He Had a Receptive Audience for This Presidential Request

President Bush made an illuminating plea for patriotism from spectators around the first tee Saturday at the Doug Sanders Kingwood Celebrity senior tournament in Kingwood, Tex., near Houston.

“All you Houstonians here, I would have but one request: keep on being the points of light. Keep on with the concept that it really is right for one American to help another, and please don’t laugh at the drive off the first tee,” Bush said as he teed off.

Bush played in a group with PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman, Sanders and the president’s son, George W. Bush, part owner of the Texas Rangers, in a scramble--best-ball--format. The team finished with a one-under-par 71.

Mistaken identity: Bush’s first tee shot went about 200 yards down the fairway and near the gallery ropes. A grandmother from Florida, Dorothy Bertin, said the ball hit her, a claim disputed by several, including Bush’s caddie and the president’s son.

“The president’s ball hit me on the left arm, then it ricocheted and hit someone else, then went back on the fairway,” Bertin said. “My grandkids will be thrilled to death the ball hit me.”

Bertin probably mistook Bush for Gerald Ford, another Republican president who plays golf, uh, erratically.

Trivia time: The 1977-78 Auburn University backfield had three players who eventually played in the Pro Bowl. Who were they?

Well, most of ‘em: Count Detroit Coach Chuck Daly as a fan of the Chicago Bulls, whom the Pistons play for the NBA Eastern Conference championship in a best-of-seven series beginning today.

“They’re not here by accident,” Daly said. “They deserve to be here. I see a lot of us in them.”

Wonder which Piston Daly sees in Michael Jordan.

What’s in a name?In the 1965 Indianapolis 500, Jim Hurtubise drove a car named “STP Tombstone Life Special.” The car finished dead last, expiring after one lap because of transmission trouble.

In 1989, John Andretti’s car was called the “Tuneup Masters” and lasted only 61 laps before engine trouble knocked it out of the race.

Wonder who’s next: The Seattle Mariners figured Darnell Coles could handle the third base job sufficiently to let longtime Mariner Jim Presley take his game to Atlanta. But when Coles made five errors in six games, he was banished to the outfield on April 19 in favor of Edgar Martinez.

Martinez made four errors in a game against Baltimore on May 6 to tie an American League record shared by 21 others.

How soon they forget: Syd Thrift made a name for himself in Pittsburgh, being credited in some corners as saving baseball for the city with moves to provide a contending team on little money. But he learned that fame can be fleeting.

Thrift’s name was misspelled “Thryft” in an advertisement placed in The Pittsburgh Press by a public relations firm handling Thrift’s publicity for a new book.

Trivia answer: James Brooks, William Andrews and Joe Cribbs.

Quotebook: Boston defenseman Glen Wesley sensing early Friday that the Bruins’ 7-2 loss to Edmonton was going to be a long night: “You look up at the shot clock and you’re outshooting them 6-0. And then it’s 6-1 and we’re down 1-0. It’s definitely frustrating.”