Maybe Goulet Gets It Right if Price Is Right

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s controversial knockout of Sonny Liston in their title rematch at Lewiston, Me., Rick LaChapelle, a Lewiston pawnbroker, is staging a fight card on Sept. 22 to be preceded by a dinner.

Among those promising to attend is Ali, who knocked out Liston in the first round with a punch undetected by many, a blow that became known as the phantom punch.

LaChapelle has also invited Robert Goulet, who was on hand that night to sing the national anthem but forgot the words.

LaChapelle told the Sporting News that Goulet wants $20,000 to show up this time.

“He forgot the words,” LaChapelle said. “He should come back just to get it right.”

*

Trivia time: What former heavyweight champion was the third man in the ring that night in Lewiston as the referee?

*

He bugged them: For Davy Crockett, Texas was the scene of his untimely and tragic end.

For Davy Cricket, Texas was merely the scene of his untimely exit.

Cricket, mascot for the Lubbock Crickets of the Texas-Louisiana League, was ejected along with two Lubbock scoreboard operators as a result of a beanball battle in the second game of a doubleheader.

Umpires Mel Chettum and Vince Price also ejected several players in the Crickets’ 12-5loss to the Abilene Prairie Dogs when both benches emptied after Lubbock third baseman Britt Bonneau was hit by a pitch from Abilene starter Earl Steinmetz.

Price and Chettum threw out scoreboard operators Steve Cooper and Arni Sribhen for flashing a sign on the scoreboard that showed an eye and a pair of glasses.

They then tossed the Lubbock mascot.

“I was just standing there by the third-base line, and Mel pushed me from behind,” said Davy Cricket. “He shoves me and says: ‘Get this bug off the field.’ ”

The league president subsequently ruled that umpires could no longer eject mascots, scoreboard operators or announcers.

*

Punch lines: Referring to the confrontation last week between the Angels’ Chili Davis and a fan in Milwaukee, comedian David Letterman came up with his list of “Chili Davis’ top 10 complaints about the fans.”

Among them:

--Don’t understand the pressure of making $18,000 per at-bat.

--After you finish bloodying their nose, they almost never share their nachos with you.

--Think only New York players can act like jerks.

--Can’t take a punch.

*

Trivia answer: Jersey Joe Walcott.

*

Quotebook: Comedian Jay Leno on the hurricanes in Florida: “The winds were so strong, they actually knocked a player on the University of Miami football team into a classroom.”