Getting Past Russell’s Defense Will Cost a Minimum of $295

Nearly 30 years after signing his last autograph, Bill Russell has agreed to pick up a pen again--for a price.

According to the Boston Globe’s Peter May, Russell has signed a two-year agreement with a sports memorabilia company, Sports Archives, Inc., to autograph such items as jerseys, basketballs, shoes and pictures. And the Russell autograph won’t be cheap. The price tag on a jersey signed by the former Celtic star is $995. Getting an autographed picture will cost $295.

Russell’s cut is not known, according to May, but the deal includes clauses that forbid him from speaking with the media and signing other autographs.

“Bill Russell is the most expensive autograph of anyone who is alive today,” Joie Casey, president of Sports Archives, Inc., told May.

Yes, Casey meant anyone , in or out of sports.

“Gorbachev and Castro are second and third,” he said.

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Add Russell: Casey told May that his company has already lined up some unusual customers.

One is a Philadelphia man who collects Sports Illustrated covers as a hobby and gets them signed whenever possible. The collector has seven covers featuring Russell, none with signatures--a problem that can now be corrected for a mere $2,065.

Also ready to do business is a Seattle restaurant owner who counts Russell as a customer. The restaurateur, who collects basketballs signed by NBA stars, is ready to part with the $495 necessary to get Russell’s signature on a basketball.

Asked why the man simply doesn’t slide a ball under the American Express carbon when Russell pays his bill, Casey said: “Russell doesn’t even sign those. He has an agreement with the credit card company.”

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Last add Russell: May ran all this past Sacramento King General Manager Jerry Reynolds, who worked with Russell. The way Reynolds figures it, somewhere there’s a rich trainer, because Russell, as coach of the Kings, at least had to sign for per diem money.

Said Reynolds: “Maybe I’ll stop signing (autographs) now, too. Of course, you have to have someone want yours before you can say no.”

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Trivia time: What player has won the most Wimbledon titles?

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Plane talk: PGA champion John Daly ran into a little travel trouble after participating in an exhibition match against Davis Love III on Monday at Castle Pines Golf Club in Denver. It seems Daly got into an argument with a flight attendant before takeoff from Denver’s Stapleton International Airport, stomped off the plane and later, citing the snafu, withdrew from this week’s Buick Classic in Harrison, N.Y.

According to Buddy Martin, a spokesman for Castle Pines, the incident stemmed from an argument involving Daly, his caddie and the flight attendant as passengers boarded a Continental Airlines jet bound for New York. The caddie wanted the flight attendant to find room for his carry-on bag in an overhead compartment in the first-class cabin. The flight attendant refused, citing a bad back.

Moments later, according to Martin, the flight attendant closed the plane’s door, prompting Daly to remark: “If you’ve got a bad back, you shouldn’t close that door.”

Replied the flight attendant, by Martin’s account: “If you don’t want to be on this plane, get off.”

So off Daly went, perhaps in search of the bus station.

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Add plane: Daly’s explanation for missing the Buick Classic didn’t fly with Newsday’s Jeff Williams, who noted that Daly has made hasty withdrawals from other tournaments. Wrote Williams:

“He’s 26 years old and carries about a responsibility of a superstar, whether he wants to be one or not. Once on that plane for New York, he should have settled in for a few hours’ sleep and kept his commitment.

“In his statement, he apologized for not coming to New York. But not doing so definitely wasn’t first class.

“It’s time he got upgraded.”

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Trivia answer: Billie Jean King, who has won 20.

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Quotebook: New York Met broadcaster Tim McCarver, after the Mets’ David Cone had struck out Houston’s Casey Candaele on three pitches: “Looks like Cone burned the Candaele at both ends.”