He’s Didn’t Take Job, but He’s Not Choked Up Over It

University of Utah basketball Coach Rick Majerus, who nearly left the Utes for the Golden State Warrior job that eventually went to P.J. Carlesimo, had dinner with Carlesimo a few days before the Warrior coach was choked by Latrell Sprewell.

“I feel a lot better about not having taken that job right now,” Majerus told the Chicago Sun Times. “I eat well enough the way it is.”

He was talking about about all the money he might have gotten from the Warriors, not how hard it is to eat with a star player clutching your throat.

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Trivia time: What three Pacific 10 schools have losing bowl records?

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A real scoop: John Fricke and Sean Salisbury, the former USC and NFL quarterback, were conversing on XTRA 690 radio Saturday when Fricke asked Salisbury who he thought would win the Heisman Trophy:

Salisbury replied: “Charles Manson.” Then he quickly corrected himself to say Charles Woodson, Michigan’s outstanding defensive back.

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Ultimate preparation: Toronto Raptor forward Carlos Rogers, on why he was reading “A Divine Revelation of Hell”: “You’ve got to know your opponent.”

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When and where? New Orleans Saint Coach Mike Ditka on his mercurial personality:

“I’m a flake. Just write that. I’m a flake. I got a lot [of] split personality and stuff like that. If you’re in the right place at the right time, you’ll probably see me in a dress.”

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Too severe: Mike Kessler, a San Francisco Chronicle reader, has this suggestion:

“Justice would be served if the Louisiana court sentenced Ed DeBartolo to buy the New Orleans Saints and attend all their games as punishment.”

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Touchy, touchy: Carolina Panther tight end Wesley Walls on whether the improved play of the team’s wide receivers has opened up things for him:

“I open up things for the receivers. Let’s get that straight around here. I open it up for them.”

Don’t get mad about it.

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FYI: The Pacific 10 Conference has never been represented in the Sugar Bowl. However, two California schools have played in that bowl game.

Santa Clara defeated Louisiana State twice, 21-14 in 1937 and 6-0 in 1938, and St. Mary’s lost to Oklahoma State, 33-13, in 1946.

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Trivia answer: Arizona 3-7-1, California 5-7-1 and Oregon 3-8.

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And finally: Sprewell isn’t the first player to attack his coach. In 1984, after L.A. Express Coach John Hadl cut Greg Fields, a 6-foot-6, 265-pound defensive end, Fields returned to the practice field and decked Hadl.

The Express of the United States Football League got a restraining order to keep Fields away.