Waiter Was Not Impressed by Attempt to Butter Him Up

Former major league umpire Steve Palermo told Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Bruce Keidan of once attending a sports dinner where he was seated at the head table.

A waiter placed a pat of butter on his plate to accompany a dinner roll. Palermo then asked for a second pat.

The waiter said, “The rule is one pat per person.”

Palermo then told the waiter of his accomplishments as an umpire and the waiter responded, “Well, maybe you don’t know who I am.”

“You’re right, I don’t,” Palermo said. “Who are you?”

The waiter replied, “I am the guy in charge of the butter.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only Los Angeles Laker ever to lead the NBA in scoring for a season?

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Golf lure: The Deposit Guaranty golf tournament, with a small purse and heavy competition from the Masters, will literally go fishing for PGA professionals.

The Hattiesburg, Miss., event will hold a fishing tournament to entice pro golfers. Officials hope some players take the bait, since most of the high-profile pros are playing at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., that same weekend, April 8-11.

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Equal opportunity: USC basketball Coach George Raveling, revealing how he first got involved in the game:

“When I went to Catholic High school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees went on the football team.”

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Dream away: Memphis State’s Anfernee Hardaway, a 6-foot-7 junior, has been compared to Magic Johnson because of his ability to play all five positions.

“I love Magic to death, and he’s one of my idols, but I think I can be better than Magic,” Hardaway said. “But I’m not a boastful person. I’m not going to say I’m better than he is because he’s done things that I want to do. He’s won championships at every level and that’s something I haven’t done.”

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Prince and his court: Cleveland Cavalier center Brad Daugherty recently appeared as a special guest on “The Arsenio Hall Show,” which also featured rock star Prince.

“He had about 40 people with him, and about 30 were women,” Daugherty told the Chicago Sun-Times. “The thing that really stood out, though, was that they were all barefooted.

“At one point a guy from the show came up to me and said, ‘Thank goodness, you’re a normal person.’ ”

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FYI: On this day in 1972, the Lakers beat the Buffalo Braves at the Forum, 141-102, for their 62nd victory on the way to an NBA single-season record of 69-13.

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Trivia answer: Jerry West, with a 31.2-point average in 1969-70.

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Quotebook: Daredevil Robbie Knievel, who will compete in a motorcycle jump-off today against Eddie Kidd of England at Panama City Beach, Fla: “I don’t ride a motorcycle on the street. It’s too dangerous.”