STEVE YOUNG staged his annual celebrity golf benefit for Operation Smile Monday at Oakridge Country Club, returning to Utah after last week's San Francisco 49er mini-camp in California.
At the camp, Joe Montana came off the injured list to alternate snaps with his 1991 replacement, Young, and with Steve Bono, who ran the 49ers last fall when Young was injured."It's a crowded situation, no question," said Young. "But I told them what I feel, and what I feel is that after leading the league last year (in quarterback efficiency rating) and learning a lot in the process, the worst place I could go is back to the bench and sit down."
"I don't know what's going to happen," continued Young. "I just know that's what I have to say on the subject. That's what I'm throwing into the wind. The trouble is, I'm not the owner or the coach - which doesn't put me in the best position to make the decisions."
ADD YOUNG: Among the celebrities at Young's golf event were several NFL players, including 49ers teammates Harris Barton, an offensive tackle, and tight end Brent Jones. Barton gave Young a 49ers T-shirt that summed up his "Reasons to Attend Steve Young's Celebrity Golf Tournament." The Top 5:
5. Thought I could find three or four wives.
4. Felt guilty about not attending the Steve Young Ski Tournament.
3. To see Steve in his natural environment - "A scramble."
2. To see if Lee Johnson's wife would let him out of the house.
1. Heard Joe Montana is in my foursome.
NOW THAT WOULD BE A MARATHON: Utah native Ed Eyestone, already on his way to the Barcelona Olympics as a marathon qualifier, ran the fastest 10,000 meters time recorded by an American in more than two years when he participated in the recent Jerome Classic track meet in Vancouver, Canada.
On the surface, Eyestone's time of 27:53 stamps him as the top U.S. hopeful at the 6.2-mile distance. But Eyestone decided shortly after qualifying for the marathon in April that trying to run both the marathon (26.2 miles) and 10,000-meter event in Barcelona - with the Olympic finals in the two events only five days apart - would be asking too much of anybody, especially his own.
His sub-28 time in Vancouver has left him with some doubts, however. And as the track & field trials that will decide the U.S. Olympic team approach next week in New Orleans, he has not ruled out trying to qualify at 10,000 meters.
"There just won't be many people there who have run fast enough times to qualify for the Olympics," says Eyestone. "It's not like I'd have to beat a whole lot of guys."
Just in case, he sent in his entry to the trials, and plans to fly to New Orleans next week - as either a spectator or otherwise. "I'm still leaning toward not trying to double," he says, "but I can't say I'm 100 percent sure. Sending my entry in gives me some time to think about it - and maybe to at least let a few people sweat a little."
QUARTERBACK U.: Charlie Weatherbie, the new head football coach at Utah State University, was also part of Steve Young's charity golf event Monday. Asked what kind of an offense the new Aggies - with a former quarterback as the head coach and another four former quarterbacks as assistant coaches - plan to run, Weatherbie said, "Well, we'd like to throw it."
"We're going to be a multiple formation offense and we'll throw 45 to 50 times a game if we can," he said. "But we've got to have the personnel to do it. We feel we have good receivers and an experienced offensive line. The trigger-puller is going to be the key. If we come up with a good quarterback, it can all come together."
Besides Weatherbie, who played at Oklahoma State, other ex-QBs on the Aggie coaching staff are offensive coordinator Jim Zorn, receivers coach Scott Runyon, running backs coach Darrell Collier and graduate assistant Vince Alcalde.
RIDING INTO THE SUNSET: Now that he's wrapped up his 31-year career as BYU's golf coach, Karl Tucker still won't be lacking for anything to do in the near future. While in Oklahoma recently for one of the Cougars' final tournaments of the year, people representing the golf programs from Oklahoma and Oklahoma State presented Tucker, a lifelong horseman, with a new $1,200 saddle, a bridle, a hat - and the papers for a $2,500 horse. They told the coach he could pick up his horse after the season was over - and ride it home if he wants to.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Larry Holmes, in back-to-back statements while training for his June 19 bout with heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield: "Even though I'm 42, I don't feel 42. Age is not a hindrance."
And without taking a breath: "I'm serious about this Holyfield fight because I'm getting too old to hang around and fight the guys in this game."