Super decision: How can the National Football League prevent more Stupor Bowls? In light of shrinking ratings and grumbling among advertisers, you can be sure the NFL`s think-tankers will attack that problem during upcoming meetings. Suggestion: Eliminate the two-week delay between the Super Bowl and conference title games. Dilemma: How does the NFL eliminate the extra week and save face, considering such a move is admitting sports fans aren`t as interested as they once were? Answer: Since Commissioner Paul Tagliabue wants the NFL to consider playing next year`s 16-game regular-season schedule over 17 or 18 weeks, have the playoffs end a week later and keep the Super Bowl date locked on January`s last Sunday.
– Governor`s Cups: Maybe Jim Edgar and Neil Hartigan should decide their gubernatorial differences with a game of touch football or basketball. Hot on the heels of news of an athletes-for-Edgar committee being formed by ex-Bear Ronnie Bull, there`s word that Hartigan is forming a similar group. Ex-De Paul cagers Randy Ramsey and Joe Ponsetto are the point men. They have enlisted De Paul women`s coach Doug Bruno, Loyola Hall of Fame basketball player Nick Kladis, ex-Rambler coach Jerry Lyne, sports agent Steve Zucker and George Lucas. Lucas, who played football at Southern Illinois, could turn out to be the most important member. He runs the Cubbie-Bear Lounge, where Hartigan`s jocks are planning to have a fundraiser later this year.
– Mice at play: What`s the reason for the improvement of the second-place Maple Leafs, who failed to make last year`s National Hockey League playoffs?
Toronto sources are pointing to the long convalescence of their irascible 86- year-old owner, Harold Ballard. While Ballard has been hospitalized in Florida after kidney failure, six members of the club`s board of governors seized control and are running the show. It`s a legal soap opera that rivals anything on TV. Leading the coup is board Chairman Paul McNamara, who said he believes Ballard will ”never have the capacity to return and run the team.” He added: ”We are going ahead with things that should`ve been done a long time ago-that he`s put off.” First-year coach Doug Carpenter is in the right place at the right time. Toronto always has been considered a sleeping giant, but the Leafs couldn`t give the coaching job away at the start of the season with their meddling owner on the scene.
– Reunion? Here`s hoping no one scheduled anything for Chicago`s sporting press that runs opposite Inside Sports` Wednesday bash. The magazine is sure to get 100 percent attendance at Harry Caray`s when it introduces cover girl Julie McCullough to hype the March swimsuit issue. If the media need another reason to legitimize a visit, there`s a chance Bears quarterback Mike Tomczak will attend the party, too. He and McCullough were an item at one time before careers, distance, etc. got in the way.
– Halted Huskies: Fortunately, Jim Molinari`s Northern Illinois men`s basketball team was out of town and Jane Albright gave her women`s team a day off. Security was so tight for Tuesday night`s controversial appearance in NIU`s Evans Fieldhouse by Black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan that the facility became off-limits for everyone by midday. NIU`s sports publicity staff had to get special approval from body guards to perform their duties after the building was sealed. There was one narrow-miss on the calendar, however. The Huskie Rugby Club, a pugnacious group in the best of times, held their regular indoor workout the previous night.
– Scripts Ohio: The University of Cincinnati suffered through a disastrous 1-9-1 record in football in `89, but Bearcat officials remain unfazed. They`re soliciting private donations to fund a $13.5 million renovation and expansion (to 35,000) of their on-campus stadium. The project, which starts this spring, puts a lot of pressure on second-year coach Tim Murphy, who, at age 33, is the second youngest Division I coach in the country. The new facility won`t be ready until `91 and Cincinnati has three home games scheduled for next year in Riverfront Stadium. . . . Ohio State will have natural grass in its football stadium next season, begging the question: What will the school do with the old artificial turf? Do the Buckeyes chop it up for souvenirs, or do they sell it? ”Right now, I`m favoring selling it to a high school,” said OSU Athletic Director Jim Jones. – News, Notes & Nonsense: Little League Baseball plans to build a $6 million Leadership Training Center in Bristol, Conn., that will be named for former Baseball Commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti. . . . Sue Nebel is the new president of the Chicago Area Runners Association and the vice president is Marty Portnoy. Making up the new CARA board are: Peg Cronin, Greg Domantay, Ann Hansen, Art Klawans, Tom McCall, Joan Osborne, Carey Pinkowski, Mary Thorne, Janet Voss and David Weiner. A CARA spokesman said the organization expects to have its new executive director in place by the end of February. . . . Tim Mayotte, a two-time champion in the event, has entered the Chicago Volvo tennis tournament that starts March 27 in the Pavilion.
– And finally: Thought for the day. Both the college and pro football championships this past season were won by coaches, Dennis Erickson and George Seifert, in their first year on the job.
