SIDEWAYS GLANCE HUSTLING TO READ UP ON TENNIS' FIRST BAD BOY.

Byline: - Tom Hoffarth

--The book: ``The Last Sure Thing: The Life & Times of Bobby Riggs''

--The author: Tom LeCompte

--The other pertinent info: Skunkworks Publishing, $29.95, 471 pages with index

--The background: When Bobby Riggs died of prostate cancer in October 1995, more than 100 people gathered at a funeral home in Encinitas to share a laugh and a funny story about him.

``I will not be remembered for winning Wimbledon on my first try, but as the guy who lost to Billie Jean King in front of 90 million people. Which is OK with me,'' was the quote attributed to him during the service.

That's because on Sept. 25, 1973, the 55-year-old pulled off maybe the best hustle of his betting career - he lost to the 29-year-old top women's pro during a televised tennis match at the Houston Astrodome that continues to stand as the most-watched event in the sport's history.

Some say he bet on himself to lose, and that's where the hustle was completed.

Whether that's true or not, it's part of the Riggs legend, which does include the 1939 All-England title, a five-set victory over Elwood Cooke just before the event was called off during a six-year period because of World War II, as well as two U.S. Open championships ('39 and '41, and a loss in the final in '40).

--The review: Maybe the best way to sum up this voluminous work is a comment by one critic: ``Bobby Riggs? I had no interest in knowing about that misogynist sideshow, and then I picked up (this biography). Riggs is a slice of the American pie: a classic hustler, scrappy and confident, and in the end, as empty and arrogant as the celebrity culture he thrived in. He's dead now, but he came alive in these pages.''

LeCompte conducted more than 150 interviews with Riggs' family and friends, historians and enemies to reveal new, rich background on the man who retired from pro tennis in 1952. As LeCompte writes in the book's afterword, Riggs will be remembered as ``an athlete, competitor, champion, showman, hustler, chauvinist, huckster, smart aleck, chatterbox, blowhard, rascal, prankster, rival, lover, mentor, partner, friend and father.''

Probably in that order.

--More on Riggs: His autobiography titled ``Court Hustler'' came out in 1973 right after the ``Battle of the Sexes'' match and can be found in used-book stores and online (www.abe.com, www.bookfinder.com and www.alibris.com). This new book can be ordered on www.bobbyriggs.com.

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no caption (book: ``The Last Sure Thing: The Life & Times of Bobby Riggs'')