Night on the Town Nearly Became Too Much to Bare

At a New York luncheon to honor Dick Barnett and Coach Red Holzman of the NBA champion Knicks of the 1970s, Barnett told of a memorable night on the road.

“Some of the players felt it would improve our eyesight if we went to a burlesque show at the hotel, even though we might miss curfew,” he said. “When we mentioned it to Red, he told us not to go because we might see something there that we shouldn’t see.

“But we went to the burlesque show anyway. And we did see something there we shouldn’t have seen. We saw Red.”

Remembered: In a footnote to the Hank Gathers tragedy, sports historian Dwain Esper of Burbank recalled that Wayne Estes of Utah State was voted posthumously to the Associated Press All-American basketball team in 1964-65.

Estes, who had been second to Miami’s Rick Barry in scoring, was electrocuted when he brushed against a live power line after an auto crash.

Trivia time: What do Doc Rivers, Bo Schembechler and Pop Warner have in common?

Cherry-pickin’: Former NHL coach Don Cherry, now a TV commentator, claims that the Kings’ Tomas Sandstrom had it coming when he got hit by Edmonton’s Glenn Anderson last week.

According to the New York Times, Cherry said on the national telecast: “Sandstrom’s got a big mouth, and when you have a big mouth in the National Hockey League you’re going to get it shut. And he did get it shut. He dropped the gloves first.

“Oh, by the way, what do you do first with a guy like Sandstrom? You get the visor off first, see. Once you get the visor off, did you see the terror in his eyes? And he asked for it.”

Going up: From Wallace Matthews of Newsday: “George Foreman, whose asking price since he knocked out Gerry Cooney has risen from $50,000 to $250,000, headlines the April 3 USA Network show. As usual, there are problems finding an opponent Foreman is willing to fight.”

Said USA’s Rob Correa: “When Tyson was champ, Foreman was going after 5-foot-10 cruiserweights. Now that Buster Douglas is champ, he’ll probably want to move up to 6-foot-4 cruiserweights.”

Bird watch: When Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls heard that the Boston Celtics might trade Larry Bird, he told Newsday, “We’ll take him.”

What about the salary cap?

“I’d take a cut,” Jordan said. “I make enough on outside stuff.”

Trivia answer: The same first name, Glenn.

Quotebook: Dave Odom, basketball coach at Wake Forest, which was expected to be the sleeper team in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season: “We’re a surprise team, but we are one of the surprises in reverse.”