$1-Million Tournament Keeps Graf From West German Party

Tennis star Steffi Graf says that if she had been home in Bruhl, West Germany, this week, she would have made the seven-hour trip to join her countrymen sitting atop the Berlin Wall.

Said Graf, who is in New York for a $1-million tournament: “No one expected it this soon, but people stood up for their rights. Tennis is not such a big, important thing right now.”

While Graf is unable to celebrate with her family and friends in West Germany, her thoughts are with them. “I’ve been trying to get through to a friend of mine in Berlin for three days,” she said. “I can’t reach him, but he left his answering machine on. It said, ‘I’m sorry I won’t be home because I’m partying all day.’ ”

Trivia time: Mark Davis is the National League’s Cy Young Award winner. Which two other Padres won the award?

Ones who got away: When Stan Morrison was basketball coach at USC, he recruited Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, now stars for Loyola Marymount. But Morrison resigned, and George Raveling took over. Sparks flew between Raveling and Gathers and Kimble; the two then transferred.

Morrison, in his first season as coach at San Jose State, was at a Big West Conference meeting in Los Angeles Wednesday. Among those in attendance was Nevada Las Vegas Coach Jerry Tarkanian, whose Runnin’ Rebels played host to Loyola Marymount Wednesday night. As Tarkanian left to catch his flight, Morrison broke up the meeting with a farewell: “Give my best to Hank and Bo.”

No tip o’ the cap: From Peter May of the Hartford Courant: “One of the interesting twists of that infernal thing known as the NBA salary cap is a section dealing with settlements to foreign teams.

“Yes, Dino Radja’s legacy lives on. While he’s busy posting up Serbo-Croatian onion farmers, the Celtics are saddled with his salary--and then some--until early January. NBA rules stipulate that any amount more than $250,000 paid to settle a matter such as the Celtics’ contract dispute with Radja’s Yugoslavian team be counted against the team’s salary cap. The amount of the settlement has not been revealed, but Radja’s $425,000 salary is listed in the latest salary cap book as $447,000. While Radja’s salary gets wiped off the books 60 days into the season, General Manager Jan Volk said he believes whatever is left of the settlement figure at that time counts against the team’s cap.”

A cost overrun?Tom Jackson of the Sacramento Bee, on the Candlestick Park debut of Atlanta Falcon rookie Deion Sanders: “Sanders is the kind of rookie only the Pentagon could love. He’s the original NFL stealth rookie. He’s outrageously expensive, he can fly, and nobody’s completely certain what will happen once he reaches his target.”

As bad as it gets: Dallas cornerback Everson Walls gave up a fourth-quarter touchdown pass in a 24-20 loss to Phoenix Sunday. As Walls was talking to his friends on the Cardinals after the game, Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson shouted at him to get to the locker room. Said Walls: “He embarrassed me. Only college coaches and Mike Ditka do that.”

Thumbs down: As evidence that the Calgary Stampeders’ fans have turned on the team, popular linebacker Doug Landry, celebrating a teammate’s interception during a recent game, threw the football into the stands. The fans threw it back.

It’s not academic: Utah Jazz President Frank Layden, addressing the University of Utah’s football team before its game with Stanford Oct. 21: “Gentlemen, you are going to be playing against one of the finest academic institutions in America. But you didn’t come here to debate them.” Utah won, 27-24.

Dime a dozen: Harvey Greene, the public relations director of the Miami Dolphins who used to work for the New York Yankees, notes that the Yankees have had 15 managers since Don Shula became the Dolphins’ coach in 1970.

Trivia answer: Randy Jones and Gaylord Perry.

Quotebook: Eagle quarterback Randall Cunningham, whose receivers dropped 11 passes in a 10-3 loss to the Redskins Sunday, on booing by the Philadelphia crowd: “I can’t boo.”