Williams Signs Up for His Plan for Tennis

Richard Williams says he will resume flashing his homemade signs exhorting daughters Serena and Venus at their tennis matches.

“It’s inspirational to fans and I actually think it helps the tournament,� he told the Miami Herald. “Tennis needs a lot of help. Clap your hands, tap your feet, blow your horns.

“Tennis needs something other than ‘Shhhhhhhhh!’ �

Trivia time: Who holds the record for the highest scoring average in an NBA playoff series?

Longer the better: Hawaii men’s basketball Coach Riley Wallace on his team’s long flights: “Every time you get on a plane, you hope it’s for at least five hours because if it’s not, you’re floating.�

So sad: New Jersey Net forward Kenyon Martin told Sports Illustrated why the numerous fines he incurred last season prompted him to temper his temper: “I lost almost $300,000. That’s two cars.�

Thanks, Big Unit: On Fox Sports Net’s “Best Damn Sports Show Period,� Diamondback pitcher Curt Schilling said: “Being around Randy [Johnson] the last two years has pushed me to a level I would have never been at had I not been able to butt heads with him on a consistent basis and beat him routinely on the golf course.�

Rub-a-dub-dub: Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times: “Pat Riley isn’t soft-soaping the fact it will be tough to wash away any hard feelings over the Miami Heat missing the NBA playoffs for a second straight year.

“ ‘I tried to do it this year, wash away last year,’ Riley told the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. ‘Now I’ve got to wash away two years. It’s a lot of soap.’ �

Coaching for two: Purdue women’s basketball Coach Kristy Curry sometimes feels nauseous watching the Boilermakers play. But the Boilermakers aren’t making Curry sick. It’s the baby kicking inside.

Curry is expecting her second child in early June with husband and assistant coach, Kelly.

Handling the grueling demands of coaching is tough. So is a normal pregnancy. Together, they’ve turned the 36-year-old Curry into one worn out person.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,� she said. “To have the opportunity to coach and be a mother is the best experience in the world.�

Short porch: Jim Armstrong in the Denver Post: “How will Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui fare now that he has made the switch to the major leagues? Matsui, a left-handed hitter, hit 50 home runs last year playing half his games at the Tokyo Dome.

“The distance down the right-field line at the Tokyo Dome? Try 328 feet, 14 feet longer than at Yankee Stadium.�

FYI: The 1985-86 Boston Celtics hold the NBA record for the best home winning percentage, .976 (40-1).

Trivia answer: Jerry West of the Lakers, 46.3 points against Baltimore in 1965.

And finally: Blackie Sherrod, who wrote sports columns for more than 50 years, retired this year from the Dallas Morning News. Asked what retirement is like, he told Texas Monthly, “Like a steam bath. Once you get used to it, it’s not so hot.�

-- Mal Florence