University of Miami Students Are the Eyes of the Hurricanes

University of Miami athletes have an added incentive to attend class. If they don’t, there is a good chance a fellow student will report them.

For $4.25 an hour, students known as Hurricane Watchers report to the athletic department on whether athletes are going to class, arriving late or leaving early.

The Watchers keep their identities secret so that athletes won’t try to “bribe or intimidate them,” said Anna Price, director of Miami’s athletic support program. “They are the most unlikely people. Players would never suspect them.”

Hurricane Watchers are paid for their 20-hour weeks through a work-study program. “We do it because it’s a form of support,” said a Watcher who has monitored players since the program began 1 1/2 years ago. She said her mission has never been uncovered by the athletes under surveillance.

“On a student basis, I am friends with some of the players. But on my job basis, there is no contact,” she said.

“It’s a good policy,” Hurricane defensive back Charles Pharms said. “If a guy is skipping class, the administration cares enough to get on his fanny. I don’t know who the Hurricane Watchers are, but even if I did, I wouldn’t threaten them. I would go up, pat them on the back, announce my presence and maybe even show them my homework.”

Trivia time: Only two linemen have won the Heisman Trophy. Who were they?

Keeping their Guard up: Tom Yantz of the Hartford Courant reports that the Coast Guard Academy, rated the most selective college in America by USA Today, accepted only 9% of its applicants this year. The SAT average for freshmen at the Academy is 1,200, according to its admissions office.

Yantz quotes Pete Mingo, second platoon commander of Alpha Company and a starting offensive tackle on the Division III football team: “You can’t watch ‘Cheers’ and make it here.”

Thanks, coach: Dave Gavitt, commissioner of the Big East Conference, told Joe Gergen of Newsday what it was like to play for coach Al McGuire when Gavitt was a freshman at Dartmouth.

“Al then was like Al now,” Gavitt said of McGuire, who went on to win an NCAA title at Marquette in 1977.

“He didn’t know anyone’s name. I was working like hell for two or three games to get into the starting lineup and we had a big game against Holy Cross. I must have hit seven or eight jump shots and when he pulled me out, he gave me a slap on the back and said, ‘Good job, George.’ ”

Gavitt later teamed with Rudy LaRusso to lead the varsity to Dartmouth’s last Ivy League championship. “Now (McGuire) kids me about being a short, fat kid with a lot of heart,” Gavitt said. “I tell him he ruined my career.”

Blue Monday: Three players in the Oregon Lottery’s Sports Action game awaited last Monday night’s game between the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints with 13-for-13 records.

Lottery Director Jim Davey says the three had a chance at a top prize of $26,662 for 14 perfect picks; none picked the 49ers, who won, 31-13. Davey said the top prize will approach $50,000 for this week’s games.

That special something: How good is Detroit Lion rookie running back Barry Sanders? Said Lion assistant coach June Jones: “When I was playing for Atlanta, the first time we played against O.J. Simpson, you knew he was different. You knew Walter Payton was different. The first time Barry took the ball, he made a great run, and immediately, you knew he was different.”

Trivia answer: Ends Larry Kelley of Yale in 1936 and Leon Hart of Notre Dame in 1949.

Quotebook: Richard Pound of Canada, an International Olympic Committee vice president, on the possible impact of a reunited Germany on the Olympics: “All I can say is they would make one hell of a team.”