This Idea Took Root Quite Some Time Ago

Oak tree seedlings were given to each gold medalist at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin to take home to their respective countries, with 24 going to U.S. athletes.

Two seedlings were planted on the USC campus, one in honor of winning discus thrower Ken Carpenter and the other for two members of the winning 400-meter relay team, Foy Draper and Frank Wykoff.

The oak tree honoring Carpenter is one of six that still exist in this country. The other one at USC died of root rot in 2002 and has since been replaced by a mature oak.

The two oak trees will be rededicated at a ceremony in Associates Park on the USC campus Saturday at 10 a.m. before the UCLA-USC track meet, which begins at 11 a.m. at Cromwell Field/Loker Stadium.

Maybe they should call it the “Oak Tree” meet.

Trivia time: Besides Draper and Wykoff, who were the other two members of the gold medal-winning 400-meter relay at the 1936 Olympics?

A women’s world: The SportsBusiness Journal’s list of the 20 most influential women in sports includes: No. 1, Lesa France Kennedy of the France NASCAR family; No. 5, Heidi Ueberroth, NBA executive vice president; No. 7, Jeanie Buss, Laker executive vice president; and No. 8, Jamie McCourt, Dodger vice chairman.

The question now is, can Buss use her influence to persuade boyfriend Phil Jackson to return to the Lakers?

Just plain weird: Charles Barkley told James Brown on Sporting News radio that he didn’t believe Jackson would return to the Lakers. He pointed out that Jackson was basically told he wasn’t wanted, and then he “said some really bad things” about the team’s star player. “It is one of the weirdest scenarios that I’ve seen in my 20-some years in the NBA,” Barkley said.

Truth in advertising: Have you seen that TNT spot starring Magic Johnson that cross-promotes the NBA playoffs and “Law & Order” reruns? Johnson is such a big fan of “Law & Order” that TNT made him DVDs of all the shows that have aired on the network.

Cheap seats: From Jay Leno: “According to Team Marketing Report, the NFL has the highest-price admission of any sport, $55 a ticket. The National Hockey League has the lowest. Well, sure, they have no season.”

Looking back: On this day in 1966, the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakers, 95-93, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, giving the Celtics and Coach Red Auerbach eight consecutive NBA championships. Auerbach, who had earlier announced his retirement, was replaced by center Bill Russell, the first black coach of a major U.S. sports team.

Trivia answer: Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe.

And finally: Chicago Cub bench coach Dick Pole grew up in the extremely cold Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Pole told the Chicago Tribune that if anyone asks what people on the peninsula do in the summer, he answers: “If it falls on a Saturday, we have a picnic.”

*

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.