NOTEworthy Day:
Some merchants and restaurateurs believe the Army-Navy game will do more in one week-end for the Baltimore economy - in excess of $10 million - than the entire Ravens season, where few tourists attend and it's primarily a home-to-stadium crowd. A bonanza looms.
Gilman's excellent run of 29 straight before losing rates loud applause, but it fell way short of City College's record 57 in a row during the late 1930s-early 1940s. ... Kenny Unitas, son of John, will be a Republican candidate for the House of Delegates from Harford County in the next election after retiring from the Anne Arundel County Police Department because of injuries. ... NFL and college football should give the public an opportunity to enjoy halftime bands instead of polluting the air with repetitious "expert" jabbering that covers what you've just seen. ... It's difficult to imagine a more bewildered-looking quarterback than the Cincinnati Bengals' Akili Smith, who so far represents an expensive mistake. ... The Aberdeen Arsenal of the Atlantic League will suspend operations for next season, preferring to wait until the new facility is a reality in 2002.
Ex-Colts center Bill Curry should have no trouble remembering his street address - Bill Curry Road, Murphy, N.C. ... For what it might mean (but we have serious doubt), the Ravens' stadium, according to CAP Index Inc., is in one of the NFL's most dangerous neighborhoods, with a crime rate eclipsing the national figure of 10; the stadiums in Buffalo, New England and Green Bay are considered the safest. ... Veteran golfers have said fairways of today are better than the greens of yesteryear, but that's a gross exaggeration. ... Notre Dame has played to 155 straight home sellouts in football. ... How times change: Towson this year met such earlier powers as Fordham, Holy Cross, Colgate and St. Mary's of California, reminding us that in the 1930s, the then Towson Normal School didn't even play touch football.
Recommended reading: Bud Thalman's well-prepared book, digest size, on Joe Paterno's philosophy of football and life, according to things he said and what others say about him. ... Mel Ott hit his 500th home run in 1945. Now, 55 years later, the actual ball, in mint condition, has been donated by his heirs to the Hall of Fame. ... One of the linebacker coaches for the Jacksonville Jaguars, one Steve Sabo, a football and lacrosse player at the Naval Academy, started his formal coaching career in 1969 at Johns Hopkins. ... Brooks Robinson has been elected president of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni for a 13th term; too bad he didn't run against Bush and Gore. ... If you're looking to send stroke victim Gene Woodling a cheer-up note, his address is 147 Garfield, Wadsworth, Ohio, 44281.
The freshman quarterback sensation at Florida, Rex Grossman, is the grandson of the one-time Colts kicker in the All-America Conference. ... Gus Novotny, once an assistant pro to the late Irv Schloss at Mount Pleasant, was cited by Golf Range magazine as one of the most admired and successful men in the business. ... Ronnie Duncan, a Morgan grad, is a popular sports anchor at WOIO in Cleveland and is the play-by-play voice heard on the national black radio football network. ... The term "buttonhook pass," we're told, orginated at Notre Dame, all the way back in the days of Gus Dorais and Knute Rockne.
Baltimore leads both major-league baseball and the NFL in multiple-player trades by one team - 15 players swapped between the Browns and Colts in 1953, and17 players between the Yankees and Orioles in 1955. ... Ex-Colt Billy Ray Smith, a tremendous defensive tackle, enters the College Football Hall of Fame next month. ... Baltimorean Ron Swoboda was brought from his home in New Orleans to cover the World Series for the New York Post, and his writing style was exceptional. ... Courtesy of Phil Wood: Don Zimmer, when a Washington Senator, once led the American League in grand slams with three. ... Interim Yankees pitching coach Billy Connors on Denny Neagle: "He can pitch ... He gets too tight on the mound and needs to enjoy it more."
The last NFL drop kick was an extra point by the Chicago Bears' Ray "Scooter" McLean in 1941. ... As great an architest as Robert Trent Jones is, he once built a golf course in Houston and forgot to include an 18th hole, which he soon corrected. ... Buzz Battaglia was selected by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association as its hero award winner in Maryland for longtime dedication to youth football. ...The oldest living ex-boxing champion is Max Schmeling, now 95. ... Was there ever a more appealing nickname than when Bucky Pope, later a Los Angeles Rams receiver, was known as the "Catawba Claw"?
The NFL once didn't have much originality, considering that in 1934 it had teams with baseball names known as the Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. ... The presidential election was almost as close as the Most Valuable Player race in 1944 when Marty Marion received one more vote than Maryland's Bill Nicholson. ... If you follow Sunday football scores, you may have been confused to read there are five different Concordias playing in the Midwest. ... Has there ever been a more depressing story than that of Darryl Strawberry? ... You're getting to be a "young old-timer" if you remember when Gus Suhr, Earl Averill and Bob Feller were on the backs of Wheaties cereal boxes.
