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Maybe he should stage a Wildcat strike

For 40 years, Thurman Jerome Hamlin remained undaunted as he ran unsuccessfully for governor, senator, congressman and a list of other political offices in Kentucky.

But Hamlin was peeved enough to file suit after he lost out on one of the state’s highest-profile positions: University of Kentucky men’s head basketball coach.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Hamlin, who is 73 and white, said he was the victim of age and race discrimination. He said he tried to apply for the Kentucky coaching job after Rick Pitino left for the Boston Celtics, but university officials would not take his application.

Hamlin will never get his day in court. A U.S. magistrate judge said Hamlin had been “very liberally construing” his rights under anti-discrimination laws.

In his complaint, Hamlin said UK was spending too much money on its basketball coaches and offered to coach the team for $1.

Brennaman busts out Elvis

Elvis has returned to the Cincinnati Reds’ broadcast booth.

Mired in their worst start in 47 years, players urged broadcaster Marty Brennaman to put his Elvis bust and other memorabilia on display after a one-year banishment.

Brennaman readily agreed and last Sunday, the WLW-AM booth was decorated with two Elvis busts, a framed Elvis photograph, an Elvis wall hanging and an Elvis painting on black velvet.

Brennaman started his personal tribute to Elvis last season as a lighthearted diversion while the team struggled to its worst start in 25 years. Players didn’t take to the on-air Elvis references and memorabilia. Several tried to hit the bust with baseballs during batting practice, prompting Brennaman to complain about the “assassination attempt.”

When the Reds topped themselves by getting off to their worst start in 47 years, the players decided to try to change their luck by giving Brennaman permission to resurrect Elvis.

Perhaps a better luck-changer would be to get rid of Ray Knight.

Don’t expect this Oscar to win any awards

Sportswriters will soon become the story.

Oscar, a 16-page magazine devoted to the profession, will debut this week and will feature sportswriters from around the U.S.

The magazine, named for the sportswriter in the “Odd Couple” play by Neil Simon that became a popular television series, is the brainchild of Rob Parker, a sports columnist at Newsday newspaper in Long Island, N.Y.

“Sportswriters are typically left out of journalism magazines,” Parker said. “We’re not taken seriously.”

Please, no photo spreads!

Will Mookie bat?

The Red Sox open their interleague schedule this month at Shea Stadium, where they bobbled away the World Series 11 years ago this fall on the infamous ground ball that dribbled through the legs of Bill Buckner.

The game is set for Friday the 13th.

A bitter dream

Houston Rocket center Hakeem Olajuwon told the Houston Chronicle that the Utah Jazz is a team of “pretenders.”

“They want to look like good guys all the time. They want the NBA and the whole world to believe they are good guys, (Karl) Malone, (John) Stockton, all of them.

“But the truth is that they are bad guys, very bad guys.”

But good enough to eliminate Houston.

The last word …

“The war between the women’s pro basketball leagues will cause as much concern as two vegetarians fighting over a bacon bit.”

- Chicago Tribune columnist Bernie Lincicome

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo