UCLA’s absence from tournament needs a better reason

Ben Howland probably would agree: UCLA should never miss the NCAA tournament unless it’s on probation.…

Kansas center Cole Aldrich is favored to emerge as the tournament’s most outstanding player, according to odds posted at bodog.com, with Kentucky’s John Wall the No. 2 pick.…

It may have been wishful thinking on John Calipari’s part when the Kentucky coach told radio host Dan Patrick this week that Wall, his freshman point guard, “wants to stay” in school.…

Sure he does.…

The Lakers, who talked last fall about possibly winning 70 games or more, might be hard-pressed to win 60.…

On the night before St. Patrick’s Day, with Spero Dedes off covering the NCAA tournament for CBS, the Lakers’ radio play-by-play announcer was John Ireland.…

Younger-than-he-looks ex- USC point guard Mike Gerrity, who transferred twice before his senior year, told the audience at Wednesday’s Southern California Sports Broadcasters luncheon, “When we played at Washington, I overhead one official asking another, ‘Isn’t there an age limit in this conference?’ ” …

Unfortunately for Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, a remarkable knack for escaping trouble on the football field did not carry over to the criminal justice system.…

Nothing says “bizarrely fascinating” quite like Mike Tyson, a novice who will be pitted against more serious pigeon-racing competitors in an upcoming reality TV series.…

Animal Planet says “Taking on Tyson” will offer a look into an “intensely competitive and bizarrely fascinating world.” …

Apparently forgetting the hoopla surrounding last summer’s Michael Jackson memorial, CBS Sports President Sean McManus said last week that Tiger Woods’ return to golf would be, “Other than the Obama inauguration, one of it not the biggest media spectacles in recent memory.” …

It says a lot about the current state of U.S. tennis that the most interesting story of the year is a tiff between retirees Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi — and that the sport’s most enduring face is John McEnroe, whose glory days predated them both.…

Chris Chelios, the Atlanta Thrashers’ recently recalled 48-year-old defenseman, is only a year younger than Wayne Gretzky and three years older than Mario Lemieux.…

Tangled web for Spiders newcomer: Former USC quarterback Aaron Corp opened spring practice Wednesday at Richmond, which kicks off its season Sept. 4 at Virginia, which faces Matt Barkley and USC at the Coliseum a week later.…

Combining ABA and NBA statistics, reader Keith Gadbury of Thousand Oaks e-mails to note, the only left-hander among the game’s all-time top 30 scorers is Artis Gilmore.…

Counting NBA games only, David Robinson is the No. 1 lefty.…

Speaking of the Admiral, the former Navy star and three others — Notre Dame’s Austin Carr, Cincinnati’s Oscar Robertson and Princeton’s Bill Bradley — are the only players to have scored as many as 50 points in an NCAA tournament game.…

Carr did it three times.…

Dick Enberg, saluting a former broadcasting colleague, told USA Today this week, “God doesn’t create perfect men, but he came mighty close when he brought us Merlin Olsen.” …

At Tuesday’s Dodger Stadium memorial for Willie Davis, former Dodgers outfielder Lou Johnson called his fleet-footed ex-teammate “the only man I’ve ever seen who, when he hit a ball into the gap, the opposing team watched him run.” …

Davis’ son, Casey, was a left fielder at Wichita State, where his teammates included Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake.…

Now, he’s a pilot.…

Ned Colletti says he first encountered Willie Davis as a teen in Chicago, where the future Dodgers executive and a friend shouted insults at the Dodgers center fielder from the Wrigley Field bleachers — only to see Davis hit two home runs.…

After the second, Colletti notes, “he’s running around second base and he’s got his hand raised in a one-finger salute and [Cubs announcer] Jack Brickhouse says on the air, ‘It looks like Willie Davis is telling Billy Williams to play a little deeper.’ ”

jerome.crowe@latimes.com