Backing Down Is Not Part of Cornerback’s Background

Cornerback Scott Rosen of the University of Maryland hears a lot of racial slurs and snide remarks during games.

“Usually, they say, ‘We’re going to get ya white boy,’ or once they find out my name is Rosen, they go back and say, ‘they got a little Jewish boy on the corner,’ ” Rosen told the Baltimore Sun.

“Years ago, when I was younger and had a temper, I used to get mad at that kind of stuff. Now I just laugh.”

But Rosen, at 5 feet 11 inches and 188 pounds, won’t back down. Maybe it’s his background. He is the natural son of an Irish Catholic father and a Jewish mother, who, because they were unmarried and only 15 when he was born, gave their son up for adoption at birth. He was brought up by Jewish adoptive parents in northeast Philadelphia and went to a public school that had racial problems and was surrounded by barbed wire.

“It’s how they perceive things in football,” Rosen said. “It’s like people think only blacks can play cornerback. I laugh when they say I’m not bad for a Jewish kid. I don’t want to be a Jewish cornerback or a black cornerback. I just want to be the best cornerback I can be.”

Counting the house: When General Manager Pat Gillick of the Toronto Blue Jays began his baseball career in Houston in 1963, the Colt 45s, as the Astros were then called, drew 719,502 at home.

But Gillick’s Blue Jays, who have been breaking attendance records since SkyDome opened in 1989, have a chance to become the first baseball team to draw 4 million.

“It started that if you drew 1 million, you were successful,” Gillick said. “Then it went to two. Now we’re at three.”

Trivia time: Who were the first brothers to oppose one another in a World Series game?

Going incognito: During a recent TV interview, Raider rookie quarterback Todd Marinovich kept his sunglasses on.

Wonder how USC Coach Larry Smith would have reacted if Marinovich had done the same thing when he was a Trojan?

Marinovich’s Raider teammates didn’t think twice about it. Raider tailback Bo Jackson has made a habit of wearing sunglasses while giving interviews, indoors. Marinovich, at least, had an excuse. His interview was being filmed outdoors.

Tough job: Umpires at the Little League World Series not only have to call balls and strikes and rule on close plays, they have to explain their decisions to players and coaches who don’t speak English.

“I had to throw out an interpreter once,” said umpire Glen Fiebig of Emporium, Pa. “She was arguing with me and not translating what I was saying to the manager. The interpreter is supposed to interpret.”

During a coaches’ meeting before the tournament began, Little League officials had trouble with the coin flip between the Dominican Republic and Saudi Arabia.

When the Dominican Republic won the toss, no one could determine whether it wanted to bat first or last.

“We needed an interpreter for the interpreter,” Fiebig said.

Living dangerously: Quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver of the San Diego Chargers commutes to practice on a motorcycle.

“It goes up to 95 m.p.h.,” Tolliver said. “But I’ve only had it up to 80.”

Wonder if the Chargers will insert a clause forbidding Tolliver to ride motorcycles in his next contract?

Poster boy: As part of a campaign against pornography, Nebraska football Coach Tom Osborne is featured on billboards with the slogan, “Real Men Don’t Use Porn.”

“I’m not real excited about it,” he told USA Today. “I really don’t like to be on billboards. But I don’t like pornography either and what it’s done to a lot of people.”

Trivia answer: Jimmy Johnston of the Brooklyn Dodgers and his brother Doc of the Cleveland Indians, became the first siblings to oppose one another in a World Series game in 1920.

Quotebook: Coach Mike Ditka of the Chicago Bears on his goals: “I want to win three Super Bowls. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s the only kind of goal you can have. To have any other goals would be ridiculous.”