In This Look-Alike Contest, No One Could Match Original

Jorge Paez, the former featherweight champion, is known as “the clown prince of boxing,” mainly because his appearance is sort of unusual. Not only does Paez do back flips in the ring, he wears colorful clothes, shaves messages into his hairdo, shaves the hair from the sides of his head and keeps a Mohawk-looking strip down the middle.

Anyway, somebody thought it would be a good idea for Paez to judge his own look-alike contest last Friday night at the Forum.

It wasn’t such a good idea, as it turned out. No one entered.

Maybe they should lower their sights slightly for the next contest. How about a ring-post look-alike contest? Can’t do any worse than the last one.

Trivia time: What golfer holds the record for most consecutive appearances in a major tournament?

Futility award: For what it’s worth, here is a list of four long-suffering pro sports franchises and the U.S. president who was in office when the last title was won:

Chicago Cubs--Teddy Roosevelt (1908).

Arizona (Chicago) Cardinals--Harry Truman (1947).

Sacramento Kings (Rochester Royals)--Truman (1951).

Detroit Red Wings--Dwight Eisenhower (1955).

Typecasting: Why was actor Jim Sloyan the right choice to do the voice-over on a video called “The Great Ben Hogan?” Simple. Sloyan once shot a hole in one at Winchester Country Club in Rye, N.Y.

Or something: New York Yankee outfielder Luis Polonia doesn’t understand why more fans aren’t coming to Yankee Stadium: “Maybe they like losing baseball.”

There goes the bride: Dikembe Mutombo’s wedding was called off only hours before the event in Washington when his intended would not sign a prenuptial agreement.

Mutombo said he will reimburse anyone’s expenses for the wedding.

Rev ‘em up: Houston Astro General Manager Bob Watson is disappointed at the team’s home attendance, projected to peak at just over 2 million, which would be down from last year and probably not enough to sustain a $32-million payroll.

Said Watson: “Here in Houston you have a tractor pull on a Friday night and there will be 52,000 people.”

Wordsmith: When Boston Globe writer and NBC commentator Bud Collins was enshrined in the Tennis Hall of Fame last weekend, he was asked for his reaction.

Said Collins: “It’s too soon. I’ll have to let it sink in. Now I’m talking like an athlete--I’m playing one word at a time.”

Was it worth it? The most pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game this season? Seattle’s Randy Johnson threw 151 and all it got him was a no-decision against Oakland.

Trivia answer: Sam Snead, 44 consecutive Masters, 1937-83. The Masters was not played 1943-45.

Quotebook: Florida Marlin scouting director Gary Hughes, after watching a 450-foot home run by double-A catcher Charles Johnson: “It was way, way out. If this were the ‘60s, I’d say it was far out.”