All That Wilt, 55, Demands Is Chance to Go for the Gold

The United States’ first professional Olympic basketball team won’t be announced until Saturday, but someone is upset already.

“Who’s picking the Olympic basketball team?” asked Wilt Chamberlain, 55.

“Who gave them the right to say that Wilt Chamberlain can’t try out for the team if he wants to?

“It’s ridiculous. Every other sport in this country holds trials, but not basketball. I know we’ve been embarrassed and we are sending Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing and other NBA stars to Barcelona because we must win. But it’s still not fair to basketball players in this country.”

Wilt’s own Olympic ambitions are still unrealized. He used to say he wanted to compete in the decathlon, which still holds tryouts.

No Volunteer: Tennessee State Sen. Bud Gilbert turned down the University of Tennessee’s offer of free football tickets, saying “I just thought they had too much value.”

The freshman lawmaker stands alone among 233 congressmen, state commissioners, governor’s aides, state college presidents and lobbyists offered tickets.

Sen. Stephen Cohen, a leader in ethics legislation, plans to use his complimentary tickets once or twice this season. He said the trips from his home 400 miles away in Memphis are almost fact-finding missions.

“Legislators should see every bit of state property that they can and if it is a football game that gets you there, more power to the football program,” Cohen said. “In some ways you are kind of doing a field trip.”

If sold, a pair of season tickets with parking privileges could carry up to a $1,000 premium on top of their $264 price.

The Bo Watch: Bo Jackson’s agent says Jackson will return to the Raiders--for which he will receive a $100,000 bonus plus $416,000 in deferred money.

“Oh sure, he’ll report to Los Angeles on time,” Richard Woods told USA Today. “While he can’t make a definite football decision now, I would fully expect he’ll report.”

If Jackson passes a physical, he will earn another $1.1 million. If he fails the physical, Jackson stands to receive $4 million on a disability insurance policy.

Trivia time: Among active coaches, who has won the most NCAA basketball championships?

Wizards: CBS, which has had nothing but problems with its new baseball contract, had some more Saturday.

The network took the Dodger-Brave game away from Atlanta’s TBS, but after an early 79-minute rain delay, cut permanently to Toronto’s 6-0 victory over Oakland.

Meanwhile, play resumed at Atlanta and went 10 innings before the Braves won, 3-2.

“We are prepared in most cases to have some runover,” CBS spokeswoman Susan Kerr said. “But in this case, we knew because of a rain delay early that the runover would be 1 1/2 hours, at least. It turned out to be 2 1/2 hours.”

Said Steve Greenberg, baseball’s deputy commissioner: “I’m sure CBS was just as distressed as we were at not having a full game.”

Musical tribute: Before their home game against the Buffalo Bills, the New York Jets played a tape of Whitney Houston singing the national anthem. They said they weren’t aware it had come from the Super Bowl, complete with reference to the Persian Gulf War.

The Bills, who lost in the Super Bowl, thought it was deliberate.

“That was flashback time,” linebacker Ray Bentley said. “I said to Shane (Conlan), ‘What are they trying to do, tick us off?’ ”

Perhaps the player most offended was Scott Norwood, who missed the 47-yard field goal that would have won the Super Bowl.

While Jet fans sang his name derisively, Norwood kicked three field goals, one a 52-yarder.

Killjoys: Vito Stellino of the Baltimore Sun notes that the NFL, already derided as the No Fun League for barring end zone celebrations, is now cracking down on players who high-five fans after scoring touchdowns.

So far, Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers, Gary Clark of the Washington Redskins and Ernie Jones of the Phoenix Cardinals have been reprimanded for excessive camaraderie.

The league says it could be dangerous to have fans running down to the first row to high-five the players.

Says Stellino: “Give me a break.”

Trivia answer: Bobby Knight, Indiana, three.

Quotebook: Sam Snead, after watching John Daly drive: “I just kept wanting to see him take a belt at it. It was like watching a singer or somebody who makes the hair come up on your neck.”