Knox’s Strategies Are Still in Running

Notes distributed by the NFL to the media recently included these quotes from Chuck Knox:

* “You’ve got to be able to run the football.”

* “Running the ball allows you to control the game.”

* “It’s very demoralizing when your opponent can run right down the field.”

No wonder Knox became known as “Ground Chuck” not long after he became coach of the Rams in 1973.

Roasted: Knox was the subject of a charity roast at the Beverly Wilshire in the mid-1970s, and former Herald-Examiner sportswriter and current horse racing publicist Jack Disney came up with an appropriate line for introducing him: “I should open by sending Lawrence McCutcheon off right tackle.”

But the best line of the night belonged to the late Jim Murray: “Damn, I thought they told me this was for Chuck Noll.”

Trivia time: Rod Dedeaux became USC’s baseball coach in 1947 and five players from his first team made it to the major leagues. The batboy made it to the Hall of Fame. Who is he?

Um, um bad: After a shaky performance by Terrell Owens against Seattle last weekend, Jim Greene was quoted in Tom FitzGerald’s “Open Season” column in the San Francisco Chronicle as saying Owens was getting a bum rap. “As far as I’m concerned, he was good to the last drop,” Greene said.

Scrambled curse: Reader Steve Offield passed this one along, which was also mentioned on Tony Bruno’s radio show: In the 1986 World Series, the starting pitcher for the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 against the New York Mets was Bruce Hurst. Scramble the letters in his name and it spells B Ruth Curse.

Name game: Reader Alex Litrov passes along this one about skier Picabo Street working in the intensive care unit of a hospital: “She is not permitted to answer the phone because she would be answering, ‘Picabo, ICU.’ ”

Golf joke: Heard the one about Father Norton? He misses Mass in order to play golf. He drives to a course about 40 miles away so no one will see him.

As Father Norton sets up on the first tee, St. Peter asks the Lord, “You’re not going to let him get away with this, are you?” The Lord says, “No, I guess not.”

Father Norton proceeds to hit a shot down that middle that rolls and rolls and drops into the hole for a 420-yard hole in one.

St. Peter: “Why did you let him do that?”

The Lord: “Who’s he going to tell?”

Looking back: On this day in 1986, the Boston Red Sox took a 2-0 lead over the New York Mets in the World Series with a 9-3 victory at Shea Stadium. The headline in The Times the next day read: “It’s Boston, Boston in New York, New York.”

Trivia answer: Sparky Anderson.

And finally: Producer Brian Donlan, talking to reporters on a conference call about “Cold Pizza,” a new daily morning show debuting Monday on ESPN2: “To say we are excited about the show is silly because that’s what everyone always says.” True.

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Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.