Coach Says Abbie Hoffman Was a Conservative on Court

Sportscaster Bud Collins was the first tennis coach at Brandeis University, where his No. 3 singles player was Abbie Hoffman, the 1960s radical who died last week.

“Abbie and I didn’t get along then,” Collins told Newsday’s Stan Isaacs. “I guess it was because he didn’t like authority figures. When I first met the squad, he said, ‘I’m the captain.’ They had had a club team, so he figured that he would pick that title up again.

“I said ‘No,’ and he didn’t like that. I was jealous of him because he had a better car than I did--which he got because he was a pretty good entrepreneur. He was in charge of pizza sales on campus.”

Although Hoffman later emerged as a leader of the radical left, Collins said Hoffman was a conservative on the court.

“As a tennis player, he was a right-winger,” Collins said. “He played a conservative style, never attacking at the net. He was a retriever, running down balls. He was pretty good as a singles player, not losing a match as I recall. He took it seriously.

“I was trying to build character; I didn’t realize the kind of character I had built.”

Only in Hockeywood: Now that Jack Nicholson has discovered the Kings, columnist Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post says the National Hockey League has truly arrived.

“I have seen the future of sports in America,” Kornheiser wrote. “It is Jack Nicholson pounding on the glass sideboards at a Kings’ game.

“You saw it, didn’t you? It made all the highlight packages. The Cuckoo Man his ownself, leering devilishly, smacking his palms on the glass in exultation at the Great One.”

The Other Woman: In an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times, Margo Adams listed the pros and cons of being the mistress of a major league baseball player.

Adams said the best thing about being a baseball mistress was getting good seats.

The worst aspect?: “Going home by yourself at the end of the road trip.”

Asked about Boggs’ wife, Adams said: “I think she should give Wade a good shaking. I hope everything works out for her.”

You Know You’re Old When: Warren Spahn, retired major league pitcher, was signing autographs when a youngster approached.

Spahn, 66, noted that the young fan hadn’t even been born when he was pitching.

“You’re getting old and you’re going to die soon and it’s going to be valuable,” the young fan replied.

Gag Order: Ken Griffey Jr. has been declared off limits to reporters by Mariner Manager Jim Lefebvre so that Griffey can concentrate on baseball.

The night the gag order started, Griffey hit his first major league home run in his sixth major league game. Griffey’s father hit his first major league home run in his 12th game.

Quotebook: Magic Johnson on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: “He’s the tops, the biggest mountain, the best song, the prettiest sunset, the grand master.”