They Can Walk All Over You for Only $1,000

Want to have your name inscribed on a tile to be placed near the Rose Bowl game Hall of Fame, where the names of O.J. Simpson, Warren Moon, Jim Plunkett, Ernie Nevers and other New Year’s Day players-of-the-game are engraved?

For $1,000, the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce will put your name on a tile in the Circle of Excellence Plaza at the entrance to the Rose Bowl. In addition, the $1,000 will entitle you to purchase a World Cup soccer game ticket at face value. Only one, though.

Add ego trip: For only $150, you can get a tile located in the plaza walkway--where people can walk all over it. But you don’t get to buy a World Cup ticket.

Trivia time: When David Robinson got 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 blocked shots in a game last month, it was only the fourth quadruple-double in NBA history. Who got the other three?

Tough audience: The Pittsburgh Pirates recently added former pitcher Bob Walk to the team’s radio-TV team. This prompted several comments from Pirate coach Rich Donnelly.

“Maybe now he’ll get a complete game,” Donnelly said.

In 250 starts, Walk completed only 16 games.

Added Donnelley: “He’s been second-guessing Jim (Leyland’s) decisions for eight years. Now he can get paid for it.”

The Lip and the Babe: Leo Durocher’s recent induction into the baseball Hall of Fame brings to mind Babe Ruth’s nickname for his one-time New York Yankee pal--”The All-American Out.”

Durocher wasn’t as bad as his reputation, however. He hit .286 in 1936.

That would get him $3 or $4 million these days.

A nice itch: When Wayne Gretzky breaks Gordie Howe’s NHL scoring record of 801 goals, it will be a bittersweet occasion for the Kings’ captain because Howe has long been Gretzky’s hockey idol.

“My best Christmas ever was when I was 5 years old and my dad--I mean Santa Claus--brought me a Gordie Howe sweater,” he told Larry Wigge of the Sporting News. “I wouldn’t take it off, even though it itched like crazy.”

Trivia answer: Hakeem Olajawon, 1990; Alvin Robertson, 1986; and Nate Thurmond, 1974.

The old hometown: After Dave Stewart had spent a few hours in a Tampa jail, the Toronto Blue Jay pitcher was asked if he was afraid.

“I’m from Oakland,” he said. “There’s not much I’m afraid of.”

Quotebook: Fred Couples, analyzing Johnny Miller’s stunning victory at the AT&T; Pebble Beach tournament after not having played for a year: “I know this sounds cruel, but (Miller’s) win doesn’t say a lot for our PGA Tour players.”