From a great carom shot to a body slam, a few 'Citations'

Presenting a fresh batch of "David Citations," for the interesting, zany and downright weird in sports:

BEST COMBINATION OF LUCK AND SKILL: On her 21st hole Friday at the Arkansas state girls Overall golf tournament, Conway's Mary Michael Maggio went for an island green at Pleasant Valley Country Club and the ball sailed left. It bounced off the cart path, rolled across a narrow bridge just avoiding the creek that bordered the green and came to rest in the rough just a couple of feet from the brush. Maggio then cooly chipped within 2 feet to birdie the hole and tie for the lead at the time.

BEST NEW/OLD COURTING: Henderson State University has named its basketball court at the Duke Wells Center "Don Dyer Court" in honor of the Henderson graduate who won 316 games as coach of the Reddies. Dyer also won 338 games in closing his career at the University of Central Arkansas and is the winningest basketball coach in the history of both schools. Among those attending the dedication ceremony of "Don Dyer Court" last week were former UCA coach Don Nixon and former Hendrix coach Cliff Garrison, who once served as an assistant to Dyer.

GETTING TONGUE-TIED BEFORE KICKOFF: The public address announcer at the UCA-Sam Houston State game called people's attention to the "Coss of the toin."

BIGGEST SLAM BY AN ELDERLY WOMAN: Former Arkansas football coach Frank Broyles, in speaking at the Hendrix/FCA Bob Courtway Memorial Breakfast, told a story when Darrell Royal first began using the wishbone with one of his best Texas teams and ran through Arkansas in the first half of the game between the old rivals: "In that first half, we changed defenses nine times and we didn't stop them (the Longhorns), didn't even slow them down. I told my assistant coaches to get to the dressing room and figure out a way to stop them. I sprinted to the dressing room and in my haste bumped into an elderly lady and knocked her down. I said, 'Excuse me lady, no offense.' She looked at me and said, 'That's OK, no defense either.'"

AND HE'S AT THAT STAGE: Broyles said he was recently informed of the four major stages of a man's life. "In the first stage, he believes in Santa Claus. In the second stage, he doesn't like Santa Claus. In the third stage, he becomes Santa Claus. In the fourth stage, he looks like Santa Claus."

BEST ADMONITION: During a critical juncture in the fourth quarter of the UCA-Sam Houston State game, UCA quarterback Nathan Brown looked at receiver Willie Landers and told him, "If I throw to you and you catch it, don't stop until the end zone." Landers caught a pass and made a move for a 60-yard touchdown.

BEST COMPLIMENT TO TOUGHNESS: Brown said this about rival quarterback Rhett Bomar of Sam Houston State: "I saw the pounding our defense was putting on him and he kept getting up ... I told him after the game that he had my utmost respect and I told him we started 0-1 last year and still played for a conference championship."

WEIRDEST REACTION: When Conque informed his offensive coordinator Todd Cooley that he had instructed Brown to quick-kick during a juncture against Sam Houston State, he said Cooley yelled in his earphones, "What! What!"

IRON MAN AWARD: Against Sam Houston, UCA defensive back Phillip Johnson played 91 snaps and played on all he special teams.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE WHY STATISTICS CAN BE DECEPTIVE: A reporter during the Southland Conference teleconference pointed out to Nicholls State coach Jay Thomas that his team is one of the league's statistical leaders in defending the pass. "Those stats may be a little misleading because we haven't defended the run," he said.

(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at 505-1235 or david.mccollum@thecabin.net)