Scorecard

DIFFERENT ATTITUDES

Even though it was disclosed that Auburn's All-America tailback, Brent Fullwood , hadn't attended a single class since October, coach Pat Dye refused to suspend his star from this week's Citrus Bowl game against Southern Cal. Dye accepted Fullwood 's explanation that he had stopped going to class for personal reasons, including a debilitating illness and a car accident involving his father and stepmother. "I wouldn't think of suspending him," Dye told The Birmingham News , though he didn't explain why Fullwood , a senior, was able to concentrate on football when he couldn't attend class. Fullwood 's fall-term academic work affects his winter-term eligibility, and because the winter quarter at Auburn doesn't begin until after New Year's Day, he's technically eligible for the game.

North Carolina tailback Derrick Fenner, the leading rusher in the Atlantic Coast Conference , was technically eligible for UNC 's Aloha Bowl appearance against Arizona last Saturday, but he didn't play. He didn't even make the trip to Honolulu . Fenner, a sophomore, had been suspended "for academic reasons," said Tar Heels coach, Dick Crum . "I'm very disappointed for Derrick. He's a very talented football player and he has certainly made some important contributions to our team. However, at this institution academics are also important, and something had to be done about his current situation." Crum wouldn't elaborate on what Fenner's situation was. Without Fenner, UNC lost to Arizona , 30-21.

IT'S THE THOUGHT THAT COUNTS
In the Associated Press wire story that announced the GTE Academic All-America football team, the word academic was misspelled.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Memphis State forward Vincent Askew's on-court artistry has earned him the colorful sobriquet Vincent Van Go. And the basketball fans in Minnesota have come up with lively nicknames for the NBA team they hope to attract to the Twin Cities. The prospective owners of the not-yet-extant franchise obviously didn't want to reprise the names of previous local pro hoops teams—the Pipers, Muskies and Lakers—so they held a contest. Submissions included the Abominable Snowmen, the Slush, the Mosquito Nets and the Wobegons. The finalists are the Timberwolves and the Polars; a winner will be selected later this month.

Then there's the case of the quarterback they call Dan Marino , who plays for the Bears in the Southington ( Conn. ) midget football league. He would love a nickname because he really is named Dan Marino , a coincidence that has led to considerable ribbing from his teammates. Still, the 13-year-old admits he loves to hear the P.A. announcer say, " Dan Marino back to pass."

BLOWN' IN THE WIND
In a California Class 3-A playoff game, punter Art Moran of Palisades High kicked for a respectable 31-yard average and allowed no runbacks but still cost his team two points. Booting with a 25-mile-per-hour wind at his back in the first quarter, Moran boomed one over the receiver for a 65-yarder. With the ball on his team's three and facing the same wind in the next period, he kicked a towering punt from his own end zone. The ball hovered, then blew backward and out of the end zone for a safety. Palisades hung on to win 14-8.

TOWARD SAFE HARRORS

Griffin O'Neal, son of actor Ryan O'Neal, was acquitted last month of manslaughter charges in connection with the boating death of his friend Gian Carlo Coppola. But the 22-year-old O'Neal was found guilty of operating a boat in a manner that endangered life. "He used poor judgment," said Maryland Circuit Court Judge Martin Wolff. "He was inexperienced, and he tried to squeeze through a small space." The Memorial Day accident occurred on the South River near Annapolis when a 14-foot runabout steered by O'Neal snagged a towline strung between two larger boats. Coppola, 23, son of movie director Francis Ford Coppola, was thrown to the deck of the runabout and suffered massive head injuries. "We have a tragic result," said the judge, "but death and negligence don't equal manslaughter."