Pursuit of Facts Is What You’re After, Beware

If you got a game of Trivial Pursuit for Christmas, a word of warning. Don’t necessarily accept all the answers as gospel.

For instance, to the question “What did quarterbacks Frankie Albert, Bob Waterfield and Ken Stabler have in common?” the answer they give is “They all threw left-handed.” Waterfield, of course, threw right-handed.

To the question “Who was the Oakland Raiders’ power runner before the advent of Mark van Eeeghen?” the answer given is “Pete Banaszak.” The answer, of course, is Marv Hubbard.

Also, the game isn’t up-to-date. Dean Smith is named as the only basketball coach to coach winning teams in the Olympic Games, NCAA and NIT. Bob Knight, of course, joined Smith last summer when the United States won the gold medal at Los Angeles.

Heavy Stuff: As a freshman, Jacque Robinson of Washington won the most valuable player award in the Rose Bowl. As a senior, he won the award in the Orange Bowl.

Asked the difference Tuesday night, he said: “This trophy is so big and heavy. The Rose Bowl one wasn’t that big and heavy.”

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Although Boston College lost to Auburn, 33-26, in the 1982 Tangerine Bowl and lost to Notre Dame, 19-18, in the 1983 Liberty Bowl, Doug Flutie was voted the most valuable player in both games.

After Boston College finally won Tuesday in the Cotton Bowl, the MVP went to Flutie’s teammate, running back Troy Stradford.

Add Cotton: No, Houston Coach Bill Yeoman wasn’t surprised that Boston College made so many yards on the ground.

“They give scholarships to runners, too,” he said.

Add Flutie: Asked what he was thinking when Houston closed from 31-7 to 31-28, he said: “I said, ‘Boy, CBS must be happy. They had our Miami game, and now we’ll have to pull this one out at the end.’ ”

For What It’s Worth: Climaxed by the Pacific 10’s hat trick on New Year’s Day, schools west of the Rockies were 6-0 in bowl games. The Western Athletic Conference was 2-0, with BYU and Air Force, and the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. 1-0, with Nevada Las Vegas.

The Big Ten, winner of the booby prize at 1-5, was saved from a shutout by the Freedom Bowl where Iowa routed Texas, 55-17. The standings:

Pacific 10, 3-0; Western Athletic and Atlantic Coast, 2-0; PCAA, 1-0; Big Eight, 2-1; Southeastern, 2-2-1; Independents, 3-4-1; Southwest, 1-4; Big Ten, 1-5; Mid-American, 0-1.

Attention, USC: If anybody tries to dismiss your 20-17 win over Ohio State as a dull, defensive struggle, inform them that you scored more points than any of the previous four USC teams in the Rose Bowl.

Those teams, featuring such people as Anthony Davis, Pat Haden, Charles White, Paul McDonald and Marcus Allen, won by scores of 18-17 over Ohio State in 1975, 14-6 over Michigan in 1977, 17-10 over Michigan in 1979, and 17-16 over Ohio State in 1980.

Quotebook

Todd Phipers of the Denver Post, on Ohio State’s loss to USC in the Rose Bowl: “The Big Ten Conference has become college football’s Falkland Islands.”