And They Didn’t Even Have a Title Sponsor

The Pacific 10 men’s basketball tournament at Staples Center showcases some of the nation’s best teams. But on an individual and team basis, it’s not the most prestigious college hoops tournament ever held in Los Angeles.

That distinction goes to the eight-team L.A. Classic of the late 1950s and 1960s at the Sports Arena. It featured such players as Jerry West of West Virginia, Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek of Ohio State, Billy “the Hill” McGill of Utah, John Rudometkin of USC and Dave Bing of Syracuse.

For example, in the tournament championship game in December 1959, California met West Virginia in a rematch of their NCAA title game the previous spring. Pete Newell’s Golden Bears won again, 65-45.

Unlike other tournaments that have been called “Classics,” this one lived up to its name.

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Trivia time: Who holds the NBA record for steals in a season?

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Try the floor: Tom FitzGerald of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that weird baseball injuries are starting to pile up.

As an example, Cleveland pitcher C.C. Sabathia said he had a sore back last weekend because he slept wrong, and explained: “I slept on four pillows, and I think my neck was too high off the bed.”

Asked if he could confirm Sabathia slept in an awkward position, Cleveland Manger Charlie Manuel said, “I don’t know. I don’t sleep with him.”

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Wrong place to peep: Jeanne Maddox, a 5-foot-10 forward for the Georgetown (Ky.) women’s basketball team, caught an intruder in her dorm room Monday night, chased him outside and pinned him to the ground.

Timothy Wayne Coyle, 27, faces charges of criminal mischief and burglary. He entered the room about midnight, college officials said. After he was chased outside, he tripped on the lawn and was held down by Maddox.

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Keep ‘em locked up: NBC will air the Arena Football League, whose playoffs on ESPN last year attracted less than 1% of cable TV households and whose title game on ABC the past two years drew about 1% of households.

Said Michael Heistand of USA Today: “Industry insiders know such results simply might result from household pets accidentally hitting TV remote controls.”

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He’s hooked: Charles Barkley bet $500,000 on the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl in Las Vegas and won $1.2 million. “Gambling is my vice and I’ll have to address it sometime in the future,” he told Sports Illustrated. “But not now.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1987, UCLA defeated Washington, 76-64, at Pauley Pavilion to win the inaugural men’s Pacific 10 tournament basketball championship.

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Trivia answer: Alvin Robertson of San Antonio, 301, in 1985-86.

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And finally: Bernie Lincicome of the Rocky Mountain News is on a crusade to abolish politically incorrect sports symbols. A sampling: “No ethnic names. This my first decree. This will not only do away with Indians and Braves and Eskimos and Seminoles but the Fighting Irish and Celtics, too.

“Curb any inclination to change the Nuggets to the Mummies, no matter the resemblance, and no special points to Cleveland for finally, for brief periods of this season, playing baseball without the buck-toothed Chief Wahoo on their caps.”