Presumed Guilty Until He Is Proven Innocent

The Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles will hold its preseason kickoff picnic at Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks this month, and the special guest will be. . . .

Anthony Davis?

Notre Dame fans will never forget what Davis did to them in 1972, when he scored six touchdowns for USC in a 45-23 victory over the Irish. He wasn’t too shabby in 1974, either, scoring four touchdowns in a 55-24 USC victory.

The twist here--which exhibits a little more humor than many college rivalries manage--will be a mock trial of Davis, the “archenemy,” for his crimes against Notre Dame.

Davis will be prosecuted by state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, Notre Dame, class of ’68.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, USC, class of ‘65, will be responsible for the defense.

Maybe he’ll prove better at defending a former USC running back than convicting one.

Trivia time: Maureen Connolly, Margaret Smith Court and Steffi Graf are the only women to have won tennis’ Grand Slam--the Australian, French and U.S. opens, or their predecessors, and Wimbledon, in the same year. But who was the first player to win three of the four majors in one year?

Why it’s a “bull” pen: Not sure we believe this one, but San Francisco Giant relief pitcher Rod Beck told the Denver Post’s Jerry Crasnick of a technique for relieving bullpen boredom that is known as “the pain game.”

“They pull hairs out of each other’s noses and try to see whose eyes water the most,” said Beck, who said he has never witnessed the practice. “I haven’t really been part of any fun stuff like that.”

More “bull:” When Goose Gossage was with the San Diego Padres, his adrenaline was going long before he got his customary late-inning call.

“He began to feel a churning sensation in his gut somewhere between ‘the land of the free,’ and ‘the home of the brave,’ ” Crasnick wrote.

Woe betide the unwary San Diego Chicken who got in his way.

“The Chicken would come down and want us to play in his little skits,” Gossage said. “And I’d tell him, ‘Get your butt out of here. Go bother the guys in the other bullpen.’ ”

Trivia answer: Helen Wills Moody won the French, Wimbledon and U.S. titles in 1928 and 1929 but never competed in the Australian championship.

And finally: Matt Ghaffari, the Iranian-born Greco-Roman wrestler who won a silver medal for the United States and became one of the Olympics’ biggest and most original personalities last summer, has learned how fleeting fame can be.

Now a wrestling coach and motivational speaker, Ghaffari encountered resistance when he applied for a home loan recently.

“They ask for tax statements for the last 10 years, and say, ‘What have you been doing for the last few years?’ ” Ghaffari told the New York Times. “I tell them I was training for the Olympics. Then they say, ‘That means you were unemployed.’ ”