When It Comes to Allegations, Bo Knows to Consider Source

Peter Golenbock, the master of the unidentified source whose book “Personal Fouls” chronicles alleged rules violations in the North Carolina State basketball program, said during a call-in radio show in Birmingham, Ala., last week that Bo Jackson “did not come cheap” when he was recruited by Auburn.

True to form, Golenbock identified his source only as a former Auburn teammate of Jackson’s.

Jackson, in a statement issued through Kansas City Royal spokesman Steve Fink, declined to dignify the charge with a response. But University of North Alabama Coach Bobby Wallace, who as an Auburn assistant recruited Jackson for the Tigers, might have spiked Golenbock’s loose cannon:

“Obviously, if Bo Jackson hasn’t proven since he left McAdory High School that there are more important things to him than money, then I don’t know what is important,” Wallace said. “He turned down big bucks from the New York Yankees (out of high school) to go to college and then turned down Tampa Bay after college to play baseball.

“I think if you study Bo’s life, you can see he can’t be bought.”

Add hardback allegations: According to Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun, Irving Fryar of the New England Patriots says he will sue the publishers of a book about Nebraska football called “Big Red Confidential.” The book alleges that while at Nebraska, Fryar bet on games and dropped passes deliberately. Fryar is quoted: “I’ve always wanted to own a publishing company, and as soon as this book comes out, I’m going to own that one.”

Trivia time: Thirty years ago today, which team ended Pittsburgh reliever Roy Face’s 22-game winning streak?

Avoiding the issue: From Marty Noble of Newsday on the pennant races: “If a contender can be defined as a team with a legitimate chance to win a championship, then 14 of the 26 teams qualified as contenders as of Sept. 1--the Blue Jays, Orioles, Red Sox and Brewers in the American League East; the A’s, Royals and Angels in the American League West; the Cubs, Cardinals, Expos and Mets in the National League East, and the Giants, Astros and Padres in the National League West.

“With the same number of ‘contenders’ as the American League, the National League offered 46 head-on confrontations, 24 more than the American League.”

Radio daze: A new billboard overlooking a Midwest freeway urges drivers to tune in AM 1000, WLUP this season to catch Chicago Bull games. Unremarkable, except that the freeway is 279 miles from Chicago in Detroit, home of the National Basketball Assn. champion Pistons. A spokesman for WLUP said the station’s signal can be received in Detroit on clear nights.

Trivia answer: The Dodgers beat the Pirates, 5-4. Face finished with an 18-1 record.

Quotebook: Green Bay first-round draft pick Tony Mandarich, whose penchant for torn T-shirts and baseball caps worn backward is starting to make the Boz look spiffy, on his four-year contract: “I’m happy to be a Packer. I did call Green Bay a village in Playboy, but every village needs a village idiot.”