Want Them to Sign Your Cap? Just Sign a Check

Novelist Sidney Sheldon, who grew up in Chicago, is a lifelong fan of the Cubs.

But Sheldon, who will be presented with the Fan of the Year award at Wednesday night’s RBI (Reviving Baseball in the Inner-City) dinner at the Globe Theater at Universal CityWalk, has a beef with today’s greedy players.

“I used to collect autographs before players started charging for them,” he said.

It’s not as though Sheldon, 88, can’t afford to pay. He and his wife, Alexandra, live in a 22,000-square-foot home on a three-acre estate in Holmby Hills. They put it up for sale last year for $23 million.

Trivia time: What do former major leaguers Bobby Tolan, Bob Watson and the late Willie Crawford have in common?

Only halfway there: Pat Haden, NBC Arena Football League commentator, talking about the high salaries in sports while working Sunday’s game between the Philadelphia Soul and Chicago Rush: “I signed a multimillion-dollar contract with the Rams. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get them to sign it.”

Bleak outlook: Washington State basketball Coach Dick Bennett did not have many glowing things to say about his team after Saturday’s game against USC. Freelance writer Howie Stalwick, who covered the game for Associated Press, e-mailed these quotes from Bennett:

* “We had zero offensive rebounds. Zero. That’s pretty much an indication of how aggressive and tough-minded we were.”

* “They outplayed us. I was disappointed in the way we played almost from start to finish. Mentally, we were almost aimless, and our execution was really sloppy.”

* “Virtually every team in the league would have cleaned up on us today.”

* “This program is a long, long way from where it needs to be.”

Yes, Washington State did win the game.

Worth a shot: Debbie Dahmer, 41, of Escondido, Calif., is among 10 golfers competing for a spot on the LPGA Tour in a reality series, “Big Break III: Ladies Only,” which debuts on the Golf Channel tonight. Dahmer realizes the odds are against her.

“There aren’t too many 40-year-old rookies on the LPGA Tour,” she said.

Looking back: On this day in 1993, former UCLA Bruins Bill Walton and Ann Meyers Drysdale were selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Among others selected were Julius Erving, Dan Issel and Calvin Murphy.

Trivia answer: They were members of the 1963 L.A. City baseball championship team from Fremont High, the last inner-city school to win the title. That team will be honored at Wednesday’s RBI dinner.

And finally: Howard Freeman, the promoter of a hot-air balloon festival held each July in New Jersey, has invited NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and players’ union Executive Director Bob Goodenow to hold a negotiation session in a balloon.

“Soaring over the bucolic countryside is a perspective-changing experience,” Freeman said.

He might have added, “No hot air allowed.”

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