President may have better things to do

His coach insists it isn’t a publicity stunt, although it sounds like that and more -- a publicity stunt inside a publicity stunt.

Tony Strickland, 39-year-old state senator representing California District 19, has joined the minor league basketball team the Los Angeles Lightning for at least one game -- and has challenged President Barack Obama to a game of one-on-one.

“I am looking forward to taking on the president,” Strickland, a Moorpark resident, told the Ventura County Star. “I bet I can beat him one-on-one. I would love to try.”

Strickland, who played basketball at Simi Valley Royal High and Whittier College, will suit up for the Lightning’s season opener against the Edmonton Energy on Saturday night at Cal Lutheran’s Gilbert Sports Arena. He will be listed as a 6-foot-5 forward wearing No. 24.

“I am not looking at this as a gimmick,” Lightning Coach Ron Quarterman said. “Tony works hard and he does all the drills like the rest of the guys and he knows how to play.

“The main thing is getting himself back in shape. But he will play quality minutes, not garbage time.”

Strickland, who says he has a good jump shot from 15 feet in, is keeping his day job.

“First things first,” he said. “I need to be a good state senator. That is my highest priority.”

Trivia time

Who is the only man to be on the field when Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s home run record and when Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb’s hit record?

Say who?

Publicity is the grease that makes the wheel of sports run, and boxers Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton have obliged by keeping diaries for Yahoo Sports in the run-up to their championship fight Saturday.

From Pacquiao: “I’ve been preparing hard for my fight with Ricky Hatton on May 2, and I’ve been working just as hard to help promote the bout. That means doing a lot of interviews and personal appearances.”

That included throwing out the first pitch in San Francisco before the Giants played the San Diego Padres.

Pacquiao: “They told me Willie Mays wanted to meet me and when I found out who he was and how important he is in baseball history, I was honored to hear that and to get the chance to meet him.”

Sounds like Pacquiao, between workouts and publicity appearances, doesn’t have much time for baseball.

A successful game plan

Former UCLA football coach Bill Barnes, who died last week, was also an All-American at Tennessee, where he played on the 1939 team that did not allow a point and came west to play in the Rose Bowl.

But Tennessee’s season ended on a down note, as USC pulled off 14-0 victory.

The reason? Apparently, some Tennessee players were ready to “volunteer” for just about anything.

Bill Ferguson, Barnes’ great nephew, said Barnes told him, “Four key starters were taken out on the town by local celebrities, who were USC fans. They kept them out all night and by the time the game rolled around, they were pooped, sick and tired.”

Unfortunately for Tennessee, the NCAA did not have any undue (under the) influence rules.

Trivia answer

Steve Garvey played for the Dodgers when Aaron broke the home run record in 1974, then was with the San Diego Padres for Rose’s record-breaker in 1985.

And finally

Boxer Jermain Taylor, to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, on why he was looking forward to his bout against WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch: “My last few fights have been all sweet, huggy, kissy. I finally got somebody that I really don’t like.”

Froch knocked out Taylor in the final minute Saturday night. He probably really didn’t like that.

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mike.penner@latimes.com