Referee Can’t Win Against Lefty

Hank Nichols, an Atlantic Coast Conference basketball official, told Mark Whicker of the Philadelphia Daily News about a game in which Maryland Coach Lefty Driesell got on his case.

Driesell cited 10 missed calls by Nichols and sent a film of the game to the ACC supervisor.

“Gee, Lefty, we’re looking at the film and Hank got eight of them right,” the supervisor said.

Said Lefty: “Yeah, well, he might have got ‘em right on the film but he missed ‘em in the damn game.”

Add Nichols: One of the first assignments of his career was a freshman game between St. Bonaventure and Niagara.

He recalled 5-9 Calvin Murphy of Niagara telling 6-11 Bob Lanier of St. Bonaventure, “You’re nothing but a big turkey.”

Lanier leaned over into Murphy’s face and growled: “Gobble, gobble, gobble.”

Loyola of Chicago doesn’t figure to make many layups against Georgetown, but that’s OK. The Ramblers don’t practice them anyway.

Instead of opening their pregame drills with layups, they go right to the outside jumpers.

Says Coach Gene Sullivan: “We think that the pull-up jump shot is the game of basketball. A 15-foot shot is easier to get than a layup. A 12-footer is our layup.”

Add Loyola: Alfredrick Hughes, the nation’s leading scorer, didn’t always endear himself to Loyola fans with his long-range shooting.

As a freshman he missed 20 straight shots one night in a game against Bradley.

In no time, T-shirts appeared on campus saying, “Save Loyola Basketball, Shoot Alfredrick Hughes.”

Frank Luksa of the Dallas Times Herald asked Mickey Mantle about his alleged feud with Roger Maris when Maris was breaking Babe Ruth’s record.

“We never had an argument,” Mantle said. “He ended up being as good a friend as I’ve got. They allowed us to pick roommates in New York. Me and him lived together the same year he hit 61 homers and I hit 54.

“I hit behind Roger and he gives me a lot of credit for that season. I don’t think he ever got one intentional walk that year. Not only because of me. We had Elston Howard and Yogi Berra coming up. We hit 115 homers together which will stand up for a long time for two guys.”

Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos, on the departure of Gary Carter: “We’re better off without him. We’re going to be a looser club now that he’s gone. A lot of guys thought Gary wasn’t a team player--that he was always looking out for himself. A lot of guys got tired of his crying day in and day out. He always blamed somebody else. Carter hustled the most when we were on national television, and we weren’t the only guys in the league that thought that.”

That’s funny to hear, because Carter now is with the New York Mets, who likewise have been accused of having attitude problems.

Says pitcher Walt Terrell, who was traded from the Mets to the Detroit Tigers: “Some players in New York didn’t bust their butts. If you were around for any games, you know who they were. I’m not saying you have to get a hit every time up or get a win every game, but you have to give it your best or not go out there at all.”

Quotebook

Brian Mahoney, St. John’s assistant basketball coach, on Georgetown: “If they keep on playing the way they are, the next stop is the Boston Celtics.”