He’d Rather Be on the Course Than Watch Court

Jimmy Connors promotes and plays senior tennis, but the five-time U.S. Open champion is definitely not in the public relations side of the sport.

“I don’t watch any tennis,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s good or not. I still have a feeling in my heart for the game, but if somebody would call me now and say, ‘Look, the finals of the French [Open] are on TV or I have a good golf game for you,’ there wouldn’t even be a choice.”

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Trivia time: What countries played in soccer’s first World Cup game?

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Home favorites: When the United States makes its debut Monday in the World Cup against Germany, it will be far from an all-American team.

Of the 22 players on Coach Steve Sampson’s roster, seven are foreign born: four from Europe, one each from South Africa, South America and the West Indies.

On the other hand, four--Brad Friedel, Frankie Hejduk, Cobi Jones and Joe-Max Moore--played for UCLA and two-- Marcelo Balboa and Eric Wynalda--played for San Diego State.

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Forgot his umbrella: Formula One driver Jan Magnussen was having trouble with his car before a recent Grand Prix when he muttered, “Some people are hoping for rain, but I want a bloody earthquake.”

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Say it ain’t so: George Foreman pulled out a handkerchief at his daughter’s high school graduation, but the former heavyweight champion wasn’t wiping away perspiration.

“Don’t let Mike Tyson and those guys know it, but I was crying,” Foreman said on the lawn of the Ethel Walker School, where his daughter, Natalie, was student-body president.

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This is to certify . . . : When the medal Shireki Tanaka earned for winning the 1951 Boston Marathon was stolen from his home in Tochigi, Japan, a friend wrote to race officials to ask for a letter on marathon letterhead saying that Tanaka had indeed won the event. Instead, for the first time they sent a champion a replacement medal.

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Well deserved: Maggie Hathaway, a longtime activist opposed to segregation at public golf courses and a promoter of golf for youngsters in the African American community, has had a course named in her honor. The county-owned Jack Thompson golf course in South-Central Los Angeles is now the Maggie Hathaway Golf Course.

“I am proud that she has been the pioneer who lighted the pathway that we all now seem to take for granted,” said Doris La Cour at ceremonies announcing the change.

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Trivia answer: France defeated Mexico, 4-1, on July 13, 1930, in Montevideo, Uruguay.

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And finally: Donald Trump is building a $40-million golf resort in West Palm Beach, Fla., next to a boutique called Condoms Galore.

“Maybe the golfers will stop by after they play to get a little something to bring home to their wives,” boutique owner Karol Schmicker told the Palm Beach Post.