A Vested Interest in Auction Outcome

The spirit of giving is everywhere these days. But it is hardly a new phenomenon.

Last month at a V Foundation fundraiser in Napa, Sanford Edwards, an Orange County real estate developer, and his friend Bruce Chandler, a former Times-Mirror Co. board member, bid $95,000 for four tickets to the North Carolina-Duke basketball game March 4 at Durham, N.C.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the host of the event, said he would wear the auctioneer’s loud purple vest during the game if the bid were high enough.

It remains to be seen if $95,000 is enough for Coach K to embarrass himself on national television.

Trivia time: What two distinctions does Krzyzewski share with John Wooden?

Wooden admirer: Edwards, who attended UCLA in 1972-73, said he is a college basketball fan because of Wooden.

But $95,000 to attend a game?

“I’ve never been to a Duke game,” Edwards said. “But the key thing is, it’s for a great cause.”

All in one night: The V Foundation, named in honor of the late North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano, benefits cancer research. The auction at the fundraiser that Edwards and Chandler attended, the seventh V Foundation Wine Celebration, raised more than $6.6 million. The total included a $2-million donation from ESPN and three $500,000 donations from individuals. Two six-day cruises on a private yacht went for $100,000 each.

Charity on a fast track: Kris Rose of Lexington, Ky., bid $16,100 to give her husband, Jamie, an unusual 14th wedding anniversary gift.

On Friday, Jamie Rose got to go for a ride-along in a Nextel Cup race car with TV analyst Wally Dallenbach. His ride will be part of TNT’s NASCAR pre-race coverage of the Sylvania 300 in Loudon, N.H., today.

TNT offered the auction item as a way to raise money for the Hurricane Katrina relief fund.

Good PR man: When Eric Gagne took his car in to be serviced at a Pasadena car dealership, service advisor Steve Huss, not recognizing Gagne, asked him to spell his last name.

Gagne told Huss he was a pitcher for the Dodgers.

“I’m sorry, I’m into motor sports,” Huss said.

When Gagne returned to pick up his car, he left a note telling Huss to call him for tickets if he ever wanted to check out a Dodger game.

Looking back: On this day last year, Maurice Drew rushed for a school-record 322 yards and five touchdowns in UCLA’s 37-31 victory over Washington. By halftime, Drew had 235 yards in 13 carries.

Trivia answer: Krzyzewski is the only coach besides Wooden to lead his team to five consecutive Final Fours (1988 to ‘92) and win back-to-back national championships (1991 and ‘92).

And finally: Krzyzewski says he and Valvano had a lot in common but cited one difference: “He has more vowels in his name, and I have more consonants. I don’t have a vowel until the sixth letter.”

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