He votes for team loyalty

Every vote counts in the race for the Republican Party nomination, especially for Rudy Giuliani, who has yet to crack the top three in a caucus or primary. But that isn’t going to keep the former New York mayor from staying true to his sports teams.

Foxnews.com reported that Giuliani, while campaigning in Florida for the Jan. 29 primary, refused to sign a Green Bay Packers cap during a meet and greet.

The Packers play the New York Giants in the NFC championship game Sunday and Giuliani is a loyal Giants fan.

“I won’t sign that,” Giuliani said. “No, no, no. That would be bad luck right now. I’ll sign it after [the game].”

The Packers fan was relentless, demanding that Giuliani “sign it now,” but Giuliani, while he was signing another supporter’s Giants visor, again declined, after which the man could be heard grunting.

Trivia time

When the Packers and Giants met for the 1962 NFL title, which Packers player accounted for 10 points in a 16-7 victory?

School colors

Two University of Colorado students are in trouble for dressing the school mascot in gang-style clothing for an appearance at a Denver Nuggets game, the Denver Post reported.

The Buffaloes mascot, named Chip, wore a do-rag, fake gold teeth and a teardrop tattoo below one eye, which school spokesman Bronson Hilliard called offensive.

“He doesn’t need to be hip-hop Chip; he’s just Chip,” Hilliard told the paper. “He doesn’t need more character.”

Paying his debt

Columbus, Ohio, Mayor Michael Coleman wore a Louisiana State football jersey to a city council meeting Monday, making good on a bet with Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden over college football’s national championship game.

“A mayor’s gotta do what a mayor’s gotta do,” Coleman said. “I wear this jersey in mourning, in great disappointment, but mostly in great pain.”

Approval rating

K.J. Choi won the Sony Open in Hawaii on Sunday for his seventh career PGA Tour victory, but there was a time some of those closest to him weren’t sure about his career in golf.

The parents of his wife were among the skeptics.

“I think they were against the fact that as a golfer, your income is uncertain,” he said. “They thought there was a lot of risk involved.”

But, Choi has won at least once in each of the last four years and has $17,171,154 in career earnings, numbers that are satisfactory to his in-laws.

“When I got my first win, they approved,” he said, breaking into laughter.

False advertising

The New York Knicks, last in the NBA Atlantic Division, have been running television ads featuring real-life Knicks fans proclaiming their heart-felt devotion to the team.

The trouble is, according to the New York Post, the so-called fans are actually paid actors.

A team spokesman told the Post “the people in the spots are both actors and Knick fans -- categories that are not mutually exclusive.”

Sort of.

“They asked me if I was a fan or not, but they said I didn’t have to be,” said Joshua Sankey, an actor featured in one of the commercials.

Trivia answer

Offensive lineman Jerry Kramer kicked three field goals and an extra point. Kramer served as the Packers kicker in 1962, ’63 and part of ’68.

And finally

The Miami Heat, NBA champion only 18 months ago, has lost 10 consecutive games to fall to 8-28, the worst record in the Eastern Conference. But there should be hope, considering the team plays its next seven games at home.

Then again, the Heat is 4-11 in Miami this season.

“We haven’t played that well anywhere,” guard Jason Williams said.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com