There’s Not Much Elbowroom to Cheat

Colorful hockey commentator Bill Clement, working the Olympic badminton coverage on Bravo, has brought his unique style to the sport.

In explaining that players must serve from below the waist, Clement said, “They use the elbow as the indicator. They can’t use the waistline of the shorts or players would come in with their shorts wrapped up around their neck like Steve Urkel or Pee-wee Herman.”

By the way, Clement was a two-time high school badminton champion in Quebec.

*

Trivia time: How many gold medals did American swimmer Johnny Weissmuller win at the 1924 Paris Olympics?

*

Who’s the rat? When asked by Playboy magazine about rumors that former San Francisco 49er teammate Jeff Garcia is gay, Terrell Owens, now with the Philadelphia Eagles, said, “Like my boy tells me: If it looks like a rat and smells like a rat, by golly, it is a rat.”

That prompted this from San Francisco Chronicle reader Mike Endsley of Aptos, Calif.: “If it walks like a whining, pass-dropping, selfish hotdog and it smells like a whining, pass-dropping, selfish hotdog, then by golly ... “

*

Legally speaking: Michael Ventre on MSNBC: “The prosecutors in the Kobe Bryant case are the ’62 Mets of jurisprudence.”

*

Books galore: Dodger Manager Jim Tracy and wife Deb, plus a number of players and their wives, will be at Gratts Elementary School near downtown Los Angeles today to donate books to the school.

There’s no truth to the rumor the books were rejected by Dodger players who found them too difficult to read.

*

Another charitable cause: The Lakers and corporate sponsor Staples will donate 1,000 backpacks to homeless children of Hope Central on Friday.

Wonder if they will have one for homeless Gary Payton.

*

Good idea: According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle, Texas A&M;, which lost six fumbles on punt returns last season, may go with two punt returners this season.

“One to try and catch the punt, and one to recover it when we don’t,” Coach Dennis Franchione said.

*

Clarification: A recent trivia item mentioned that Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg were the two Jewish major leaguers in the baseball Hall of Fame. A number of readers asked about Rod Carew. According to baseballlibrary.com, contrary to popular belief, Carew never converted to Judaism. After marrying a Jewish woman, however, he did raise his kids in the faith.

*

Trivia answer: Three -- in the 100-meter and 400-meter freestyle events and the 800-meter freestyle relay. Weissmuller won two gold medals at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

*

And finally: After Mike Tyson’s loss to Danny Williams, Randy Hill of foxsports.com wrote, “This convincing setback suggests that instead of eating your children, Mike now hopes he just defeats one of your children on points.”

*

Larry Stewart can be reached at larry.stewart@latimes.com.