Don’t Expect Hobson to Be a Lobe-Trotter

Boston Red Sox Manager Butch Hobson, in a bold show of authority, said that his players should leave their earrings in the clubhouse.

“I don’t have anything against earrings,” he said. “I just don’t like earrings on the field. I don’t think that’s a place for them.”

Hobson said he might sport his own earring under special circumstances. “I told the guys if they win a world championship, they could pierce my ear and shave my head,” he said. “I was serious.”

The Red Sox haven’t won a World Series since 1918, so Hobson isn’t risking much.

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Trivia time: Where and when did Wilt Chamberlain make his NBA debut?

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Billboard coach: From Bob Smizik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “Is there a schlockier act in all of sports than the one in which Seton Hall Coach P.J. Carlesimo shows up for games in a sleeveless sweater bearing the name of an athletic equipment company? And, of course, Carlesimo quickly removes his sports coat so everyone can see the shameless walking advertisement he is.”

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Dull expert: Columnist Donald Kaul of the Des Moines Register, gloating over the demise of six-girl high school basketball in Iowa scheduled for 1994:

“I’m not one to blow my own whistle, but before I came along, no one had noticed that girls’ basketball was dull. Duller than oatmeal. Duller than television. Duller than golf.”

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High finance: Blackie Sherrod of the Dallas Morning News recalls what Abe Lemons, former Oklahoma City University basketball coach, said of some disgruntled alumni: “They wanted to buy out my contract for $20, but I couldn’t make change, so they had to let me stay.”

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Bird food: Larry Bird is selling out, or rather the likeness of him on a Wheaties box is selling out in his hometown of French Lick, Ind.

The Larry Bird edition of the General Mills cereal boxes appeared on Boston supermarket shelves last month in a promotion linked to a special tribute to Bird’s 13-year career with the Boston Celtics.

Tony Watts, a market manager near Bird’s hometown, lobbied the company relentlessly to get a piece of the action for Agan’s Market in the town Bird still calls home. He put his 1,700-box allotment on sale Monday and sold more than 800 in two days despite a limit of one box per customer with a minimum $5 grocery purchase.

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Trivia answer: He played for the Philadelphia Warriors in an exhibition against the St. Louis Hawks on Sept. 30, 1959, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

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Quotebook: Stan Morrison, San Jose State basketball coach, on Nevada Las Vegas’ quickness: “We’re guarding guys who can play tennis by themselves.”