He’s in Danger of Staying on a Bumpy Roll

Bill Brubaker of the Washington Post, writing about professional gamblers’ influence on athletes, mentioned former Baltimore and Indianapolis Colt quarterback Art Schlichter, who was suspended by the NFL in 1983 after he reportedly piled up $750,000 in gambling debts.

Four years later, Schlichter underwent treatment for a gambling addiction, then was arrested on gambling charges.

Brubaker: “Schlichter, who entered another treatment center last fall, now quarterbacks the Detroit Drive of the Arena Football League. At 30, he said he dreams of returning to the NFL. Last spring he was observed betting on sporting events in Las Vegas hotels, according to (NFL security director Warren) Welsh and Nevada gambling sources.

“Somebody said if you’re ever looking for Art Schlichter, all you have to do is go to the Stardust,” Welsh said. “With no mask or anything else, I guess he was just hanging out there. Art’s had his problems.”

Trivia time: What was the most lopsided game in NBA history?

Educated guess: Ted Turner, owner of Turner Broadcasting and the Atlanta Braves, says the network’s board of directors isn’t sure how far into the red the upcoming Goodwill Games will go. He expects the figure will be about $10 million, considerably less than the $24 million TBS says it lost on the 1986 Goodwill Games.

“The board has not set a dollar limit (on losses),” Turner told United Press International. “We don’t know what it will be until after the games. It’s like I don’t know if the Braves will have a losing record. But I suppose we will.”

Wise guy: Until last Thursday at Chicago, the Milwaukee Brewers had played six extra-inning games, going 22 extra innings without a run.

Said Brewer second baseman Jim Gantner: “Geez, no wonder we lost them all.”

Rooking their pawns: From Joe Hamelin of the Sacramento Bee, on last weekend’s celebrity golf tournament at South Lake Tahoe: “If America will watch this sort of thing--and, worse, if it will pay for the privilege--then it will probably admire some of the other productions that NBC is considering to fill the drab summer weekends.

“ ‘Cooking with Joe Montana,’ for one.

“ ‘Pete Rose’s Tax Tips.’

“And, of course, the ever-popular ‘Celebrity Chess.’ ”

K, 2-9-2-3: In the fourth inning of Montreal’s 16-14 victory over Atlanta Sunday, with a 1-and-2 count, two out and runners at first and second, the Braves’ Jim Presley tried to check his swing on Tim Burke’s pitch in the dirt.

Catcher Mike Fitzgerald scooped the ball and threw wildly past first baseman Andres Galarraga and into right field.

Jeff Treadway took off from second, Ron Gant from first. Right fielder Marquis Grissom retrieved the ball and threw home, too late to get Treadway. Gant stopped at third.

Expo third baseman Tim Wallach appealed to first base umpire Bob Davidson and hollered to Fitzgerald to throw the ball to Galarraga. He did, and Davidson called Presley, still standing at the plate dumbfounded, out.

Add K, 2-9-2-3: Bobby Cox, the Braves’ manager, argued the call and was ejected.

Trivia answer: In 1972, the Lakers defeated Golden State, 162-99.

Quotebook: Tom Watson, describing the treacherous 17th hole (The Road Hole) on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland: “It could have been designed by (Alfred) Hitchcock.”