Game Started, Ended Badly for the Big O

Oscar Robertson, considered by some to be the greatest basketball player of all-time, was already a legend in his own time when he led the Cincinnati Bearcats into the 1959 Final Four at Louisville, Ky.

As Cincinnati and California lined up for the opening tip of their semifinal game, Cal’s Bob Dalton, who was to guard All-American Robertson, approached with his hand outstretched. Said Dalton to the Big O: “My name’s Dalton, what’s yours?”

The Cal players say it unnerved the normally unflappable Robertson, who scored 19 points but made only five of 16 shots in the game--making only one basket in the second half.

Robertson, however, says he doesn’t remember the incident with Dalton. He probably doesn’t want to remember. The Bearcats lost, 64-58.

Trivia: When Bill Russell led USF to consecutive National Collegiate Athletic Assn. titles in 1955 and 1956, who was the coach of the Dons?

He grows on you: Steve Jacobson of Newsday admits he didn’t always appreciate Yogi Berra. Jacobson tells this early story about Yogi:

“I was a young reporter traveling with the (New York) Yankees in Kansas City during the time of the dynasty, when Ban-Lon was the new fabric sensation. I had been advised that Berra was a suspicious churl and not to expect a cheerful gnome dropping clever lines all about.

“Anyhow, he came over in the lobby and squirted blue ink on my new white Ban-Lon shirt. I thought, ‘How could a Cro-Magnon be so stupid?’ But I held my tongue. Yogi laughed. In about a minute, the ink disappeared and we both laughed.”

He’s a natural: Berra insists he doesn’t sit up nights thinking of the funny things he says, such as “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” or “It gets late early out there.”

Said Berra: “We’d sit at the dinner table, and one of the kids would jump up, ‘There, he said another one, Mom, a Berraism.’ I don’t know I say them, they just come out.”

Time to leave: Coach Dave Lebo obviously knew the time was right to take a sabbatical from coaching this season at Carlisle, Pa., High School.

Lebo coached Carlisle to a 222-19 record in the past eight seasons with players such as his son, Jeff Lebo, the North Carolina point guard, and outstanding Syracuse freshman Billy Owens--who led Carlisle to four consecutive state championships.

In its first season since the departure of Owens and Coach Lebo, Carlisle finished at 1-23.

It’s not hereditary: It was 35 years ago when Togo Palazzi, No. 22, made five consecutive jump shots from the deep corner to give Holy Cross a victory over Duquesne in the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament.

A couple of weeks ago, Togo’s son Matt, also wearing No. 22, missed two open three-point attempts in the last few seconds as Providence fell to Virginia, 100-97, in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Trivia answer: Phil Woolpert.

Quotebook: An associate of yachtsman Michael Fay after New York State Supreme Court Judge Carmen Ciparick awarded the America’s Cup to New Zealand: “When the fat lady finally sang, she sang us a Maori song.”