McMahon Now Likes to Run the Option Play

Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that Green Bay quarterback Jim McMahon, now on the downside of his career, decides whether to do mop-up duty in one-sided games.

“When the Packers beat the 49ers at Lambeau Field in the gloppy mud, [Brett] Favre ran off the field with seven minutes left and told McMahon, ‘You’re in.’

“McMahon replied, ‘Bull. . . I’m not gonna go in and kneel down in all that mud. I’m stayin’ right here by the heater.”’

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Trivia time: When the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets, 186-184, in the highest-scoring game in NBA history on Dec. 13, 1983, who was the leading scorer in the game?

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Reality check: Philadelphia 76er center Michael Cage, the former Clipper, became the 40th player to appear in 1,000 NBA games Friday night. He recalled his first game--against the Lakers in the 1984-85 season:

“I was standing on the foul line and next to me was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. I said to myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ ”

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The big hurt: The Chicago Bears routed New England, 46-10, in the 1986 Super Bowl game in New Orleans and it’s still a bitter memory for John Hannah, a standout Patriot offensive lineman at the time.

Hannah, who refuses to wear his Super Bowl ring to this day, told the Boston Globe: “The outcome was embarrassing. I was ashamed to be seen in public.”

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Lemon coach? The Kansas City Chiefs missed the playoffs in a late-season collapse, but owner Lamar Hunt gave a four-year contract extension to Coach Marty Schottenheimer, whose contract wasn’t up.

Wrote Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star: “This is like extending a lease on a car after the transmission drops out.”

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Far East heat: How good a pitcher is Hideki Irabu, of the Chiba Lotte Marines? “He’s the Nolan Ryan of Japan,” said Marine pitching coach Tom House. “I’ve seen him throw probably 20 pitches over 100 mph. He’s one of the top five pitchers in the world.”

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Bronco-mania: Business First, a Buffalo-based weekly, has developed an index for calculating which NFL city is the most supportive of its franchise. Denver was the winner for the fourth consecutive season.

The Houston Oilers, scheduled to move to Nashville in 1998, got the least support from their city, the survey said.

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Waaah! How do you punish a team for playing poorly at home? Why, you take their giant TV out of the dressing room.

That’s what Chicago Blackhawk Coach Craig Hartsburg has threatened to do if his players don’t shape up at the United Center.

What’s next? No dessert after dinner?

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Trivia answer: Denver’s Kiki Vandeweghe, with 51.

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And finally: Blackie Sherrod in the Dallas Morning News: “Remembered sentiment from Joe Torre on new Hall of Fame member Phil Niekro: ‘I found it difficult to catch him, hit him or to manage him.’ ”