A Novel Idea: Cowboys Down on the Ant Farm

The Dallas Cowboys won’t be playing in the Super Bowl this year, but the franchise still intrigues Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Observing the Cowboys is like owning an ant farm. You see life far below the surface, way down in the dirt.

“Many teams have sex and drug scandals. The Cowboys have misadventures so deep and complex they make a Russian novel read like a Nike billboard.”

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Trivia time: Who was the first former USC player to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl?

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Escape clause? Detroit Piston Stacy Augmon, who has been inactive at the end of the bench: “This is really a deep team, but I hope I’m not part of that depth. I want to be out of here.”

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Bare talent: Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre on what advice he got from his teammate and former Chicago Bear quarterback Jim McMahon on his Super Bowl experience: “He’s kind of filled me in on how to moon helicopters.”

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Legendary advice: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Include Sam Snead among those who thinks John Daly tries to hit the golf ball too hard. Sez Sam: ‘I swung about 85%. I believe I could take Daly and if he’d listen, have him winning.”’

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Sobering thought: Golden State’s Donald Royal when told the NBA wants to add marijuana and alcohol to its list of banned substances: “They better be careful or they might not have enough players for the league.”

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Power play: A blown fuse that caused an 11-minute delay in the Jan. 12 AFC title game was located near the top of a telephone pole across a highway from Foxboro Stadium. The Mass. Electric lineman who made the repair: Walter Power.

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Hanging on? Buffalo Bill quarterback Jim Kelly is 36, but he wants to keep playing. “If I thought I was washed up, I’d walk away. Personally, I know I can still play. The day I feel my arm is gone, I’ll hang it up.”

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Wired: California wide receiver Coach Troy Taylor on new 49er Coach Steve Mariucci: “He’s Bill Walsh after about 15 to 20 cups of coffee.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Rams, 31-19, at the Rose Bowl before 103,985, the largest crowd to watch a Super Bowl game.

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Trivia answer: Mike Garrett, who scored on a five-yard run as Kansas City defeated Minnesota, 23-7, in Super Bowl IV.

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And finally: Before Super Bowl VII in 1973, Washington Redskin Coach George Allen reportedly assigned an assistant coach to chart the path of the sun over the Coliseum.

Allen wanted to know what was the better goal to defend and he didn’t want the sun in his players’ eyes at the start of the game. It didn’t make much difference as the Redskins lost to the Miami Dolphins, 14-7.