No Matter What, Beware of the Fine Print

On page 225 of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue is a picture of UCLA freshman Jennifer Sundquist posing in a bikini with pictures from past issues on her bedroom wall.

On a shelf to her left is a small Bruin bear wearing a button. The first two lines are illegible, but the bottom two are an expletive directed at USC.

Pete Couture, a sports copy editor for the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, spotted the four-letter word and called his paper. Reporter Marc Topkin then called Sports Illustrated to find out if the magazine was aware of the phrase.

“You’re the first person to tell me this,” said Mark Mulvoy, managing editor of the magazine.

“Twenty million people have read that issue and no one noticed it. We did not do it on purpose. This was not an attempt to sneak the word into Sports Illustrated. I regret it.”

Add swimsuit issue: Right under the Bruin wearing the button in Sundquist’s bedroom is a poster that reads, “My Two Favorite Teams are the BRUINS and Whoever Is Playing USC.”

Before the Dodgers’ workout against USC Sunday afternoon, Mickey Hatcher casually asked pitcher Tim Leary if he planned to throw against his alma mater.

Leary briskly informed his teammate that his alma mater was UCLA, not USC. Added the ex-Bruin with a smile:

“If I had to pitch against them (the Trojans), I’d hit them all in the head.”

A little strong there, aren’t we, Tim?

“Hey, they’ve got helmets on,” he said.

Leary allowed that he might still be a little sore at the Trojans.

“At SC, all the players had to stand up and rag at the other team’s pitcher or they got fined,” he said.

Add Leary: The pitcher is scheduled to go to an arbitration hearing Tuesday. He’s asking for $670,000; the Dodgers are offering $525,000.

Asked if he planned to bring up his hitting at the hearing, Leary said: “What do you think?”

Last season, he hit .313, drove in nine runs and had three game-winning runs batted in.

After Indiana’s Jay Edwards hit an 18-foot shot with 4 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 64-62 win over Purdue Sunday, ABC commentator Dick Vitale said, “Maybe he shot it one second too soon.”

Replied broadcast partner Keith Jackson: “That may be the nit-pick of all time.”

Wait a minute: During Sunday’s Oklahoma-Arizona game on CBS, the network went to Pat O’Brien in Houston for a report on the upcoming NBA All-Star game.

Said O’Brien: “Gathered here are the 24 greatest players on the planet earth.”

Retorted Brent Musburger, who was announcing the college game: “Come on, how can you say that when Magic (Johnson) and (Larry) Bird are not there?”

Decisiveness Dept.: The American League office released this statement the other day: “There may, or may not, be a meeting Feb. 20. That meeting may or may not be in person or by teleconference.”

Thirty-five years ago today, Furman’s Frank Selvy scored 100 points in a 149-95 victory over Newberry.

Quotebook

St. John’s Coach Lou Carnesecca, asked if there was anything the Redmen could have done to slow down Syracuse, which beat them, 92-69, Saturday: “Yeah. Take the ball and stick a pin in it.”