His Neighbors Were Beating Around Bush

San Francisco 49er quarterback Joe Montana is seeking $1.5 million from neighbors who allegedly encroached on his privacy by pruning trees and shrubbery.

The lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court, claims Mehdi and Parivash Moghimi trespassed on Montana’s property in Atherton in October, 1991.

The suit also claims the landscaping invaded the Montanas’ privacy and caused the couple “humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish and suffering.”

From pruning?

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Trivia time: Who holds the NCAA tournament record for highest field-goal percentage in a career?

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Don’t count on it: John Ralston, who was recently named football coach at San Jose State, said that he could see the Pacific 10 Conference becoming the Pac 12--including San Jose State.

Pac-10 officials say they have no idea what the 11th school would be, let alone the 12th.

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Ripping Rashad: Jonathan Curl of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that NBC’s Ahmad Rashad can claim a dubious distinction--”worst sideline reporter in the history of America.”

Curl continues: “Rashad comes from the Boy-aren’t-I-good-looking/ask-nothing-but-innocuous-questions school of journalism. No insight--none--is gained when he interviews a sports figure.”

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Counterpoint: From Peter Vecsey of USA Today: “(Charles) Barkley says writers who cover teams worse than .500 shouldn’t be allowed to ask questions during All-Star weekend.

“Fine, at the same time, players from losing teams shouldn’t be permitted to make the team. Neither should coaches from losing teams be allowed to vote for the subs.”

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Just shut up: Columnist Art Spander of the San Francisco Chronicle advises Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics to quit complaining about his contract.

“Some guys go to Arizona to get themselves in shape,” Spander writes. “You just practice your complaints. I guess you’re always thinking about that commercial, that they sell no whine before its time.”

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Sour note: Laker center Benoit Benjamin, on his relationship with Seattle SuperSonic Coach George Karl: “George is very egotistical. He went so far as to say that I was an LP in his CD collection.”

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Fallout: Lou Whittaker, 64, one of America’s most renowned mountain climbers: “We have a saying--there are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but there are no old, bold climbers.”

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Bare bleachers: Dave Anderson of the New York Times recalls that when Tex Rickard, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ public address announcer at Ebbets Field, was told by an umpire to remind fans not to drape their jackets over the railing above the left-field wall, he announced:

“Attention, please: Will the people behind the rail in left field remove their clothing.”

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Makes sense: From “Baseball Quotations:” Casey Stengel: “The secret of managing a club is to keep the five guys who hate you away from the five who are undecided.”

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Trivia answer: UCLA’s Bill Walton, 68.6%, 1972-74.

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Quotebook: New York Ranger defenseman Mark Hardy, on the laptop computer he takes on the road with him: “Great, isn’t it? I’ve got a $2,000 computer and all I know how to do is play the golf game on it.”