Watch the Language, if You Speak English

John McEnroe, who became the first player in 22 years to get kicked out of a Grand Slam event when he was expelled from the Australian Open, says some players get away with swearing on court because they don’t do it in English.

“I need my attitude to improve,” McEnroe acknowledged. “I let outside distractions get to me. There are other players who handle it better, like the Swedes. You can drop an atom bomb next to them and they barely change their expressions.”

However, the Swedes aren’t always models of decorum, he said.

“(Mikhal) Pernfors was screaming in the match, but in Swedish it sounds funny. But I know what . . . is in Swedish and I know he said it several times in the match.

“I think if the officials are going to do this to me, they are going to eventually have to get a fleet of interpreters and everything any player says he’s going to be liable for. Otherwise they’ve got to ease up.”

Trivia time: Which four cities have populations smaller than the seating capacities of the NBA arenas located in them?

Dream come true: Ken Rudolph, a backup catcher who had a .213 career batting average in the majors, hit a two-run double in the bottom of the seventh to give the 1969 Chicago Cubs a 3-2 victory over the 1969 Baltimore Orioles in Sunday’s fifth annual Dream Game at Phoenix.

Said Rudolph: “I haven’t had a game-winning hit for about 10 years.”

Add dreams: Rony Seikaly, center for the Miami Heat, said after a 126-91 victory over the Clippers Friday night: “We felt like the Lakers for the night. Tomorrow morning we’ll be the Heat again, but tonight we can feel like the Lakers.”

Add NBA: Moses Malone of the Atlanta Hawks on not making the NBA all-star team for the first time since 1977: “It’s OK. I’ll always be number one to myself. The Legend just won’t be there. I guess I’ll just go home and watch my own videos.”

Last add NBA: Seven-foot Boston Celtic center Robert Parish, on meeting 7-7 Manute Bol: “The first time I met him was a in a nightclub in Boston. Some guy tapped me on the shoulder, and I turned around. I was looking into his chest. That doesn’t happen to me too often.”

Mere cream puffs: Hall of Fame defensive lineman Art Donovan in “Fatso,” by Bob Drury:

“The injuries football players come up with today slay me. It’s all show biz. A guy lies there on the ground like he’s been shot in the head, with three trainers standing around him and the team doctor kneeling over him as if they’re giving him the last rites.”

Trivia answer: Richfield, Ohio; Auburn Hills, Mich.; Landover, Md., and East Rutherford, N.J.

Quotebook: Rich Daly, an assistant coach for Missouri, after one of the top-ranked Tigers barely missed getting a triple-double: “I never knew what a triple-double was until last year. I thought they were talking about a horse race.”