard: "Never let success go to your head and never let failure go to your heart."---MIKE HIGGINS

Short Rutts
3/9/10
Some quotes I'll never forget....DENIS WAITLEY: "The only person that never makes mistakes is the person that never does anything.".....New York Yankees pitcher WHITEY FORD, asked if he threw spitballs: "No, because when I was a little boy my mother told me to never put my fingers in my mouth."....In 1995, PGA Tour commissioner TIM FINCHEM expressed feelings he wanted the United States economic embargo against Cuba lifted. He added, "We still have the defending champion of the 1958 Havana Pro-Am in BILLY CASPER, and I'm sure he wants to get back there and defend it.".....Attorney and NFL referee TOMMY BELL: "During the week, I practice law. On fall Sundays, I am the law.".....Recalling his days growing up in a tough section of Brooklyn, Utah Jazz head coach FRANK LAYDEN said, "We had a lot of nicknames--Scarface, Blackie, Toothless--and those were just the cheerleaders.".....Michigan State football coach DUFFY DAUGHERTY installed a pool table in the basement of his home and explained, "I got it mainly for my kids. I want them to get the same start in life I did.".....Shortly after winning the U.S. Open golf tournament, HUBERT GREEN commented, "Suddenly, I am an expert on everything. Interviewers want my thoughts on golf, foreign policy and the price of peanuts.".....Swedish proverb: "Worry gives a small thing a large shadow.".....Following a homecoming football game against Rice, SMU tackle RAY SCHOENKE seemed unhappy with the hard playing surface at the Cotton Bowl and said, "I have blisters under the calluses on both of my feet. They didn't bother me at the game, but they did slow me down at the dance.".....After the Arizona Cardinals chose 6' 6", 370-pound offensive tackle LEONARD DAVIS with their first pick in the NFL draft, head coach DAVE McGINNIS commented, "He is going to play in this league for a long, long time, unless he gets hit by a truck. And it's going to have to be a big truck.".....English novelist and humorist TERRY PRATCHETT: "I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside of the box when there is more evidence of thinking going on inside it.".....ERNIE FAZIO, Houston Astros utility player and an infielder with the 1965 Amarillo Sonics, after switching from a 33-ounce bat to a 29-ounce bat: "The 29-ounce bat is easier to carry back to the dugout after I strike out.".....Minnesota Vikings running back CHUCK FOREMAN on his mellow ways after scoring a touchdown: "I'm cool on the outside, but on the inside I'm like a thosand little kids jumping up and down on Christmas morning.".....ROGERS HORNSBY, Baseball Hall of Famer: "People ask me what I do in winter when there is no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
 03/08/10

DAVID BRINKLEY: "A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him or her."....As Canadians bask in winning the gold medal in hockey with an overtime win over the United States at the Winter Olympics, MIKE BIANCHI of the Orlando Sentinel states, "In America, we burn couches whenever our teams win championships. We can only hope they only burn CELINE DION albums."....How many words does ESPN college basketball commentator FRAN FRASCHILLA get in during a conversation with his longwinded colleague DICK VITALE? He says, "A precious few. I just wait until he comes up for air."....Amarillo businessman and civic leader SOAPY SUDBURY will be inducted into a Hall of Fame for the second time in his distinguished life as he is so honored at Amarillo High School on April 15. The 1955-57 Golden Sandie quarterback is already a charter member of the Short Rutts Name Hall of Fame established in 2001....Indiana governor MITCH DANIELS auctioned off a New Orleans Saints flag he displayed outside his office after he lost a bet over last month's Super Bowl with a Saints fan paying $6,852 for it. Daniels then donated the money to an inner-city youth program in Indianapolis....Bronte High School head boys basketball coach ROCKY RAWLS is from Dimmitt. He leads his Longhorns against Gruver this weekend in the opening round of the class 1A Division I boys state basketball tournament at the Erwin Center in Austin....Bumper sticker: "I'd like to have more self-esteem, but I just don't deserve it"....ISRAEL GUTIERREZ, Miami Herald: "If you spent any time in front of a television this week, you probably saw a great fighter in an awkward situation. No, not boxer MANNY PACQUIAO singing on JIMMY KIMMEL, but Baylor's BRITTNEY GRINER landing a wicked right hook to the face of Texas Tech's JORDAN BARNCASTLE. What made it awkward is that no one knew how to handle it. Initial reaction was to treat Griner more harshly than you would a man with many suggesting this freshman phenom should be suspended for the season. Come on, this was no different than any fight involving men, except, of course, that Griner actually landed her punch as opposed to the swings and misses we so often see in a men's game. Women's basketball can be a very tough game. Did you see Barncastle's reaction to getting her nose broken? She hardly budged. Griner was hit with a two-game suspension, the second game probably because she actually landed the punch. For everyone so worked up that these were women in a brawl, enough of the double standard. This is the same as a couple of guys getting overheated in a physical basketball game, except that these ladies actually know how to throw down.".....University of Kentucky head basketball coach JOHN CALIPARI quoted an African proverb on Twitter in saying, "If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together." KEVIN GLEASON of the Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald-Record commented, "And if you want to go on probation, go to Kentucky."....The suit worn by the 1968 Heisman Trophy winner during his 1995 murder trial has been rejected for display at the Smithsonian. GREG COTE of the Miami Herald says, "Thanks to a booking agent, the suit will be on tour this summer as the opening act for the MONICA LEWINSKY dress."....Overheard: "All I want is for you to fill the cavernous void in my soul. Is that too much to ask?"---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts
03/05/10
Bumper sticker: "Ask me about my explosively angry reactions to stupid questions"....Correction: Thanks to reader JIM BROCK of Amarillo for writing to point out I had a mental meltdown in referring to former Amarillo Independent School District superintendent ROBERT "BOB" ASHWORTH as the president of the AISD board during the aftermath of the Amarillo High School fire in 1970. I certainly know better as Mr. Ashworth served as superintendent for many years, was a close family friend and an outstanding fellow. Short Rutts regrets the error....Note to SCOTT DOORES, Dallas: Thank you for your kind note....Former Kentucky and Baylor head football coach GUY MORRISS, now in his second year in the same position at Texas A&M-Commerce, is tangled in controversy after he gave his blessing to team members going across campus and picking up over 2,000 copies of the student newspaper after it reported a pair of Lion gridders had been arrested on drug charges. Morriss, also a former NFL linebacker, said, "I am proud of my players doing that. It is the best team excercise we have done."....The words of A&M-Commerce athletic director CARLTON COOPER in the police report filed after the incident expressing he didn't think any football players were involved: "I don't think they were smart enough to do this on their own."....MIKE FINGER of the San Antonio Express-News: "Some say the players and Morriss should be punished for the stunt, but if a judge were to take a look at Morriss' career path, it would be tough to find a sentence worse than time served."....Anyone who is a fan of both baseball and classic rock music has to be pulling hard this season for rookie catcher CARLOS SANTANA of the Cleveland Indians. He is ranked as the tenth-best young prospect in the game by Baseball America....Headline from sports satire website Sportspickle.com: "Pittsburgh Penguins acquire superstar SIDNEY CROSBY from Canada just before trading deadline"....Note to DYLAN BUCKINGHAM, KFDA-TV sports announcer: You reported Wednesday night that West Texas A&M led Central Oklahoma "in the third quarter" of their game in the Lone Star Conference men's basketball tournament. College basketball does not use quarters, it uses two twenty-minute halves....Baylor women's basketball player BRITTNEY GRINER has been suspended for two games after she punched Texas Tech's JORDAN BARNCASTLE and broke her nose during the Lady Bears' 69-60 win Wednesday night at Lubbock. DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times comments, "Just a guess, but that probably wasn't what her coaches had in mind when they told her to 'box out'."....Former Amarillo High School and University of Texas football great RICK FENLAW of Wichita Falls is a highly successful land man in the oil business but majored in journalism during his time at UT that also saw him serve as coaching legend DARRELL ROYAL's last defensive captain and later being selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the NFL draft. The all-state center and linebacker at AHS commented during his junior year in college, "I got interested in journalism through BOBBY GILES, my classmate and teammate at Amarillo High and Texas. I am considering a career in this area, but I have another year to give it some thought, though."....Overheard: "There never seems to be enough time to do something right the first time, but it always seems there is plenty of enough time to have to do it over."---MIKE HIGGINS 

Short Rutts

3/01/10
ARGUS HAMILTON: "Vancouver residents got rave reviews for their Olympic hospitality. They love to give directions. They say if you see the mountains you are facing north, if you see the ocean you are facing west, if your car just got stolen you are in Surrey to the east, and if you see people without health care and waving handguns, you are in the United States.".....LORNE CHEN of the San Antonio Express-News, suggesting rap music icon MC HAMMER might take up curling: "He wouldn't care about becoming an Olympian, he would just want his pants to come back in style.".....JEFF GORDON, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "What will millions of lonely guys do when the women's Olympic curling competition ends?".....As Dallas Mavericks owner MARK CUBAN considers playing some of the team's home games at Arlington's spacious Cowboys Stadium, SCOTT OSTLER of the San Francisco Chronicle comments, "Great idea. And let's also hold Olympic swimming events in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.".....Detroit Tigers trainer KEVIN RAND has confirmed manager JIM LEYLAND suffered a broken toe last week when third base coach GENE LAMONT ran over his foot with a golf cart at the team's spring training complex in Lakeland, Florida. Shortly after the incident, STEVE SCHRADER of the Detroit Free Press suggested the accident was caused by "The Canadian women's hockey team, joyriding on a Zamboni.".....Monday marks the 40th anniversary of an event few longtime Amarilloans will ever forget--the fire destroying the third floor and the auditorium while causing major water and smoke damage to the first and second floors of the historic downtown location of Amarillo High School, necessitating its move less than four years later to its present Puckett Place location. JOE FORAN, President and CEO of Matador Resources in Dallas, was an AHS senior and less than three months from graduation and among the many who rushed to the scene to offer help. He recalls, "My overwhelming memory of that day is how extraordinary everyone's cooperation was to save paintings and trophies before the fire got out of control and how everyone worked together to salvage what they could from the building once the fire was extinguished. The fire also made a lot of kids 'Rebels' who thought they were going to be 'Sandies', and a lot of kids 'Sandies' who thought they were going to be 'Rebels'. For a few years there were a lot of families that had mixed feelings about their school's loyalties.".....Footage of the fire, which took place on an otherwise peaceful and quiet Sunday morning and drew well over two thousand rubberneckers to downtown Amarillo, can be seen today on Youtube. At the time, it brought virtually unheard of forms of media coverage as KGNC-TV (now KAMR) provided live pictures to viewers and the then-owners of the since-renamed Amarillo Daily News spent big money (still unheard of) to produce a color photograph on its front page the following morning.....Look for free agent signee RICH HARDEN to be the starting pitcher for the Texas Rangers as they open their 2010 spring training season Thursday afternoon at Surprise, Arizona against the Kansas City Royals. The Rangers, now the only franchise in the major leagues that has never won a post-season series, open their 39th season in the Metroplex five weeks from Monday with a 1:05 pm date against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.....RICK TELANDER of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Females now account for 57 percent of our nation's college graduates. Socially, politically and economically, this is bad news. You want a nation in which men are merely clowns, lawnmower pushers, crack dealers and aspiring jocks? Women don't even need live men to have babies anymore. What else do we increasingly disposable men provide? Bar fights?".....Overheard: "More often that not, the shortest distance between two points is under construction."---MIKE HIGGINS

  



 
 





  





  







 

 

   
 





          

 

 












    
   
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Short Rutts
07/06/10
Unknown: "Talent hits a target no one else can hit. Genius hits a target no one else can see."....GREG COTE, Miami Herald: "Washington Nationals rookie pitcher STEPHEN STRASBURG lost his second game in a row, temporarily delaying delaying his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame."....Can this be? Beatles drummer RINGO STARR turns 70 years old on Wednesday....Amarillo resident and former Dillas pitcher and field manager DAREN BROWN is in his fourth season as manager of baseball's Tacoma Rainiers of the class AAA Pacific Coast League, but he isn't the only local connection the affiliate of the Seattle Mariners has to our city. Rainiers pitcher LUKE FRENCH is the grandson-in-law of local resident TROY BURRUS, a former West Texas State basketball great and member of the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame. French, a Denver resident who has seen playing time in the big leagues with both the Mariners and the Detroit Tigers, has been named to the PCL squad for the Triple-A All-Star Game scheduled for July 14 at Allentown, Pennsylvania. Brown, who led the Dillas to the Texas-Louisana League championship in 1999, will manage the PCL team against the International League All-Stars in the contest that will be televised on the MLB Network....Questions and answers with BART THOMAS, general manager of Amarillo's Zach's Club 54 and an all-Southwest Conference defensive back at Texas Tech University in 1994: First sports heroes? "Defensive back MIKE BATTLE of the New York Jets, gymnasts KURT THOMAS and BART CONNOR and GEORGE BRETT of the Kansas City Royals." Biggest sports thrill as participant? "Quarterbacking White Deer High School to the class A state football championship in 1988." Biggest sports disappointment as participant? "Getting wallopped 55-14 by USC in the 1995 Cotton Bowl in my last game at Texas Tech." Sports events would liked to have seen in person? "JESSE OWENS dominating the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and the United States hockey team defeating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York." Favorite sports nickname? "Texas Tech 'Red Raiders'." Favorite athletes in the clutch? "Brett, MICHAEL JORDAN and PEYTON MANNING." Living persons would most like to have lunch with? "My father STEVE THOMAS and my mother BOBBIE THOMAS." Favorite city outside of Texas? "Oklahoma City, Oklahoma." Most famous persons shaken hands with? "Manning, GEORGE W. BUSH, JERRY RICE and DOMINQUE WILKENS."....Following the firing of manager A.J. HINCH by the Arizona Diamondbacks, DWIGHT PERRY of the Seattle Times states, "In other words, in Arizona, it is no longer a game of Hinch's."....BRAD DICKSON of the Omaha World-Herald on the forthcoming book by rotund New York Jets head coach REX RYAN: "The book is about how he became the man he is today, so I am guessing it is a cookbook."....Overheard: "I am sorry you feel I am so insincere and I feel even sorrier that you are so perceptive."---MIKE HIGGINS