They Want Track Stars to Get Point

The International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) has passed a bylaw making it a violation for athletes to try to “sneak a competing sponsor’s ads into track and field meets by getting their bodies tattooed with corporate logos,” according to James Christie of the Toronto Globe & Mail.

Cecil Smith, a Canadian delegate to the IAAF and executive director of the Ontario Track and Field Assn., said the organization is concerned about “athletes decorating themselves with a Nike Swoosh or a Tiger logo. It’s the latest craze.”

Smith, said, however, the new bylaw doesn’t specifically cover what an athlete does with his or her hair style.

Or, perhaps, some obscure parts of their bodies.

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Trivia time: Who were the first UCLA and USC players to play for the Lakers?

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The Piazza derby: Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times was urging the Chicago Cubs to acquire Mike Piazza:

“Piazza is there for the snagging, a Hope Diamond in a case suddenly unlocked. He lists the Cubs among four teams he’d like to sign with long-term, knowing his power numbers would swell in Wrigley with his thunderous opposite-field stroke.

“He’d be the local answer to Mark McGwire, capable of 50-homer seasons, giving the Cubs the magnificent slugger they’ve lacked so long.”

The Cubs didn’t listen to you soon enough, Jay. Piazza was traded to the New York Mets on Friday. Maybe they can snag him in the off-season.

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Strapped: More from Tom Powers of the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press on novelist Tom Clancy’s money problems in his failed attempt to buy the Minnesota Vikings:

“As near as I can tell, [Clancy’s] purchasing plan appears to be $10 down and the other $199,999,990 as soon as he figures out where to get it.”

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Shine on! George Steinbrenner was asked by George King of the New York Post if the recent brawl between the Yankees and Orioles was a black eye for the sport.

“Not a black eye,” he said. “Look at hockey. They have a black eye every 15 minutes.”

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Only way to fly: One more way pro athletes differ from regular people:

Nick Price took a break between the Byron Nelson Classic and the Colonial golf tournaments to stop by the Bell Helicopter plant in Fort Worth to take delivery of a brand-new Bell 407 helicopter.

Price said the helicopter, with a top speed of 160 mph, “will give me more time to spend with my family.”

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FYI: In a memorable comeback, the Lakers trailed the Phoenix Suns, three games to one, in the 1969-70 NBA playoffs, but rallied to win the series.

The Lakers then swept Atlanta, only to lose to the New York Knicks, 4-3, in the championship series.

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Trivia answer: UCLA’s Walt Hazzard, from 1964 to 1967, and USC’s John Block, 1966-67.

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And finally: Tom FitzGerald in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Millions of pagers didn’t work because a communications satellite suddenly lost track of earth. Latrell Sprewell knows how that feels.”