A Remark to Player Is Haunting Watson

Tom Watson probably wishes he could change a few things in his career, but nothing more than his controversial accusation that Gary Player cheated in the 1983 Skins Game.

If Watson could do it over again, he would have kept the matter between himself and Player. Watson told Golf magazine that even when he accused Player of improving his lie by removing a growing leaf, he was upset that it became public.

Dave Anderson of the New York Times had overheard Watson tell Player he thought he had cheated. In retrospect, Watson said there was one thing he might have done differently.

“I would have walked farther away from Anderson,” he said.

Is this important?The Lakers have more years of National Basketball Assn. playoff experience than any team that made the playoffs, 67. The Phoenix Suns? They are next to last with 20 playoff years. Backup guard T. R. Dunn has 10 of them.

Trivia time: Besides it being the first, what is another distinction held by Super Bowl I at the Coliseum?

Bake a bigger pie: If the Detroit Pistons win the NBA title, each player will get $57,000. When the original NBA playoff pool was established in 1951, players and coaches divided $50,000.

The bus stops here: John Madden, who was booed from coast to coast as the coach of the Oakland Raiders, said he now receives flattering mail from NFL fans but suspects it is because they “miss somebody to yell at.”

Madden, who left the Raiders after 1978, said he enjoys being a television announcer and riding around the country in his customized bus, called the Madden Cruiser.

“I don’t miss coaching,” he said. “I’ve had a good life and I’ve never really had to work.”

Trivia answer: It’s the only one that didn’t sell out.

New listing: Need a place to live while in New York? For $3.5 million, John McEnroe’s apartment can be yours, according to the New York Post.

Chopping spree: The Minnesota Vikings plan to enroll 10 to 12 players in karate classes, buoyed by the success of Joey Browner, the Vikings’ All-Pro strong safety who credits his martial arts training with making him a better tackler and improving his confidence.

“A person’s assignment out there is to destroy you,” Browner said. “This is a way to protect yourself.

Short story: Letter writer Ken Weigel swears that television fight commentator Ferdie Pacheco said this during a Kelcie Banks’ fight, after Marv Albert had remarked that Banks’ opponent spoke five languages: “That is impressive, since he’s so short.”

Quotebook: From Henry Aaron: “It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.”