Jerry Jones hopes ‘darling’ ref wasn’t too offended

Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was called for a penalty after throwing the coach’s challenge flag during Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. No one seemed to understand how you could get a penalty for throwing the flag until, after the game, referee Ron Torbert gave the reason for the penalty.

“It was for abusive language toward an official,” Torbert said.

That led to a classic response from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones:

“Oh, I hope the little darling didn’t hear something he hadn’t heard before.”

We want Tacko

The chant was consistent and loud during the Celtics’ first preseason game Sunday night in Boston.

“We want Tacko!”

There were people wearing taco costumes in the stands. Signs for him. During the second quarter, when the chants were at their loudest, Celtics coach Brad Stevens went over to talk to his 7-foot-7 center, Tacko Fall.

“I just talked to Tacko about it,” Stevens said. “Tacko is such a gracious guy, and it puts him in such a tough spot, right? He knows he doesn’t want to put extra heat on me. Everybody wants Tacko. My kids are the same way, and everybody else. I think that’s cool, and that’s great. But I just hope people continue to appreciate him for what he is as a person and how hard he’s working to try to make it to the NBA. Because he’s a really good kid and he’s really, really working hard, and I think he’s going to be in the NBA for a long time.”

And when Fall checked into the game in the fourth quarter, the place went crazy.

And when he scored on a slam dunk, you would have thought the Celtics just won the title. No pressure, right, Tacko?

“Pressure?” Fall said after the game. “I feel like I’m in a dream. I’m in the Garden, playing with the Celtics and with all these players. There’s no pressure. It’s just a matter of going out there and having fun.”

Hall worthy?

Former Rams receiver Isaac Bruce, who spent 14 seasons with the team in L.A. and St. Louis, isn’t in the Hall of Fame, and many consider that to be one of the biggest current oversights. But he doesn’t seem too bothered by it, telling TMZ Sports that “I can’t do any cartwheels or backwards flips to make people notice me. When introducing me, I always say just put my numbers up front and let the numbers speak for the career that I had. I trust God’s timing in processes like this.”

Bruce is hoping that if he does go in, he gets elected the same year as former teammate Torry Holt.

“I think that would be super. He was a special talent in a league where the rules were different. We had a lot of headhunters that we played against.”

Bruce finished his career with 1,024 receptions (13th all-time), 15,208 receiving yards (fifth) and 91 touchdowns (31st).

Your favorite sports moment

What is your favorite all-time L.A. sports moment? Email me at [email protected] and tell me what it is and why and it could appear in a future daily sports newsletter or Morning Briefing.

This moment comes from Terry Hadley of Austin, Texas:

It is my oldest memory of an L.A. sports moment. I was 6 years old living in Downey, Calif. In 1959, 60 years ago this month, the Dodgers were in a playoff series with the Milwaukee Braves to decide the National League pennant.

I can’t recall if I was listening to the radio or watching on TV, although back then televised games were limited to games in San Francisco or special events.

The final game of the playoff series went to extra innings. Burned in my memory are the words Vin Scully used to describe the moment the Dodgers earned a World Series berth to play the Chicago White Sox.

“Up with it is Mantilla. His throw is wild! Hodges scores. We go to Chicago!”