Kenny Easley

Tom Lasorda, finally recovered from the disaster at Chavez Ravine, has been dusting off all the old stories to entertain the media in the hospitality rooms at the World Series. According to Murray Chass of the New York Times, Lasorda has been telling the one about how he asked his players if they knew why people say 'God bless you" when someone sneezes. "Because," Jerry Reuss said, "it's been proven that when you sneeze, your heart stops for an instant."

Ray Lewis fought for his life against murder charges, then became the most dynamic defender in the NFL as he led the Baltimore Ravens to the playoffs. After the most trying year of his life, and perhaps his most productive on the field, Lewis easily won the Associated Press defensive player of the year award announced Tuesday.

One of the Denver Broncos already owns a victory over the Seattle Seahawks this season. Mike Barber, the tight end the Broncos acquired from the Los Angeles Rams last week, was part of the Rams' 35-24 Monday night win over Seattle four weeks ago in the Kingdome. That ought to count for something, shouldn't it? Maybe a scouting report, if nothing else? "All it counts for is what's already very evident," Barber said last Thursday. "I know they're a very good football team.

In the 56 years of the NFL draft, only one other defensive back has ever been drafted higher than UCLA safety Eric Turner, the No. 2 player in the first round Sunday, when he became the top pick of the Cleveland Browns. Gary Glick of Colorado A&M, who was the league's first draft choice in 1956, had an uneventful career with the Pittsburgh Steelers. "I knew at 7 a.m. (Sunday) that it was about a 75% chance that Cleveland would draft me, so I wasn't surprised," Turner said.

Syracuse is shooting a horrendous 60.4% from the free-throw line this season. Five times they have gone under 50%, and in their eight losses, they have shot 57.1%, missing 67 foul shots. Wrote Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post after the Big East semifinals: "Meaning no disrespect, but exactly who does Syracuse University have in mind when it steps to the foul line, Wilt Chamberlain? You talk about Clang Time.

So-called draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. called Illinois defensive end Scott Davis, drafted by the Raiders, "one of the most overrated players in the draft." He also rated the overall Raider draft among the worst in the league. The Plain Dealer of Cleveland did some research and resurrected these evaluations by Kiper in 1985: --Darryl Sims, defensive end, Wisconsin: "Lacks the national recognition, but he is one hell of a football player who could go on to be an all-pro performer in the NFL."

USC 49, UCLA 14 Nov. 24, 1979, at the Coliseum Setup: Fourth-ranked USC (9-0-1) thought it had clinched a Rose Bowl berth two weeks earlier by beating Washington, but Pacific 10 Conference officials subsequently awarded the Huskies a forfeit victory over Arizona State because the Sun Devils had used ineligible players. Thus the Trojans needed to defeat or tie the Bruins (5-5) to go to Pasadena to play Ohio State on New Year's Day. Although USC was a 15-point favorite, UCLA was on a bit of a roll following the emergence of freshman Tom Ramsey, a fourth-string quarterback who had come off the bench to lead the Bruins to a comeback victory over Arizona State.

Thirty-eight more striking National Football League players returned to their teams Friday, bringing the total of defectors to 86 and setting up some remarkable mismatches for the first weekend of the non-union games. While a dozen St. Louis Cardinals walked back in, 13 other teams haven't had any. One of those teams is the Washington Redskins, who will play the Cardinals Sunday at RFK Stadium.

New Mexico kicker Katie Hnida not only is the only woman playing Division I-A football, she also is the lone Lobo with bowl experience. Hnida was on the Colorado roster in 1999 when the Buffaloes played in the Insight.com Bowl against Boston College. She didn't play in that game and doesn't figure to play today either. But simply participating is good enough for now. "Sometimes I forget that I'm the only woman playing college football right now," she said.

Thirty-seven players from UCLA and USC have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, enough for the Bruins and Trojans to warrant their own wing. Twenty-eight hail from USC, nine from UCLA. Here's an alphabetical list of the players, with selected key performances from the crosstown rivalry game: USC PLAYER POSITION LETTERED INDUCTED Marcus Allen Running back 1978-81 2000 Jon Arnett Halfback 1954-56 2001 John Baker Guard 1929-31 1983 Ricky Bell.