NFL labor strife stirs Spare Bears memories

The first thing I think about when the NFL has a labor dispute and eventually gets around to settling it are the Spare Bears of Chicago, who went 2-1 during the strike-shortened season of 1987. One of the wins was a 35-3 victory over the Illegal Eagles, or whatever they called the team of Philadelphia replacement players. (The San Francisco Phoney-Niners was another favorite.)

I moved to Las Vegas on Oct. 3, 1987. That Spare Bears game was played on Oct. 4. I watched it at the Dunes. I was temporarily staying at the Imperial Palace and would have watched it there, but this was when the IP smelled of stale cigars and of stale guys wearing Hawaiian shirts.

The Dunes, of course, no longer exists. At least one of the Spare Bears does. Sean Payton was their quarterback. The New Orleans Saints coach completed 8 of 23 passes for 79 yards in three replacement games. His quarterback rating was 7.3, which should make Jay Cutler feel slightly better.

Five years before, during the NFL strike-shortened season of 1982, I also remember watching Baldwin-Wallace beat Wittenberg. On CBS.

(The following year, Whittenburg & Charles -- North Carolina State's Dereck and Lorenzo -- won it ... on the dunk. Also on CBS.)

John Madden was in the booth for the Baldwin-Wallace vs. Wittenberg game. He told Sports Illustrated that his train only went to Toledo (Ohio), but according to the map, it was only 2 more inches to Springfield (Ohio), home of the NCAA Division III Wittenberg Tigers. Madden said he could find another train to take him 2 inches.

In lieu of showing football follies or "Kate & Allie" reruns, CBS made the decision to broadcast four Division III games to regional NFL audiences. The regional audiences mostly enjoyed these games, which captured the essence of guys playing football for free. Dick Stockton mostly did not enjoy these games. He called one from an open-air scaffold.

Occidental beat San Diego 34-20, and Stockton overcame his fear of heights. West Georgia beat Millsaps 41-6, Wisconsin-Stout beat Wisconsin-Oshkosh (B'gosh) 23-15, and Baldwin-Wallace beat Wittenberg 16-14 on a fourth-quarter field goal by Steve Varga, the son of a Yugoslavian immigrant.

Like the Dunes and Payton's playing career, Yugoslavia didn't survive, either.

In 2010, Varga was inducted into the Baldwin-Wallace Hall of Fame. The Baldwin-Wallace website said he made 32 of 54 field goals during his career and 77 of 87 extra points, earned a tryout with the Patriots and that his biggest claim to fame was kicking the game-winning field goal against Wittenberg, in 1983, in the Ohio Athletic Conference championship game.

Bigger than kicking the game-winning field goal on CBS with John Madden in the booth?

How soon they forget.

THREE UP

■ You don't know what you have 'til it's gone. Exhibit A: Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi." Exhibit B: NBA Summer League, Las Vegas.

■ Transaction he and I would like to see: OMAHA NIGHTHAWKS--QB Jeremiah Masoli. Got paid this week.

■ Brad Mills took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of the 51s' 5-0 victory over the Tucson Padres and retired 19 consecutive hitters during one stretch. The game was played in Fort Wayne, Ind., ranked "The Best Place for Minor League Sports" by Street and Smith's Sports Business Journal in 2007, before dropping to second in 2009. So if Fort Wayne returns to No. 1, it probably should thank Brad Mills.

THREE DOWN

■ Two years ago, the UNLV men's basketball team played Kansas State at Orleans Arena when the National Finals Rodeo called dibs on the Thomas & Mack Center. Last year, the Rebels played Boise State at Orleans Arena. This year, they will play Cal State San Marcos, a startup NAIA program -- but only because Oolitic High, which beat the Hickory Huskers in "Hoosiers," couldn't get out of its game against Floyds Knobs.

■ This just in: Paulie and Junior transform U.S. women's soccer star Abby Wambach's 2009 Honda Civic into a motorized roller skate on the next "American Chopper."

■ How long before A-Rod is seen out on the town with Hope Solo?

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.