He Thinks It’s a Royal Pain, but It’s Not New to Sir Charles

Deep into its training for the Olympics, the U.S. men’s basketball team seems to be adjusting quickly to the rigorous regimen that is known as living in Monte Carlo. Sure.

Take for instance the dinner Monday night with Prince Rainer of Monaco, which worried Charles Barkley a little bit.

“They said we couldn’t touch him and you’ve got to stop eating when he stops eating and you have to call him ‘Your Majesty,’ ” Barkley said. “Supposing he just had a snack and ain’t hungry and I’m starving. Does that mean that I’ve got to eat real fast?”

Barkley said he might have trouble addressing the prince.

“I haven’t had to call anyone ‘Your Majesty’ since Harold (Katz),” Barkley said.

Add Barkley: Commenting on the high prices in Monaco: “Twenty dollars for one beer,” he said, shaking his head. “This is the place for alcoholics to come if they want to quit drinking.”

Trivia time: What were the first two Olympic sports in the so-called modern era (since 1900) to be discontinued?

FYI: In the 13 years Hank Aaron ran the Braves’ farm system, he hired 35 minor league managers. Two were black, one of them Aaron’s brother, Tommie. Aaron told Sport magazine he didn’t hire more blacks as managers because of the racial abuse directed at Sonny Jackson when Jackson managed in Anderson, S.C.

Aces in the hole: Stanley Virciglio, who had two holes in one in three holes during a charity event organized by Alabama football Coach Gene Stallings, won a new car with the first ace and a $25,000 shopping spree at a jewelry store with the second.

“I guess one of the first things I need to do when it hits me is talk to my accountant,” Virciglio said. “I’m sure the IRS will hear about this.”

Easy come, easy go: Who did Nick Faldo copy to help him in his third British Open victory? Fred Couples.

“It’s his great attitude,” Faldo said of Couples’ laid-back, easygoing on-course demeanor.

Of course, the laid-back, easygoing Couples missed the cut at the British Open.

Error: Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post thinks it’s time baseball shaped up: “The national pastime is becoming a national joke. . . . Baseball, as a product, is the only major sport that’s regressed, becoming less interesting and harder to watch.

“Your basic at-bat nowadays consists of a hitter spitting and scratching for 20 seconds, then stepping into the box. The pitcher, after rubbing the ball, blowing on his hand, playing with the resin bag, winking at his agent, spitting, etc., might be ready to throw the ball. Once it’s thrown, there’s about a 2% chance the umpire will call it a strike.”

Trivia answer: Cricket and croquet were contested once, in 1900, then discontinued.

Quotebook: From Raider defensive end Anthony Smith on how he sprained his right thumb: “Chester (McGlockton, 6 feet 4 and 325 pounds) sat on it.”