King May Have Future as a Chair Umpire

The long-running NBC series “Law & Order” has had an occasional tennis theme.

In one episode, a female tennis player was attacked in the dressing room shortly before a major tournament. Justice prevailed, eventually, as it was revealed that the player had helped plan the attack.

Now, it appears, a former player will be the one helping administer justice.

Tennis legend and Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King will play a judge on “Law & Order,” which apparently is her favorite show.

Reports out of New York had her accepting the role this week after two of the show’s long-time stars, Jerry Orbach and Sam Waterston, made her an offer she apparently couldn’t refuse during a Women’s Sports Foundation’s event.

Wonder whether King will get more to say than “sustained” or “overruled”?

*

Trivia time: Which was the first of George Steinbrenner’s teams to win a championship?

*

Madrid mis-hit: His score should have been 63, not 64, but Stephen Gallacher gave himself a one-stroke penalty in the second round of the Madrid Open golf tournament after remembering what happened to Davis Love at the 1997 Players Championship.

His gaffe? He accidentally hit the ball during a practice swing on the 13th hole.

“It moved only about a quarter of an inch, but I remembered Davis Love doing the same and he was disqualified for not replacing the ball,” Gallacher told reporters.

“It’s a thing you never expect, but I’ll never do it again. From now on I’m going to take my practice stroke about three feet away.”

*

Eau de Roger: Wimbledon champion Roger Federer launched a new cosmetics line this week, kicking it off with a party in Basel, Switzerland.

But the line -- which will feature, among other things, shave balm and body wash (didn’t that used to be called soap?)-- doesn’t have some pretentious name, just the easy-to-remember “RF Cosmetics.”

*

Cyber Steve: Chicago’s most famous fan, Steve Bartman, has made a bit of Internet history, if you can call it that.

Steve Rosenbloom of the Chicago Tribune put it all in perspective:

“New notoriety for notorious Cubs fan Steve Bartman: He reached No. 17 on the Lycos 50. That’s the Internet search engine that ranks most-requested topics each week, and Bartman became the first fan to make the list. He finished higher than the Cubs themselves, Kobe Bryant’s accuser and Brian Urlacher soup du jour Paris Hilton, but finished behind ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,’ the annoying Clay Aiken and, of course, Britney Spears.”

*

Trivia answer: The Cleveland Pipers. The Steinbrenner-owned team won the American Basketball League championship in 1962. Their coach was Bill Sharman. The league folded after its second season in 1963.

*

And finally: Baylor football Coach Guy Morriss, on his struggling team: “It would be nice if we could get from the hotel to the stadium this week without a personal foul. Maybe it’s time for some of these kids to move on. I think some of them, the only way they’ll stop being a problem is to graduate.”