He Wanted to Be Sure Surgery Was Kosher

Irving Rudd, 71-year-old boxing publicist who is known for his one-liners, underwent double coronary bypass surgery Wednesday. According to Wallace Matthews of Newsday, he’s doing fine.

There was only one anxious moment. Before the surgery, Rudd’s doctor told him that his aorta would be replaced by a pig’s bladder.

“Wait a minute,” Rudd said. “I gotta consult my rabbi first.”

Student again: Mike Hickey, former personnel director for the New York Jets, told the St. Petersburg Times that he has returned to school. He’s taking an accounting class at Dowling College. He said he scored an 87 on his first test.

“I’m all upset because I made a couple of mistakes,” he said. “But this is the first time in 19 years that when I made a mistake, no one yelled at me.”

High stakes: NBC’s Bucky Waters told Roy Firestone on his ESPN SportsLook show that Nevada Las Vegas’ victory over Loyola Marymount was worth $140,000 to Rebel Coach Jerry Tarkanian.

Waters: “Tark’s contract calls for 10% of NCAA winnings, and teams get $1.4 million for reaching the Final Four.”

Trivia time: What do Wilt Chamberlain and Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson have in common?

Would-you-believe-it dept.: Tennis pro Yannick Noah, who had been bothered by a chronic knee injury, said he was cured by a witch doctor in Australia.

Noah: “He beat a panther tail over the knee, then put some oil on it. I haven’t been bothered since.”

True to form: It was no surprise when pitcher Pascual Perez reported late to the New York Yankees. When he was at Atlanta, he missed a game when he couldn’t find his way off the freeway that bordered Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.

Last year, he was at Montreal, where his manager was Buck Rodgers. Said Rodgers of Perez’s latest misadventure: “You expect that with Pascual. You don’t let him go anywhere on his own. He just won’t get there.”

Hard to swallow: When Edmonton Oiler Coach John Muckler held Jari Kurri out of a game in Toronto, Kurri watched from the press box in Maple Leaf Gardens. What did he learn in the press box?

“Bad hot dogs,” he said. “Horrible popcorn.”

Big expectations: Former Yankee outfielder Hector Lopez, a high school coach in Long Island, told the New York Times: “I played with a great bunch of guys. They talked about winning as a team. If you didn’t perform up to your ability, Moose Skowron would walk up to you and say, ‘You’re messing with my October money.’ ”

Trivia answer: Both played with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Quotebook: Golfer Fred Couples, wishing he had the concentration of Jack Nicklaus: “I’ve tried to pay attention and not look around so much. But there’s a lot to look at.”