Saying goodbye to some NFL notables

  For those who subscribe to the cable channel Showtime, the "Inside The NFL on Showtime" program (at 9 tonight Pacific time) will feature a segment looking back at those associated with pro football who passed away in 2008.

Among those profiled: the NFL's first female team owner Georgia Frontiere, whose time with the Rams (first Los Angeles and then St. Louis)was never without controversy.

Also included on the program: longtime NFL Players Assn. President and Hall of Fame Oakland Raider Gene Upshaw; Hall of Famers Sammy Baugh and Gene Hickerson; Ernie Holmes and Dwight White, both members of the Pittsburgh Steelers "Steel Curtain" defense; and broadcasters Dick Lynch and Myron Cope.

-- Diane Pucin

Photos: Georgia Frontiere, left, and Gene Upshaw. Credit: AP

Lisa Guerrero: It seemed like a good idea at the time

The coffee I was sipping while perusing latimes.com this morning almost came out of my nose when I got a load of Last Call and the horrible/fabulous “Ram It” video. Not for the obvious reason that it is possibly the most embarrassing music video ever made, but because I am personally responsible for it.

Let me explain -– and apologize.

From 1983-87 I was a Los Angeles Rams cheerleader. We were known as “The Embraceable Ewes,” the “Los Angeles Rams Cheerleading Entertainers” (that was the official nickname) and the “Less Hot Professional Cheerleaders of Los Angeles” (that was the unofficial nickname).

The Raiderettes were hotter than we were due to their bigger pom-poms.

At that time, besides cheering, I was modeling and beginning an acting career. On a plane home to Los Angeles after shooting a commercial in Atlanta, I sat next to a gentleman who was a video producer. We got talking about what a huge deal the “Super Bowl Shuffle” was for the Bears the year before (1985) and I said wouldn’t it be great if the Rams did a video too?

A couple weeks later, we were at Anaheim Stadium shooting “Ram It.”

Unfortunately, I’m in it. Fortunately, I’m unrecognizable. About 2:45 into the video, I’m the tall skinny blond (!) in the back row, second to the left. By way of explanation, I was a bleached blond with acrylic nails and about 10 pairs of white pumps. It was the '80s and what can I say? I also loved the Go-Go's, so sue me.

As I recall, the only starting player of note who refused to participate was Jim Everett, making him look like a genius in retrospect. As bad as "Ram It" truly is, you simply cannot deny the genius musical stylings of Eric Dickerson (4:15 into the video). Spectacular.

On a separate note, who knew that the Rams organization would become a virtual breeding ground for embattled "Monday Night Football" sideline reporters?

The release of the video was met with a lukewarm response, which makes it even more curious that they also released a "Making of 'Ram It' -– Behind The Scenes" video. Believe it or not, that’s floating around somewhere too, and it’s even more brutal than the original -- and, like, 30 minutes long!

Needless to say, "Ram It" was no "Super Bowl Shuffle." And, as has been pointed out before, if the players had concentrated more on football than choreography, they might have actually won a Super Bowl themselves. Maybe not.

On a sad note, while watching this video (which I haven’t seen in 15 years) I noticed linebacker Carl Ekern on his motorcycle about the 3:50 mark. In 1990, two years after he retired, he died in an accident near Ridgecrest. He was 36 years old.

I hope "Carl-E" is up there somewhere smiling and rapping in that big football field in the sky.

-- Lisa Guerrero

Lisa Guerrero has covered Super Bowls, the NBA Finals and the World Series, along with the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. As an actress, she has appeared on "Frasier" and "The George Lopez Show" and as Billy Baldwin's long-suffering wife in the film "A Plumm Summer," which she executive-produced.

Photo at left: Lisa Guerrero interviewing then-Jets Coach Herm Edwards on "Monday Night Football." Credit: Courtesy of Lisa Guerrero

Photo at right: Eric Dickerson, as part of a 2001 publicity shot for "Monday Night Football."

Last call: Why it's good that the Rams left town

There's no introduction that will do this video justice.

-- Houston Mitchell

How Gil Stratton got his start in local sports TV

Longtime Southland sportscaster/actor/baseball umpire Gil Stratton died on Saturday at 86.

Here is an excerpt of an interview he gave KNBC/KFWB sports anchor Bill Seward in December 2007. The interview ran on Don Barrett's LARadio.com. Beginning in 1954 and up until the late '90s, Stratton fulfilled the final third of an incredible three-career life.

"I was a sports announcer, mostly at CBS,'' he said. He also was doing "My Little Margie," when he went to visit a friend, Tom Harmon, who anchored a couple of local TV sportscasts. Tom mentioned that he was going to be leaving the late news at Channel 2. His wife had put her foot down and told Tom he had to choose between the two newscasts.

"I told him that's what I had wanted to do since I was 8 years old,'' Stratton said. "He told me about an audition, and when I showed up, about half the guys on the Rams were auditioning along with most sportswriters in town. I got the job.''

-- Jerry Green

Photo: Gil Stratton, longtime Los Angeles sportscaster, in an undated file photo.

Lisa Guerrero: Between Barack and a hard place

I woke up this morning unusually early. Normally, I don’t like to see the light of day till the crack of noon, but today was gonna be special. I threw on sweatpants, put my hair in a ponytail and grabbed my favorite T-shirt out of the dirty clothes hamper. ... I really have to do laundry today.

At the ungodly hour of 9 a.m., I cruised into the parking lot, which to my surprise was pretty full. Didn’t know the people of Malibu were up this early. Must be surfers.

Then, with a smile on my face and a Starbucks in hand, I headed over to the post office to begin my patriotic privilege; today I would register to vote.

I walked in the door and was shocked to see a line of a dozen or so seniors holding letters or mailing boxes. Man, I thought, old people are early risers. Guess they were surprised to see me too, because they all turned around to stare at me and give me dirty looks. It took me a second to figure out why.

I was wearing an Obama ’08 T-shirt.

The older gentleman in front of me looked particularly disgusted. Donned in a USC sweatshirt and what appeared to be a '70s-style trucker hat with a Rams logo on it (that he presumably bought during the Jack Youngblood era), he was none too pleased with my getup.

I was none too pleased with his breath.

“Obama, humph,” he grunted, then turned back around with his back to me. Under his breath he muttered, “Silly girl.”

Mind you, at my age being called a “girl” is a compliment, but he obviously wasn’t referring to my youthful looks. I could’ve let it go, but if you’ve been reading my blogs so far, you’ll know that I didn’t.

“Excuse me ... what did you say?” I asked.

He turned around and looked at me.

I said, "How 'bout those Rams?"

He said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

At this point I suppose I should’ve just taken a sip of my café mocha and left the old man to his memories, but instead the rest of the conversation went like this:

Lisa G: “They really stink this year, huh?”

Old man: “Well, (grumble, grumble) coaching changes, bad draft picks. Jim Haslett will do just fine. Next season ...”

Lisa G: (feeling bad for the guy) “That’s right, maybe they can turn it around, but too bad they’ve got the Redskins this week.”

Old man: (pauses, looks at me suspiciously) “You a Rams fan?”

Lisa G: Yep. I used to cheer for them in the '80s. I was on the field when Dickerson broke the record. ... They weren’t any good back then either, but he was fun to watch.”

Old man: (still suspicious) OK then missy, who was your favorite Ram?”

Lisa G: “Easy one -– Vince Ferragamo. My dad preferred Haden, but Vince was the one that got 'em into the Super Bowl in '79.”

Old man: “They lost.”

Lisa G: “Plus, he was cute.”

Old man: (laughs) “So, you like sports.”

Lisa G: “Um, yeah.”

Old man: (turns away for a while, we scooch up about 18 inches in line, then he turns back around to face me, looking down at my T-shirt.) “You know what that fella’s full name is, don’t ya?”

Lisa G: “Barack Obama.”

Old man: “Barack HUSSEIN Obama.”

Lisa G: Actually, it’s Barack Hussein Obama the second, but your point is?”

Old man: (whispering loudly) "It’s a terrorist name.”

Lisa G: (stunned for a moment not believing that some people actually believe this. I gather myself.) “Are you a Lakers’ fan?”

Old man: “Well, sure.”

Lisa G: “Did you like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar?”

Old man: “Well, yeah, but that’s different. He won six championships -– a great Laker.”

Lisa G: “If Barack was a great Laker, would you forgive his name?”

Old man: (laughs) “You got a point, missy.”

We wait in line in silence for the next three or four minutes. I was actually starting to feel pretty guilty –- after all, this man grew up in a different generation with another set of values and fears. I was just about to say something to him when he stepped forward to the counter to mail his package.

In a minute, I moved to the counter to be helped by the woman on his left. He finished his business, then walked toward the door, but turned around.

Old man: “Are you a Dodgers fan?”

Lisa G: “Of course!”

And then he took two steps toward me and kissed me on the cheek.

Old man: “We’ll get 'em today, right, honey?”

Lisa G: “You betcha!”

His breath wasn’t really so bad after all.

Lisa Guerrero has covered Super Bowls, NBA championships and the World Series, along with the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. As an actress, she has appeared on "Frasier" and "The George Lopez Show" and as Billy Baldwin's long-suffering wife in the film "A Plumm Summer," which she executive-produced.

Lisa Guerrero: My conversation with J.T. Snow

A girlfriend of mine is a dyed-in-the-wool Dodgers fan. She is beside herself right now in anticipation of the series with the Phillies. She has a Dodger flag on her car and drinks her coffee from a Dodger mug -- and don't even think about calling her during the game.

So what's on the screen saver of her computer? Manny? Torre? Lowe? Ethier? Loney? Nope. How about old school? Lasorda? Piazza? Fernando? Karros? None of them either.

On her screen saver is an iconic image of a San Francisco Giant, J.T. Snow, grabbing the back of 3-year-old batboy Darren Baker during Game 5 of the 2002 World Series, presumably saving him from being trampled by incoming base runner David Bell.

"I love J.T. Snow," she says. "Always have, always will."

Lots of people around here feel the same, grant status notwithstanding. He is, after all, a product of Southern California. His dad, Jack Snow, the Pro Bowl wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams, died in 2006.

I chatted with J.T. this morning by phone. He works as the special assistant to the general manager in San Francisco, broadcasting games and coaching young Giants players in their minor league system. Signed to a one-day contract Sept. 27, he was able to retire as a Giant, although he played his final season in 2006 with the Red Sox, after nine years with San Francisco and, before that, three with the Angels.

When I mentioned that Mike Scioscia was taking some heat in these parts over that squeeze play in the Angels' elimination game versus the Red Sox, he wasn't surprised.

"I didn't agree with that call. A lot of things have to go right to make that work. I just don't think you put your whole season on the line right there," Snow said.

What about the fact that the Halos clinched so early that for all intents and purposes, they didn't have to have a meaningful hit in 21 days (they clinched Sept. 10 and Game 1 of the ALCS was Oct. 1)?

"If you're scratching and clawing until the end of the year, you're better off," said the six-time Gold Glove winner, "and at the end, the Angels were mainly playing bad teams. They cruised through. Then they play the Sox -– good bats, good pitchers -– and they couldn't come up with the big hit. It's hard to ramp it back up and flip the switch like that."

And what does Snow think about his former rivals the Dodgers and his former teammate Manny Ramirez?

Snow loves that the Dodgers are "playing loose and free," and he chalks it up to Manny. What's especially impressive to J.T. is that Ramirez hasn't faced these National League pitchers before. "I love the guy. He's good for the game. He's the best right-handed hitter I've ever seen."

Manny told him recently that he'd like to remain a Dodger. He also told Snow that he loves the atmosphere in L.A. and enjoys playing for Joe Torre.

So what about the World Series?

"I think it'll be Red Sox-Dodgers," Snow predicts, "but Boston should win. They've been there before and know what to expect."

Finally, I asked him what he does in his free time. He coaches his son Shane's Little League team. The 10-year-old made the district all-stars this season.

"He's got quite a sports legacy following in the footsteps of you and your dad," I tell him, "so what's it going to be ... football or baseball?"

J.T. laughs and says, "He's a good athlete, a good baseball player. But he's an even better hockey player."

Lisa Guerrero has covered Super Bowls, NBA championships and the World Series, along with the Oscars, Emmys and Grammys. As an actress, she has appeared on "Frasier" and "The George Lopez Show" and as Billy Baldwin's long-suffering wife in the family film "A Plumm Summer," which she executive-produced.

Photo: After scoring a run, J.T. Snow had the presence of mind to scoop up 3-year-old batboy Darren Baker before he was trampled. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Quotables: Taking a pass on a Hail Mary

Sports are filled with ordinary quotes, and then, once in a while, a refreshing, clever moment comes around. The latter happened twice in the last few days.

First, it was Pat Haden, Rhodes Scholar, successful investment banker, former USC and Rams quarterback and current NBC commentator on Notre Dame football. The Irish had a one touchdown lead on Stanford Saturday in South Bend, and the Cardinal was pushed back hopelessly deep in its own territory as time ran down.

"I don't think they'll try a Hail Mary pass at Notre Dame," Haden said.

Then, there was Steve Asmussen, trainer of superstar horse Curlin, winner of more than $10 million in purses, who was asked after a workout by the horse at Santa Anita Monday morning if, indeed, his horse runs in the big showdown against Big Brown, if that would be the final race for the celebrated 4-year-old before being retired to the stud barn.

"Nobody has told me that," Asmussen said, "but maybe that's because they don't want to see me cry openly."

-- Bill Dwyre

Photo: Former USC and NFL quarterback Pat Haden in May 2007. Credit: Karen Tapia-Andersen / Los Angeles Times

Wally Hilgenberg remembered

Sports fans over 50 who grew up in Los Angeles are mourning the news that former Minnesota Vikings' linebacker Wally Hilgenberg died Tuesday at age 66 after a battle with Lou Gehrig's disease.

No L.A. Rams fan worth Rosey Grier's weight could properly assess the psychological damage of the cold-hearted playoff losses to the Vikings in the 1960s and '70s without evoking Hilgenberg's name.

We pay respects now, but back then we used only four-letter words to describe Hilgenberg.

His ice-chipped face was synonymous with Minnesota Vikings football back when the team was coached by Bud Grant and played in an outdoors stadium.

Don't we wish there was a Metrodome back then?

The lasting picture is of our Rams shivering in sub-zero temperatures, huddled next to sideline heaters that didn't work, waiting for inevitable defeat after a bad football bounce or a horrible official's call.

The lasting image of Hilgenberg will be him laughing in our faces, braving the cold without even wearing an undershirt.

Hilgenberg made a key interception in the Vikings' 1974 win over the Rams at Metropolitan Stadium, and the Rams would suffer other ignominous defeats on the frozen tundra. But we can't talk about the 1969 or 1976 games without the analyst present.