It’s Great to Have Confidence, but It Won’t Put Points on Board

Sixty-five years ago last month, with unbeaten Notre Dame scheduled to play Carnegie Tech at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Fighting Irish Coach Knute Rockne couldn’t be bothered to attend the game.

According to the Pittsburgh Press, Rockne was so confident of a Notre Dame victory on Nov. 24, 1926, that he went to Chicago to watch the Army-Navy game and write about it for his syndicated column.

In Pittsburgh, Notre Dame’s second team started the game and held Carnegie Tech scorelessin the first quarter.

But after the first team took the field, Bill Donohoe and C.J. Letzelter scored touchdowns for Carnegie Tech, and Howard Harpster added drop-kick field goals of 32 and 45 yards.

The Irish lost, 19-0.

Trivia time: How many football jersey numbers have been retired at Stanford?

. . . on my mind: News item: Georgia Frontiere, owner of the Rams and a onetime professional singer, will sing the role of the mother in Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera, “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. at Chapman University in Orange.

Comment: Here’s hoping her performance is more impressive than her team’s.

Not so soon: It was suggested recently in Boston that the Celtics should retire jersey No. 32 in honor of their former nemesis, Magic Johnson.

Wonder if anybody thought to consult Kevin McHale?

That’s his number.

A big charge: On Thanksgiving Day, Edison High of Philadelphia ended a 58-game winless streak by defeating Simon Gratz, 22-20, on a two-point conversion with a minute to play.

“It feels good, and it feels odd,” Edison Coach Larry Oliver said. “It’s hard to believe that all that frustration and anger and depression that you feel is finally over.”

His players left the stadium still dressed in their uniforms.

“We never let them do that,” Oliver said. “We just thought they should be able to walk through the streets. Let people see happy Edison football players.”

Edison hadn’t won since 1984.

Sorry we missed it: On Nov. 19, 1983, in the teams’ annual “Civil War,” Oregon State and Oregon played to a scoreless tie.

None have been played since in NCAA Division I football competition.

No regrets: Coach Don Nelson is not concerned with those who are second-guessing his decision to trade for Billy Owens--even those who believe he could have ended up with Dikembe Mutombo if he had traded Mitch Richmond to the Sacramento Kings on draft day.

“The No. 1 thing I look for in the draft is guys who know how to play basketball,” Nelson told Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe. “Larry Bird is a 10, but Billy Owens is right up there, about an 8 1/2 or a 9. He was the best basketball player in the draft.”

Trivia answer: Two. No. 1, worn by Ernie Nevers, and No. 16, worn by Jim Plunkett.

Quotebook: Yannick Noah, captain of the French team, on Davis Cup tennis: “It’s not only about hitting some balls. It’s about having a big heart.”