July 2006 Archives

Friday, On Day 1 of the World Series of Poker down at the Rio in Las Vegas, James McManus, a player who became famous when Harper's magazine assigned him to cover the event in 2000 and he ended up finishing fifth and winning $247,000, was looking at all the 9,000-odd participants who put up the $10,000 buy-in and said he was already "kind of pooped."

"I've been here since June 26," he told the Associated Press. "If I advance, it'll be seven weeks. It, at least for me, answers the question, 'How much is too much poker?'"

For us, too much -- or at least one Sign of the Apocalypse -- is the fact that $6.5 million has been invested into something called the Poker Dome, a fish bowl-like TV studio in downtown Vegas at the corner of Freemont St. and Las Vegas Blvd. where Fox Sports Net is carrying the Mansionpoker.net Challenge event for online players.

They finally opened the joint for this weekend's competion -- it's taped on Saturday and airs on Sunday at 11 p.m. We gave you the basics in a story that appeared in today's Daily News. Here's more behind the scenes stuff that might intice you to go downtown to see the geeks, freaks, and those who can't get enough Hold 'Em-style card dealing, unless you've got better things to do like go to the Harry Potter Convention or see Carrot Top at the Luxor:

Most times, we get bored of billboards, especially with that "Can You Hear Me Now?" idiot pimping a cellphone company that we've simply wish would drop its connection permanently.

Then we run into something like the one above, that the crafty marketeers at EZ Lube came up with and posted off the 210 Freeway heading East just beyond the 605 interchange. It's almost enough to make you want to pull off the freeway and have your differential checked.

Sports-related billboards around L.A. can nail it when they get the right creative touch. We've seen this sampling around down over the last week or so:

For some reason, the latest edition of Sports Illustrated forgot to include that promo for DirecTV that it promises sex from an SI swimsuit babe if you sign up for its "NFL Sunday Ticket" package.

OK, maybe not sex. We usually don't read the ad copy that goes with it. But we finally did last time we saw the ad in the July 24 issue (with Reggie Bush lookin' mean on the cover). It's the fantasy football issue, so maybe we just got to fantasizing too much when we flipped over to page 33:

There's the headline: SHE WANTS YOU ... If You're the NFL's Greatest Fan!

If you're one of three winners, SI Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker (pictured above, in that same pose, except they flopped it for the magazine because they have no ethical scruples) will come to your house, along with the "NFL Sunday Ticket" package. (Brooklyn Decker sure beats a visit from a sales rep from Black & Decker, although in this case, we're not sure which is the grand prize, her or the Sunday Ticket package).

Stop drooling and read on: If you enter today at si.com/greatestfan, the ad copy says you could win "a visit from Brookyn Decker* to your home." Contest ends Aug. 7 and ... wait, was that an asterisk we just glossed over.

*Subject to availability.

Talk about finding a loophole where a peephole should be. That could leave a mark. As could the rest of these photos on her website:

A photo opportunity with Matt Leinart: $110.
Getting Reggie Bush to sign the new Saints jersey that you just shelled out a few hundred bucks for: $150.
Having Reggie add the inscription "Heisman Trophy winner" to that jersey: $40.
Watching Magic Johnson deface your prized basketball with what appears to be his signature: $150.
Asking Magic to then take a picture with you, with his arm on your shoulder pretending like you're pals: Another $150.

Knowing you've got more common sense than to pay for any of this: Priceless.

Yup, it's the 27th National Sports Collectors Convention busting into the Anaheim Convention Center this weekend, starting with the "sneak peak" tonight (5-9 p.m.). General admission: Just $17.50, or $109 for a "VIP" pass. More information at the organization's website.

Don't get caught in the line to "It's A Small World." Make a detour across the street and get soaked by someone with a Sharpie who otherwise wouldn't give you the time of day.

Read on, if you must:

Men's Vogue. What is it good for. Absolutely nothing. Say it again.

"At last a magazine tailored to your tastes," is the marketing slogan attached to this men's version of the fashion magazine that's owned by a company that also churns out the "regular" women's Vogue (although they won't actually call it "Women's Vogue"), Vanity Fair, Gourmet and House & Garden. A "charter subscriber" can find out all the cool stuff about "style, art, architecture and design." Or you can just buy this issue.

Since we're at the book store, and having just seen Tiger Woods win the British Open (again), this metrosexual magazine with Tiger looking suave catching our eye. Until we look at the title.

What is it good for? Absolutely nuth .... read on...

Sean Avery. To the Kings. Which means Elisha "The Girl Next Door" Cuthbert is back in the fold.
Here's how it's unfolded:

"Driving Force," the new reality series -- and we hate using that phrase, so skip over it if you can -- on the John Force drag racing family posts two original episodes tonight (A&E, 9 and 9:30 p.m.) that deal with John's poor upbringing living in a trailer park, and his estranged relationship with his wife, Laurie.

There's not alot of drag racing involved in these two, but the storylines established will move the series in another direction that give more context to what's going on behind the scenes with John and his three racing daughters.

Read on for more info...

(The following is a completely unsolicited testimonial about a food product that is not sports related, but could be if done properly, which we will now attempt).

Imagine a Dodger Dog with a blue cheese spread. That would probably be the best definition of blue heaven.

Especially if the stuff you put on that dog was called My Blue Heaven.

It exists. And we'll tell you where to find it...

You're Vince Welch, a veteran IRL IndyCar Series broadcaster. You've seen some of the biggest events in motorsports history during your career.

But ESPN has a different assignment for you this weekend.

Can you do the 69th All-American Soap Box Derby.
Seriously?

(He is still smiling? Now is he?)

That's when you know a) you need a new agent and b) you might consider selling bibles until retirement.

ESPN carries this thing live today from 1-3 p.m. ESPN2 will re-air it Thursday, July 27 at noon and on Saturday, August 5 at 3 p.m., where Welch's family and friends can be embarassed all over again.

If Welch isn't careful, they might ask him to do the All-American Paper Airplane Throwing Championship from Kitty Hawk, N.C. ... Wright?

For now, we'll just watch some old Soap Box races on our Viewmaster ...

Back in the day, would the O'Malley family have charged anyone who wanted to take a tour of Dodger Stadium? Naw, c'mon in. Let me show you where the boys undress after every game. Watch out for those peanut shells.

Today, the Dodgers announced that a "Championship Tour" of the ballpark is available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

Just 15 bucks a head....

WHAT? Read on ...

Sunday marks the eighth annual induction ceremony for the Shrine of the Eternals, sponsored by the Pasadena-based Baseball Reliquary, honoring those whose career in the game touched something in the hearts of the fans who've had the honor of voting them.

Before we forget: 2 p.m., Donald R. Wright Auditorium at the Pasadena Central Library, 285 E. Walnut Street in Pasadena, free admission. And most likely air conditioned. For more information: www.baseballreliquary.org.

This year's honorees: Fernando Valenzuela, Josh Gibson and Kenichi Zenimura. The first, you know. The second, you should know. The third, we'll tell you about.

Read on:

Normar Garciaparra's dream of playing at Dodger Stadium may only last a season, and Boston Red Sox fans are already getting territorial.

Have you seen this website that's asking Bosox fans to sign a petition, asking management to make sure Nooo-maaaar is back in a Saux uniform by 2007?

Check it out at Bring Nomar Home, where you'd think the domain name would have been secured by the man himself years ago...

Nomar back in Boston? It's almost as hilarious as Bud Selig deciding that the winner of the All-Star Game will determine U.S. foreign policy. It could happen. Read all about it...

Now, for you chowderheads pining for his return, have fun watching Nomar and Mia show you a tour of their new Manhattan Beach house in this promotional video supplied by a phone company that has its name all over the San Francisco Giants' home field.

How often do you get to learn something about tennis from the only two Americans who did anything at Wimbledon a few weeks ago?

Bob and Mike Bryan, the Camarillo twins who won the Wimbledon men's doubles title and have appeared in a record seven Grand Slam doubles finals in a row, will do a doubles clinic on the day before the ATP Countrywide Classic at the L.A. Tennis Center on the UCLA campus.

The world’s No. 1 doubles team two of the last three years own 29 career doubles titles as a team, including Los Angeles in 2001 and 2004.

Here's more on the clinic:

The Anaheim Ducks are no longer mighty. And their arena is no longer made of water.

The Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim will suddenly transform into the less zippy Honda Center starting in October, which will only further confuse those who cover games at the place (Chris Berman is still refering to Angels Stadium as "The Ed" if you can belive it).

The announcement was made today by Anaheim Arena Management, LLC, the management company of Arrowhead Pond, and by American Honda Motor Co., Inc. The naming rights deal -- $60 million over 15 years -- is the first such agreement for Honda and the first name change for the 13-year-old arena.

A press conference featuring executives from both companies will be held in October. Details regarding the arrangement will be made available at that time. Like that'll matter....

(Gene J. Puskar/AP)

It's not every day you see Tom Hanks, Dennis Miller and Ron Howard hanging out together at a baseball game. Especially not in L.A. for a Hollywood Stars Night.

So what gives, cha-cha? Why were these three hanging out in Pittsburgh on Tuesday night to see Jim Tracy's team take a 13-4 thumping? Couldn't find their way home after last week's All-Star Game? Thought they were going to see "Pirates of the Carribbean"?

Miller, a Pittsburgh native, joined Hanks (who's looking more and more like Jim Belushi) and Howard at Tuesday's game at PNC Park. The night before, they were in Baltimore. Wednesday, it turns out, they'll be in Cincinnati. Thursday, it was Detroit.

It was Hanks who has decided to visit seven ballparks as a birthday present to himself. "I turned 50 10 days ago," Hanks said. "This is the dream you have all the way back."

"Tom is so influential that he's arranged a St. Louis Browns game," Miller joked.

Excuse me, Ms. Judd, your head if blocking the ESPY Awards logo. Can you move to one side or the other.

Apparently, despite all the bathroom humor Lance Armstrong used in the opening monologue, and the Mets-Cubs game that ran long and pushed the start of the tape-delayed show back a half hour, the 14th annual ESPY Awards show was seen by more than 2.5 million homes on Sunday night, the best viewership for this nonsense since 1997.

Which means the 15th annual ESPYs are a given. When will it jump the Tark?

Read on:

Pat O’Brien told us on the ESPY Awards red carpet to beware, that he was returning to sports somehow. True to his word -- and why wouldn't he be? -- CBS announced Monday that it has rehired "The Insider" to host the U.S. Open Tennis Late Night Show for the network.

We tip our bottomless glasses to him.

Read on:

Michelle Wie couldn't hang with the guys in a non-descript PGA event this weekend. Something to do with bailing out because it got to hot and getting an ambulance ride out. Thus, the 16-year-old missed the cut. Again. Just wait'll she's old enough to start missing cuts on a regular basis in the LPGA in a couple of years.

But there were some females who went the distance this weekend in sports. Take Natalie Coughlin (above), who celebrates after winning the 100 meter backstroke in a meet record time of 1:00:19 at the Janet Evans Invitational at USC. She'd give Amanda Beard a run for her money in the swimmer-deserves-an-FHM cover award.

Thus, we choose to honor her, and the others who did something this weekend, in picture, and caption, via the Associated Press...

Angela Ruggerio, the U.S. women's Olympic hockey star raised in Simi Valley, just checked in to say she's finished with taping for the upcoming season of the reality show "The Apprentice," which will take place in and around L.A.

Hmmm. Seems kinda fast to be finished, don't you think? Did The Donald fire her on the first show? Was there some terrible Zamboni accident at the Trump International Golf Course that was pinned on her? What gives? ...

All she'll say is ...

For the record, I didn't send this text message "I'm The Hoff" when prompted during a game in Milwaukee recently. I found this shot on the sports blog everyone should be reading daily, Deadspin.com, whose editor, Will Leitch, deserves all the credit for posting this earlier today.

Here's the background:

Stuart Scott, ESPN's provocateur of def poetry, will refer to the annual ESPY Awards as the place where sports and celebs come together "for phat entertainment." He actually used that line during the taping of the ESPY Red Carpet Show that'll go on the air just before the 14th annual ESPY Awards (Sunday, 6 p.m.).

While that security guard above guards the giant silver trophy given to those lucky enough to have done something well enough to get enough internet votes by ESPN.com users, we'll try to cut through the phat and give you what we saw during Wednesday's pre-show shin-dig at Hollywood and Highland's Kodak Theatre, the sixth year in a row that the show of sports excess and a fundraiser for the V Foundation has taken place in the same venue as the venerable Academy Awards ceremony.

Take the magic red carpet ride yourself into the seen-and-be-seen world of sports converging into Hollywood:

You've got the unique opportunity to roll out a sleeping bag in the Dodger Stadium outfield and perhaps catch some Zs in roughly the same spot where Kenny Lofton regularily pulls his hamstrings. All it costs is 300 bucks a head.

Are you game? Then bring a pillow.

By late Monday afternoon, about 230 of us who just experienced the inaugural "Blue Heaven Sleepover" promotion, the first time in the 44 year history of Dodger Stadium where fans were allowed to spend the night, were trying to find the words to describe the last 24 hours or so.

OK, so a few couples whose sole intention was to "circle the bases" inside their zipped-together sleeping bags were kindly given a refund and suggested they take it home so they might not ruin the family atmosphere. Maybe they weren't completely satisfied. Too bad. But if you were a kid able to run around and get grass stains on every part of your PJs, or a parent who wanted to act like a kid again and wasn't bothered by a soggy wet pillow by the time the sun came up over the right-field pavilion, it really was pretty cool.

Here's how it all went down:

If you're a West San Fernando Valley resident and tried to tune into the start of Friday's Dodgers-Giants game on your Time Warner cable system, you probably encountered a black screen.

Why? No reason. Except for some shoddy Time Warner service. ...

From last report, ESPN baseball expert Peter Gammons has responded to his doctors commands and is on the road to recovery after suffering an anuerysm two weeks ago.

The sudden ailment came just days before a new CD of music that he recorded hit the stores, believe it or not.

We found this review that's worth a quick read:

The Dodgers will attempt to break a Guinness World Record at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
Not for attracting the most fans to ever come through the turnstyle to watch a professional franchise. They've already got that mark.
Not for accepting the most hit-by-pitch batsmen. Not most shortstops used in a nine-inning game.
Try bingo. No, really. Try it.

We heard Dan Le Batard on ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" the other day, filling in for Michael Wilbon.
Danny was ranting on about how the soccer players were floundering and flopping all over the place during the World Cup....

Floundering ... flounder...

Then it hit us...

Don't take it so hard. Everyone loses in baseball. We've got the TV show to prove it.
Plus some job opportunities, a don't-miss lecture/meet-n-greet ...

We get the info and try to find a spot for it:

(Matt Slocum/AP)
This fan at Arlington Stadium in Texas falls head-first over the rail trying to catch an eventual double hit by Houston's Craig Biggio in the second inning of Sunday's interleague game.
We hope he hurt himself. Not badly. Just enough to make him not do this stupid stunt again. At least that old ballguy could wack him over the head with the chair. Notice the wife making a real effort to help her man out.

As a result, he made the photo web of fame for Sunday's day in sports, via the Associated Press photo gallery:

Why make a list of sports' all-time shortcomings? Because no matter who's list you're reading, you'll always come up with something they forgot.

Greg Wyshynski, a sportswriter for a newspaper chain in Northern Virginia and senior editor of SportsFan Magazine and its website, throws out his 101 Worst Ideas in Sports History in his new book ($16.95 in most stores).

Perhaps publishing this book was No. 102.
(Just kidding).

Let's have a look at what's really causing him to lose sleep:

I lost my favorite baseball glove when I was in my mid-20s. It was at a softball game. I loaned it to my friend, because I was using my other glove, a first-baseman's mitt. My friend left my glove on the bench at the end of the game, and finally told me after we'd all gone home. I went back to the field, but never found it. My friend didn't understand why I was so upset. And he never offered to replace it.

Oh, did i mention he was my ex-friend.

A book like Noah Liberman's "Glove Affairs: The Romance, History, and Tradition of the Baseball Glove" are full of similar heart-breaking stories. But a story like the one that came through the news pike the last couple of days, about a man whose glove turned up at a swap meet and was found by his brother, brings a lump in my throat.

Read on: