Sound Advice for Fans Going to Arrowhead

You’ve heard the expression “deafening noise.” Well, it’s a fact at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, where the Chiefs played the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night.

An audiologist had urged fans to take precautions before the game.

“The sound level at Arrowhead Stadium nearing 120 decibels can be compared to a jet taking off, a nightclub or thunder. For an outdoor stadium, that is unbelievable,” said Kevin Ruggle of the Audiology Center. “I strongly recommend that if you take the kids, have them wear some hearing protection.”

As for the players hearing signals, it’s difficult. “After our first home game, my ears were ringing for about two days,” Kansas City quarterback Elvis Grbac said.

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Trivia time: When was the last time USC played UCLA in football when both were ranked in the top 10?

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No Knicks for Nick: Dave Checketts, New York Knick chief executive, reacted strongly to a rumor in the New York Daily News that the Lakers and Knicks were discussing a possible trade involving Nick Van Exel:

“I don’t want him on this team, how’s that?” Checketts said. “I’m not going to give reasons. I don’t need to be quoted in the L.A. Times about what I think about him.”

Aw, Dave, please tell us.

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More from New York: Jet defensive end Hugh Douglas, on his team being in first place for the first time since 1987: “Back then, all I thought about was getting a girlfriend, not playing football.”

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Tired routine: Before Charles Barkley said he would retire again (he didn’t), Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News wrote: “So quit, already. He could be rather surprised at the lack of ripple.”

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Add Barkley: Bill Conlin in the Philadelphia Daily News, on Barkley tossing a 5-foot-2 heckler into a plate-glass window: “Barkley allegedly established a new American citizen’s record in the 120-pound litigant toss.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1977, Brigham Young’s Marc Wilson set an NCAA record with 571 passing yards in a 38-8 rout of Utah. The record currently is held by David Klingler of Houston, 716 yards against Arizona State on Dec. 2, 1990.

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Looking back again: On this day in 1927, Walter Hagen beat Joe Turnesa, 1 up, to win the PGA championship for the fourth consecutive year.

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Trivia answer: 1988, when USC was ranked second and UCLA sixth. The Trojans won, 31-22.

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And finally: Jim Thomas of the Arizona Republic writes, “Pity the poor sports fan in Illinois where the accent is on ‘ill.’ ”

He cites the baseball Cubs, perennial losers; the Chicago Bears, 1-8; the University of Illinois, 0-8; Northern Illinois, 0-9; Illinois State, 2-8, and Northwestern, 3-7.