When It Came to Howe, Some Asked, ‘Who?’

Colleen Howe’s traveling 65th birthday party for hockey great husband Gordie is getting a cold reception in some places.

In fact, she says some NHL teams have been less than gracious in saying no to arena ceremonies aimed at celebrating the event and raising money for charity. Particularly annoying, she said, was the Toronto Maple Leafs’ reaction.

“We extended an invitation for them to be involved and we get treated like dirt,” she told the New York Daily News. “We’re not going to go around begging.”

Trivia time: When did the Rose Bowl game last draw fewer than 100,000? No reason to read: Raider quarterback Todd Marinovich told the New York Times that “reading defenses is overrated.”

“In my mind, you need 11 guys working together. If you’ve got guys blocking for you and receivers running the right patterns, it doesn’t matter what the defense does. San Francisco doesn’t care about the defense. Whether it’s Steve Young, Joe Montana or Steve Bono, they lead the league. So don’t give me that.”

OK, we won’t.

Parting shot: Frank Hannigan, a former executive director of the U.S. Golf Assn., told Golf Digest that he sees no value in golf as an Olympic sport.

“I’d rather see the USGA cutting deals with Shining Path, the Peruvian Maoist terrorist group, than with the IOC (International Olympic Committee),” Hannigan said.

Please, stop it: Television announcer Dave Rowe, commenting at Tuesday night’s Freedom Bowl: “ . . . And (Travis) Hannah has 4.2 speed.” Faster than Bob Hayes, who said he never ran faster than 4.3 for 40 yards? No way.

Best seller: Casual Lies, the $7,500 yearling purchase who earned $219,000 in this year’s Triple Crown races, might be retired after February’s Strub Stakes at Santa Anita.

Said trainer Shelley Riley: “When he retires, I’m going to breed Casual Lies to a mare I have named True Confession and get a Danielle Steele book out of it.”

Just a trinket: Reader Don Ross recalls the time when Les Horvath, a Heisman Trophy winner in 1944, arrived in Los Angeles to play for the Rams and was invited to the homes of Glenn Davis and Tom Harmon, also Heisman winners, who played for the Rams.

On the way home from Harmon’s house, Horvath’s wife told her husband that she didn’t see why he made such a big deal out of that little statue “when everybody else has one.”

Ho, ho, ho: Some post-Christmas gifts to pro golfers as suggested by Mark Soltau of the San Francisco Examiner:

“Craig Stadler, a subscription to GQ Magazine. Greg Norman, shark repellent. John Daly, a guide to the happy marriage. Scott Simpson, tickets to the Comedy Club.”

FYI: On this day in 1967, the Oakland Raiders beat the Houston Oilers, 40-7, to win the AFL championship and advance to Super Bowl II.

Trivia answer: Jan. 1, 1964, when 96,657 watched Illinois defeat Washington, 17-7.

Quotebook: U.S. Olympic weightlifter Rich Schutz on golf: “I think hitting a golf ball is insane because you have to go chase it. But when you lift weight and put it down, it’s still right there at your feet.”