DULY NOTED

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 | 8:19 a.m.

LITTLE BUDDY, WE'RE GETTING TIRED OF BILLY PACKER AND APPLEBEE'S

Best thing about the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament so far: Hearing Billy Packer and Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas, et al., apologize like Hugh Grant for saying teams such as Bradley and George Mason had no business putting on dancing shoes.

Worst thing about the tournament so far: That mind-numbing Applebee's commercial featuring the "Gilligan's Island" theme song.

Note to Applebee's executives: You had better dust off last year's spot that shows the waitress hanging the old coach's picture on the wall before every college basketball fan takes his business to Red Lobster out of protest.

BUBBLE-LICIOUS

The last time Bradley made the Sweet 16 was 1955, when tournament bubbles and Jay Bilas didn't exist.

Back in the day of high-top canvas sneakers, the NCAA competed with the National Invitation Tournament for teams, which enabled Bradley to sneak into the NCAA tournament despite a 7-19 record and 14-game losing streak. But the Braves finally began sinking their two-hand set shots in tournament play, winning three games and just missing out on a Final Four berth.

Billy Packer was only 15 years old at the time. But even then his bracket had North Carolina winning it all.

4-0

The Mountain West's first-round record in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

23-1

The home team's record in Women's NIT first-round games.

MORE OF LES

If Bradley coach Jim Les looks familiar to really, really, really savvy Las Vegas basketball fans, this might be the reason: He was the point guard for the Chicago Express of the really, really, really defunct World Basketball League, a league for players 6-foot-5 and under in which Las Vegas had a charter franchise.

For lunch for two at Applebee's: Can you name the two Las Vegas Silver Streaks who made the WBL's inaugural five-man all-star team in 1988?

Too late. Jamie Waller and Anthony Jones.

WBC - AND ITS EVIL TWIN

Of the two WBCs that shared left-of-center stage Saturday during the opening weekend of March Madness, the baseball one gets the nod over the boxing one.

Coo-ba's dramatic 3-1 victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic in San Diego was edge-of-the-seat stuff, as was the second semifinal pitting Japan against Korea - at least until Korea inserted Byung-Hyun Kim into a scoreless game, only to have him reprise his 2001 World Series gopher ball routine. It wasn't long before the Japanese hitters began to deposit baseballs in the vicinity of Chula Vista.

The World Boxing Council heavyweight title fight pitting Hasim Rahman against James Toney wasn't nearly as exciting, at least after the third round, when Rahman stopped punching and Toney started looking for a cheeseburger. Although Rahman seemingly did enough to win, the obese Toney was rewarded with a draw, further muddying a heavyweight division that could use a bath.

Former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis:

"The longer these guys do this, the better I look."

upon leaving the arena after Saturday's Hasim Rahman-James Toney heavyweight title fight.

IN LIKE CLINT

This just in: Clint Dolezel sneezed getting out of bed today and threw two more touchdown passes.

The former Gladiators quarterback, whose salary was dumped after last season, tied an Arena Football record - his own - by tossing 11 touchdown passes in the Dallas Desperados' 87-62 victory over the Orlando Predators on Sunday.

Afterward, he received a congratulatory note from Andre Ware and John Jenkins, who used to run up the score for the Houston Cougars.

THIS BOY FROM BRAZIL IS A CLASS ACT

Jonathan Tavernari, the basketball star from Brazil whose recruitment to Bishop Gorman High School caused a firestorm that would have given Smokey Bear an Excedrin headache, is a class act.

I sensed by talking to him that he is a good kid, which was confirmed by his actions after Gorman was eliminated from the 4A state basketball tournament by Reno High School.

During the girls' championship game the following evening, Tavernari approached the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association executive director, Dr. Jerry Hughes, shook his hand and apologized for any problems he may have indirectly caused.

Sometimes it's the grown-ups who can learn something from the kids they are supposedly trying to educate.

Number of dunks by the Lady Vols' Candace Parker in Tennessee's 48-point first-round victory over Army.