Then Came Marshal to Tell Him He Was Holding Up Play

John Williams of Winnipeg wasn’t having a particularly good round of golf on a course in Calgary, Canada, when he was interrupted in a most unusual fashion.

A policeman commandeered his golf cart to chase a burglary suspect. A second officer commandeered another cart, and between them they cornered the suspect.

“This officer yelled, ‘This is police business, I need your golf cart,’ and off he went,” Williams said.

Trivia time: Steve Vanderpool of the USC sports information department asks, how many former USC basketball players became head coaches in the NBA?

Reason enough: Charles Barkley believes that the New York Knicks will win the NBA’s Eastern Conference championship, but he’s rooting for the Chicago Bulls.

“I hope (the Bulls) make it so Michael (Jordan) and I can play some golf,” Barkley told David Casstevens of the Arizona Republic. “Patrick (Ewing) don’t play golf.”

Competition: Philadelphia Phillie catcher Darren Daulton’s baseball cards have become popular after his very successful 1992 season and, so far, All-Star 1993 season.

But he might not have the most popular card in his family. Daulton’s wife, Lynne Austin, is featured on several cards in the new “Calendar Girls of Hooters.”

Austin, who was a Playboy centerfold in 1985, is a national spokeswoman for Hooters restaurants. The 100-card set features Hooters waitresses from throughout the 100-outlet chain of restaurants. Daulton’s ’93 cards, like those of his wife, sell for 10 cents apiece.

Mr. T: From Jackie MacMullan of the Boston Globe: “Still would love to see Kevin McHale as a head coach. With his patience (or lack of it) with officials, he’d be thrown out of every game.”

And away we go: From the Good Doctor of Inside Sports:

Question: Jackie Gleason was my favorite actor--and quite a baseball hitter as a younger man, I understand. Where did he usually play.

Answer: “Kramden Yards.”

Sobering news: John Valentin of the Boston Red Sox is often mistaken for teammate Mike Greenwell.

“Don’t get too carried away,” Greenwell told Valentin. “All it means is that you’re ugly.”

Rice elbow? Cleveland Indian pitcher Mike Bielecki, after throwing in the bullpen to test his sore right elbow that caused him to leave a recent game early:

“When I threw, I only heard my elbow go ‘snap’ and ‘crackle.’ I didn’t hear it go ‘pop’--and that’s good.”

Job stress: The book “Sports Shorts,” quoting Jacques Plante, a former standout goalie for the Montreal Canadiens:

“Goaltending is a normal job. Sure! How would you like it in your job if every time you made a small mistake, a red light went on over your desk and fifteen thousand people stood up and yelled at you?”

Trivia answer: Six. Bill Sharman, Alex Hannum, Mack Calvin, Bob Kloppenburg, Tex Winter and Paul Westphal.

Quotebook: Andy Van Slyke of the Pittsburgh Pirates on how to prepare for knuckleball pitcher Charlie Hough of the Florida Marlins: “It’s not something you can practice. It’s like practicing javelin catching.”