This Big League Father Knows About Doing Business in NBA

Former NBA star Rick Barry says the Boston Celtics are mistreating his son, Jon, their unsigned first-round draft pick.

“What they wanted to do was steal him,” the elder Barry said. “If they had offered him a three-year guaranteed contract starting at $500,000 with a 30% increase each year, he’d have been happy to sign during the summer.”

Add Barry: Rick Barry also said the Celtics and other teams don’t have good relationships with son Jon’s agent, Richard Howell.

“My son shouldn’t be punished for that,” he said. “He’s not a problem kid, but the situation is killing him.”

Trivia time: What is UCLA’s largest margin of victory over USC in football?

Riley’s review: Coach Pat Riley didn’t like what he saw when his New York Knicks made 20 turnovers in losing to the Seattle SuperSonics. “Right now, you look for the enemy and the enemy is us,” he said. “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot.”

TV critique: Newsday columnist Tom Verducci’s analysis of the ESPN baseball draft: “The cable network ripped this entire draft from baseball’s hands and orchestrated everything, even telling the deputy commissioner and the two league presidents when they were permitted to speak. They were informed of each selection even before they were announced. So what did they produce? An incredibly dull affair that had less appeal than a tractor pull.”

How soon they forget: Overheard at a recent San Francisco 49er game where Joe Montana was making a few throws during pregame warm-ups:

“Hey, Joe, why don’t you retire now?”

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Prentis Rogers’ reaction: “Why don’t they require a brain scan when fans apply for season tickets?”

Loop pattern: A recent Morning Briefing item about Idaho wide receiver Yo Murphy prompted reader Bill Simpson to write that, “a quarterback who spotted Murphy breaking into the clear would be most likely to yell, ‘Yo, Yo!’ ”

Yo-Yo segue: How many loops can a yo-yo yo make in an hour? Luis Salamanca set the one-hour world record of 7,574 loops, Nov. 5, 1988, at Sydney, Australia.

Not surprising: The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac reports that Boise State claims to have the only university football field with blue artificial turf.

Trivia answer: UCLA beat USC, 39-0, in 1950.

Hard times: The University of South Carolina decided to cut $18,500 off its budget by not hiring someone to dress up as Cocky, the school’s gamecock mascot, at football and basketball games. Instead, two or three students received $500 scholarships to do the job.

Quotebook: Golfer Larry Nelson, on playing a tournament at Walt Disney World: “I want to win here, stand on the 18th green, and say, ‘I’m going to the World Series.’ ”