(FORTUNE Magazine) – Bear Stearns President James Cayne has won national tournaments in bridge, but when a men's magazine interviewed him about his passion for the game, the blunt Wall Streeter didn't know when to pass. M asked Cayne about his teammates -- his boss, Bear Stearns CEO and amateur magician Ace Greenberg, CBS chief Larry Tisch, publisher Malcolm Forbes, Cravath Swaine & Moore lawyer George Gillespie, and investor Warren Buffett -- who compete as Corporate America's Six Honchos (CASH). Cayne not only criticized his partners (''they don't know what a good bridge player looks like'') but went on to claim that women lack the emotional cool to be top bridge players -- or stock traders. Under intense pressure, said Cayne, 52, a woman will ''probably have to go to the ladies' room and dab her eyes.'' Those words won't help Bear Stearns defend itself against two sex-discrimination claims, including one from a female trader. Cayne says the M quotes were fabricated, distorted, or taken out of context. In a letter to Bear Stearns employees, he wrote, ''I sincerely apologize to everyone for the totally false impression given by the article and assure you I disagree with its contents.'' The writer, Duncan Christy, says the quotes -- transcribed from a tape -- were ''meticulously accurate.'' What could have possessed Cayne? Lawyer Gillespie gallantly ''pleads guilty'' to being a less skillful player than his teammate. But Cayne knows at least one top-notch bridge player who is a woman -- his coach, grand master Judi Radin, 39. Her view: ''Maybe Jimmy got carried away. He's a great guy, but he's just too intense. Before the article came out he said I wasn't going to like it.'' Radin now has to prep her crew for their upcoming match against a team from the British Parliament. Mrs. Thatcher isn't expected to play.