Motor Mouths

Jack Nicholson won’t be the only Lakers fan crying in his Chablis if the tough-guy Detroit Pistons whip Hollywood’s showtime team in the NBA championship series. KROQ-FM morning deejays the Poorman and Richard Blade already are worried about a quickie bet they made with J.J. Johnson, a rival morning jock at Detroit’s WLLZ-FM. The spoils--a used car. If the Lakers win, J.J. has to drive it here, where it’ll be given away on the air. If the Pistons win, the Poorman has volunteered to drive the prize to the Motor City.

The catch: The deejays announced the bet before clearing it with KROQ’s budget-conscious management. “So we have to buy the car ourselves,” said Blade. “The station pitched in $100, but we foot the rest of the bill. According to the bet, the car doesn’t have to be new, but it does have to make it to Detroit.

“We’ve been offered three cars already (from listeners). Unfortunately, the best one was a ’72 Chevy station wagon which gets eight miles to a gallon, which could make it a pretty expensive cross-country trip.”