Morning briefing

A pretty cheesy apology

Papa John’s Pizza sold 23-cent pizzas in the Cleveland area Thursday in an effort to apologize for a T-shirt that offended Cleveland Cavaliers fans, but the pizza sale went over about as well as the franchise-sponsored shirts that called LeBron James a “crybaby.”

Lines were so long that customers had to wait up to 90 minutes and store owners were forced to call in police as customers began to get unruly. Reports of line cutting were commonplace and stores ran out of pizzas after selling upward of 300 an hour.

Kimberly Hall, who got in line at 5 p.m., got her pizza at 8:25.

“I’m going home to eat my pizza,” she said. “But now I’m not even hungry. I’m mad. They should have organized this better.”

Trivia time

Cincinnati Reds rookie Joey Votto became the first player in 2008 to hit three home runs in a game when he blasted three Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs. What two players share the record with six career three-homer games?

Arresting development

Former World Wrestling Entertainment champion the Great Khali is being sought by Punjab Police -- for a promotion.

The 7-foot-3, 420-pound wrestler, whose real name is Dilip Singh Rana, is still a member of the police force in India and has been promoted from assistant sub-inspector to sub-inspector.

Police officials granted him extended sick leave in 2006 when he made his WWE debut and were happy he became a star.

“He has brought the force international fame and has made us all very proud with his many achievements as a wrestler,” senior police official Rajan Gupta said.

Letter of the law

TheSmokingGun.com, a website that tracks, among other things, celebrity legal issues, reported that former NFL quarterback Joe Montana is suing his ex-wife Kim Moses and a Texas auction house over the sale of -- get this -- love letters.

The lawsuit claims that Moses violated his copyright and privacy rights by selling personal items such as love letters -- including one written on a Ziggy card -- written to her by Montana while Montana was at Notre Dame.

Montana, 51, is seeking $75,000 in damages.

Perfect vision

A 78-year-old legally blind man from Iowa bowled a perfect game last Saturday, rolling 12 consecutive strikes for a 300 during a league tournament at Century Lanes in Alta, Iowa.

Dale Davis, 78, said he averages 180. It was the first 300 game at the four-lane alley, according to owner Clem Ledoux, and it ended with a “Brooklyn,” where the right-handed Davis struck the left side of the head pin.

“It’s a great sport. It’s something the young, the old and the handicapped can do,” Davis said. “I guess I count as the old and handicapped.”

Trump-eting

his horn

Real estate mogul Donald Trump was in Arkansas on Thursday speaking at a luncheon when the names of a few sports stars came up.

Trump said of Alex Rodriguez: “He always plays bad under pressure.”

Later, Trump hinted that no sports figure is as popular as “The Donald.”

“Tom Brady is a friend of mine. I walk into a room with him and people go wild. Of course, I think it’s because of me. It’s good for my ego,” Trump said.

Trivia answer

Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa.

And finally

Yao Ming fouled out in his Olympic debut eight years ago, so even though the Olympics are three months away, he has already begun to start working the referees for China’s opening game against the Americans in Beijing.

“Hopefully they treat the hosts better,” Yao joked.

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peter.yoon@latimes.com