Morning Briefing : Trail Blazer Coach Doesn’t Like Shots Some Players Take

Jack Ramsay calls them woofers, and he claims that Kelly Tripucka is one of the worst.

After a game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the Detroit Pistons, Ramsay claimed that Tripucka had been baiting Audie Norris of the Blazers, knowing it wouldn’t lead to fisticuffs, because someone would be along to break it up.

“These players are known as ‘woofers,’ ” Ramsay said in a column he writes for the Portland Oregonian. “They will taunt and threaten and shadow-box just beyond the rim of actual combat. They are frequently the cheap-shot artists who spray elbows or give the unnecessary forearm shiver when setting screens.

“They wouldn’t have survived in the old NBA. The other players would have stepped aside and let them have at it. Kelly Tripucka would have had his chance at Audie Norris if that’s what he wanted. Audie was willing--and ready.

“There were some fighting legends in the old days. Al Attles, currently the general manager of the Golden State Warriors, was a strong, tough guy who tossed a much larger Zelmo Beaty several rows back among some quickly scattering fans when he took exception to an elbow Beaty threw in Al’s midsection.

“Bill Bridges, a strong forward for the old St. Louis Hawks, once cleaned house on the whole New York Knicks team. Willis Reed, the Knicks’ center years after the Bridges incident, challenged the entire Laker bench, one by one, after a scuffle on the floor and got no takers.

“I saw Dennis Awtrey, whose Little Orphan Annie hair style camouflaged a tough, combative nature, chase a retreating Dave Cowens into the stands after Dennis had landed some resounding blows.”

Add Ramsay: “There were also some non-fighters who got into it on occasion,” he said. “When that happened, the rest of both squads might watch for a minute or two in amusement to see if either player would land a blow.

“I remember one such an event when Matt Guokas, who played for me at Philadelphia, got into a windmill swinging contest with Gail Goodrich, then with the Phoenix Suns.

“I think each took a dozen of their best shots at each other, but when they realized that neither player had been hit, a kind of embarrassed truce was declared and the game went on. Matt’s teammates weren’t quick to let him forget that happening.”

Last Add Ramsay: As the season winds down and crunch time approaches, he said he was reminded of a Biblical quotation from St. Matthew: “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.”

Said Ramsay: “The meek may inherit the earth, but they won’t make the playoffs.”

Trivia Time: Pat Ewing is the third center to lose twice in the NCAA final. Who were the other two? (Answer below.)

Wrote Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News last week, comparing the attitudes of the NCAA finalists: “The neophytes (Villanova) are big-eyed and happy to be on the dais and maybe even think the whole schmear is just a game. The Georgetowns are crouched mutely in their cave, eating raw meat and sharpening bayonets.”

Protested Georgetown Coach John Thompson: “Let’s judge by what happens in the game, not by sitting players in the bleachers and having them talk all day and be nice guys. I know a lot of nice guys, but they ain’t here.” Trivia Answer: Jerry Lucas (Ohio State), 1960-61 and 1961-62, and Akeem Olajuwon (Houston), 1982-83 and 1983-84. Lucas, like Ewing, also was a one-time winner. Ohio State won the title in 1959-60.

Quotebook

Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax, admitting he is astounded by today’s salaries: “But then, I never thought gas would be a buck and a half a gallon, either.”