Is Honesty Still the Best Policy?

When Jimmy Spencer won his first Winston Cup stock car race at Daytona Beach recently, he asked his 8-year-old son, also named Jimmy, to come with him to the press box for a post-race winner’s interview.

Son: Dad, where are we going?

Father: We’re going up there. You’ve never been up there before.

Son: Neither have you, Dad.

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Trivia time: For which famous American was Pele named?

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Ol’ Lefty: In Larry King’s column in USA Today, King referred to the late tennis star, Lew Hoad: “The left-handed Hoad was always a crowd-pleaser.”

Yes, but he was always right-handed when he pleased those crowds.

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Uh, never mind: The Newark Star-Ledger confirmed in its Monday morning editions that George Raveling was leaving USC for Seton Hall.

Raveling said Monday afternoon that he was staying at USC.

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Jordan update: Last week, with the bases loaded, the count full and his Birmingham Barons trailing Huntsville, 5-3, Michael Jordan grounded to third. When the third baseman threw the ball away, three runs scored and the Barons won, 6-5.

Said Jordan, “I was calm in that situation and just let my abilities come out--what little abilities I have.”

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He’s a Player: Beginning Thursday at Turnberry, Scotland, Gary Player will play in his 40th consecutive British Open, a tournament record. He is the only golfer to win the event in three decades--1959, 1968, 1974.

His 1974 victory over Peter Oosterhuis at Royal Lytham in England was his biggest British Open payday--$13,200. For the record, Greg Norman won $154,000 for his victory last year at Sandwich, England.

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Good company: When Pete Sampras repeated as Wimbledon champion, he became only the third U.S. man to win consecutive Wimbledon titles in 70 years. The others are Don Budge and John McEnroe.

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Dodger bullpen OK: Cathy McAuley, who co-starred in the TV series “Night Court” as Bull’s wife, pitches for the show business celebrity Don MacBeth Memorial Jockey Fund team, which also includes Tim Conway, Alan Thicke and Vince Van Patten.

McAuley has an ERA of 15.00, but it’s all part of her plan.

“People like to see high-scoring games,” she said. “I don’t want to be Nolan Ryan.”

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Adviser redux: The agent for No. 1 NBA draft pick Glenn Robinson is Charles Tucker. Remember him? He is the Lansing, Mich., educator who once helped influence the early careers of Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Mark Aguirre and was billed as “adviser to the stars.”

Tucker said he thinks Robinson can be the first player to make $100 million. Clearly, the stars are getting expensive.

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Big job: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is in Philadelphia this week giving two-a-day private lessons to 7-foot-6 76er Shawn Bradley.

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Cover up! World Cup viewers in Teheran probably were puzzled when they watched spectators clad in winter gear at games played in 100-degree temperatures.

According to Reuters, authorities overseeing rebroadcasts ruled that female fans wearing halter tops and shorts were un-Islamic, so winter clothes were superimposed over the offending spectators.

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Trivia answer: Thomas Edison. Pele’s actual name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

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Quotebook: Tony Kornheiser in the Washington Post, after Brazil had defeated the United States, 1-0, in the World Cup: “Oh yeah? Save your own damn rain forest.”