Hey, hey little calendar girl: You can catch a glimpse of Ms. January, Ms. May and possibly Ms. July at the Virginia Slims tournament in the Pavilion next week. Carling Bassett, Peanut Louie and Anne White beautify those months in the Women`s Tennis Association`s 1986 calendar and, if White survives a qualifier over the weekend, all will be available for closer inspection at the Slims. Bassett is posed in a T-shirt lying on a sandy shoreline and lists electric blue as her favorite color and Jack Nicholson as her favorite actor. Louie, shown on the sand at Marco Island, Fla.–but in a dress–says ”Of Mice and Men” is her favorite book and custard and creme caramels is her favorite food. White, of Wimbledon bodysuit fame, takes a sultry hand-on-hip stance and reveals that ”Catcher in the Rye” is atop her reading list and that her favorite color is–what else–white.
AT LAST!
They played their games, now the boys are grown-up and finally acting like responsible adults. Their changing attitudes produce results Sunday when the United States Olympic Committee, which boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and the Soviet Union`s Olympic Committee, which returned the favor last year, officially sign a ”Memorandum of Mutual Understanding and Cooperation In Sports.” The two sides began hammering out the pact in May, 1984, shortly after the Soviets announced they wouldn`t be competing in Los Angeles, and worked out the final details of the deal last month, when USOC president Robert Helmick and secretary general George Miller visited Moscow. The meaning of it all? First, the countries take a major step toward refurbishing their damaged athletic relationship. Second, the Soviet Union, which has no formal relations with South Korea, sends a strong signal that it will participate in the Seoul Games of 1988. And third, there will be more competitions in all Olympic sports between the two sides, which will also begin trading coaches and training tips. Says Helmick: ”One of the observations in the past is that we gave them technical information and–we found this somewhat humorous–we never got their information back. Now we have a sheet of paper we can point to and, in the area of international relations, it`s important to have that document even if it`s not enforceable. It indicates a new willingness and atmosphere.”
ONE HAPPY MAN
That new atmosphere is welcome news to one Roh Tae Woo, who will play Peter Ueberroth in 1988 as president of Seoul`s Olympic Organizing Committee
(SLOOC). Roh, 52, is a retired general who had a pivotal role in the rise of South Korean president Chun Doo Hwan five years ago. A graduate of the South Korean Military Academy, where he first met Chun and was an excellent student, Roh served in the military until 1981, when Chun appointed him minister of National Security and Foreign Affairs. He was named minister of Home Affairs a year later and, in 1983, president of SLOOC. Though he`s described as soft spoken and possessed of courtly manners, Roh is also reputed to be one of the toughest members in Chun`s inner circle of former army officers. We wonder: does that make him as tough as Ueberroth?
NEWS, NOTES AND NONSENSE
International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch will be in Indianapolis Sunday when the U.S. and Soviet Union ink their agreement. Helmick and Miller will sign for the USOC. Marat Gramov, the president of the Soviet`s National Olympic Committee, and Vjacheslav Gavrilin, his deputy, will sign for the Soviets. . . . Arbitrator Albert Preibis has awarded former linebacker Jerry Muckensturm $92,000 in a worker`s compensation action he had filed against the Bears. Attorneys Jeffrey Jacobs and Gil Gordon, who handled Muckensturm`s case, have others pending for former Bears Dennis Lick, Brad Shearer, Paul Tabor, Bruce Herron and Tim Clifford. . . . Rematch: Loyola basketball coach Gene Sullivan and Georgetown`s John Thompson, whose teams met in last spring`s NCAA regionals, match wits again Sunday night at the Stadium during the PUSH-EXCEL Pro Basketball Classic. Sullivan will guide the NBA vets and Thompson coaches the rookies. . . . In related news: Many of those scheduled to play in the Classic will attend a Sunday brunch from 8:30 a.m.-noon at Operation PUSH headquarters. WBMX-FM broadcasts the festivities with hosts Don Palmer and Kenny McReynolds. And at 1 p.m. Saturday, former De Paul assistant McReynolds coaches a group of early-arriving NBA vets and rookies in a game against the inmates of Cook County Jail. . . . The current Baseball America names the Sox`s Joel Skinner as the minor league`s Catching Prospect of the Year and–for the third straight season–lists him among its Top 10 prospects. Joining him on that list are Billy Hatcher and Shawon Dunston, who shuttled this summer between Iowa and Wrigley Field. . . . Cub Gary Matthews autographs his book, ”They Call Me Sarge,” from 7-8 p.m., Friday at Kroch`s & Brentano`s in Woodfield Mall. . . . Retired Celtic M.L. Carr gives a clinic Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. at Murphy`s Fit in Evanston. And finally, for all you stargazers: Did you know that Bob Hope and Jackie Gleason play golf for $500 a hole? Or that Jack Nicholson learned to play the game for a movie role? Or that Ronald Reagan plays just once a year, on New Year`s Day? Those and other juicy tidbits about ”100 Great Celebrity Golfers” can be culled in October`s Golf Magazine.
