Watch Out for Tantrums in City Hall

It has been reported that Ilie Nastase, once known as the clown prince of tennis but also known for his on-court outbursts, is campaigning to be elected mayor of Bucharest, Romania, his birthplace.

“Nastase is 50 years old, and he has decided to change his life, so I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt,” Ion Tiriac, Nastase’s former doubles partner, told Tennis magazine.

“If he would run for mayor of NewYork or Paris, I think he should be put in a cell somewhere. But after the last five years in Bucharest, he just might be the right man.”

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Trivia time: Who holds the record for the most points in a seven-game NBA championship series?

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Top that! You thought you had seen everything in golf after Sunday’s collapse by Greg Norman in the Masters?

Well, former entertainer and pro boxer Jody Berry of Beverly Hills can top that. Two years ago, playing the Studio City par-three golf course in a group that included Stan Woods and Bob Templeton, Berry made a hole in one on the 90-yard ninth hole.

With his putter.

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Army in retreat: Norman isn’t the only famous golfer to falter in the final round of a major championship. Arnold Palmer had a seven-stroke lead over Billy Casper with nine holes to play in the final round of the 1966 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

Palmer then faltered, shooting a 39, while Casper had a 32 to force a playoff. Casper won the 18-hole playoff by four shots after trailing Palmer by two strokes after nine holes.

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What’s he got to do with it? When Kenny Lofton of the Cleveland Indians broke Terry Turner’s club record for stolen bases, Akron (Ohio) Beacon-Journal writer Sheldon Ocker asked Lofton what he knew about Turner.

“Is he Tina’s husband?” Lofton replied.

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Forever young: After playing against Magic Johnson for the first time, Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves was asked if if he remembered watching Magic as a kid.

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Said Garnett: “I’m still a kid.”

He won’t turn 20 until May 16.

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Deep freeze: After the Boston Red Sox arrived home with a 1-5 record and then were snowed out of their home opener, the Boston Globe headline read: “Red Sox take Cold Start to New Extreme.”

It only got worse for the Red Sox, who lost five of their next six homes games.

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Trivia answer: Elgin Baylor of the Lakers, with 282 points against Boston in 1962, including 61 points in one game, also a record for the NBA finals.

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And finally: As Norman walked off the 18th hole on Thursday, a television reporter, who has covered the Australian for years, asked him what it felt like to shoot a nine-under-par 63 to tie the course record at Augusta.

Without missing a beat, Norman flashed a friendly smile and shot back: “Jimmy, it’s a feeling you’ll never have.”