Put John Salley, Nick Lachey, Stacy Keibler, Brady Anderson, Kyle Boller and Brian Vickers into the same room, and what'll they have to talk about?
Other than trashing Jessica Simpson....

They've got the Hollywood Fame, the latest fly-by-night expansion franchise for the American Basketball Association, and the ownership group appears to include Salley, the former Lakers forward and "Best Damn Sports Show Period" co-host; Lachey, the psedo-singer and USC hanger-on; Keibler, the WWE wrassler and "Dancing With the Stars" maven; Anderson, the former Baltimore Orioles outfielder; Boller, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback out of Valencia's Hart High, and Vickers, the NASCAR driver.
Others in the group are AJ Discala, the CEO of Brax Capital Group and de facto owner, and Geoff Stults, an actor from "7th Heaven."
The plan is to have the team up and running in November with home games at the decrepit pit of the L.A. Sports Arena, which will be out of commission since USC is moving over the Galen Center.
The Fame is/are planning tryouts in September to fill the roster and cheerleading squad -- Kiebler anyone?
More info on the tryouts and investment opportunties: www.thehollywoodfame.com.

Posted by Tom at 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Who wants Bill Callahan canned at Nebraska? That'll be $250, please.
How 'bout deleting Dirk Koetter at ASU? Doesn't $100 seem like a bargain?
Anyone for pushing out Terry Hoeppner? We're not even sure where he coaches, but you can have him for $50.
Taking cybersquatting to a new low, but also showing that it can be a rather forward-thinking business model, an anonymous college football fan has already bought the domain names to 30 "Fire (fill in the name)" sites for college and NFL coaches and has put them up for sale at Redshirted.com. Those who want to barter can offer a bid, which doesn't include the price of the escrow company fees needed for the transactions.
According to a story on the Associated Press, the guy who started this is named Doug and would “identify himself only as a technology worker from Austin, Texas." Which means Mack Brown is probably just a loss or two away from having his name included.
In the spirit of the most famous anti-coach Website aimed to can then-Florida coach Ron Zook -- fireronzook.com -- this site has a list of names and prices slotted for each based on what "Doug" sees as their value in the coming weeks. As the AP story points out, Gerry DiNardo's name is also for sale, despite the fact he was fired by Indiana two years ago and is working for ESPN.
Zook's take on all this: “It’s kind of ridiculous in a way that people get their kicks out of doing something like that, but I think coaches understand it’s kind of the nature of the business.�
Some have already been sold: Urban Meyer and Brian Billick, to name a few.
As the AP story points out, fans can also buy the domain names to keep others from taking them. Four years ago, as a Georgia sophomore, William Nielson bought FireMarkRicht.com for $20 to keep some other angry fan from copying the Zook site.

Posted by Tom at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We don't endorse anyone pretending to be a member of the media for the sake of getting into an event they should otherwise have to buy a ticket. That can get you into alot of trouble, probably thrown in jail (it's happened) and it's just not ethically right.
That said ...
We challenge anyone out there to see if they can get into the Sept. 7 media party to launch the fourth season of the Lingerie Bowl. If you have to pretend to be a member of some media company that you've just made up -- say, The Vandelay Village Voice -- that's up to you. Again, we wash our hands of how you get in. We'll just provide the contact information.
After all, how much media does this event need at this point? It's pointless.
Here are the pertinent pieces of information from a press release sent out to members of the "media" this morning. Do with it what you feel is necessary:

BODOG.COM LINGERIE BOWL IV
KICK-OFF PARTY

STEP ASIDE NFL, THE LADIES ARE BACK FOR A FOURTH SEASON!

REQUEST FOR COVERAGE

Horizon Productions, Inc. requests your coverage of the annual Bodog.com Lingerie Bowl IV Kick-Off Party. Last year’s event at Cabana Club drew a who’s who of young Hollywood along with substantial regional and national coverage.

This year’s highly-anticipated red-carpet event will showcase models from all four Lingerie Football League (LFL) teams, on-air celebrities along with former and current NFL Greats.

**LIMITED MEDIA SPACING, PLEASE CREDENTIAL EARLY

WHAT – Bodog.com Lingerie Bowl IV Kick-Off Party

WHO – Lingerie Bowl Hosts - Sex Icon Jenna Jameson, E! Entertainment’s Girls Next Door & Playboy Cover Girls Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, Bridgette Marquardt, Supermodel Joanna Krupa, NFL Great Brian ‘The Boz’ Bosworth, All Four Lingerie Football League Teams, Former & Current NFL Players and Lingerie Bowl Creator Mitch Mortaza

WHERE – LES DEUX, 1638 Las Palmas, Hollywood, CA 90028

WHEN – THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2006

TIME – RED CARPET ARRIVALS 9PM

CONTACT – MYRIAM TOUIMER, VELVET PR, 310.860.6103
myriam@velvetpr.net

CHRISTOPHER MARTIN, HORIZON PRODUCTIONS,323.337.9010 EXT 3112
martinc@horizonprod.tv

WEBSITE – www.LingerieBowl.com

Posted by Tom at 09:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When NBC made the formal announcement Wednesday morning about the musical selections for their new Sunday night NFL package, we paused, waited, hesitated, grunted, waited some more and finally realized -- they weren't kidding.
And after a day to sleep on it, it's hardly caused a ripple of newsworthiness.
Kind of like Fox dropping Jillian Barberie from its NFL pregame show.
Yeah, so what?

For the record, Pink will sing the new opening called "Waiting All Day for Sunday Night," which is a remake of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You."
Right about now, I hate myself for even writing this blog entry.
NBC decided to leak the news to a couple of larger distributed newspapers to kinda get the buzz started.
Didn't really happen. Pink Floyd would have caused more of a reaction.

Then they went further to give out the lyrics (continue to read at your own risk):

All right Sunday Night where are you?
Just kicking back from the things that you do
You want the Big Game, we want it too!

Sunday Night Football on NBC
The only game that you have to see
Don't need a ticket, all you need's a TV
Cause the NFL rocks on NBC

Al and John will want to make us crank up the sound?

Maybe John Williams, not John Madden.
That said, famous composer Williams has re-written a few "Star Wars" themes and come up with a thumping opening instrumental that's supposed to immediately alert your brain that there's NBC football on the tube.
NBC then sent out mp3 files of the music that'll be used, and we're not supposed to distribute them. That's probably to prevent any backlash.
We'll call the 40-second John Williams piece of music "March of the Madden," since it has that kind of Olympic Games drum beat mixed in with some happy, peppy horns in a monotonous tone that would probably match right up with John Madden rumbling from the elevator doors of the press box to his broadcast seat.
"Waiting All Day for Sunday Night" sounds like ... we're not quite sure. Maybe something Storm Large could have overamplified on to try to stay alive one more night on "Rockstar: Supernova."

Posted by Tom at 08:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We've finally found a job for Pete Arbogast.
There's a guy going by the name of Hugh Johnson and he has a website called 8clapsports.com where he encourages everyone to join him on a pre- and post-game report during the UCLA football season.
There's no other way to describe this except to go to this site and listen to the opening intro. Get in on the ground floor of this latest Bruin craze.
Hugh will be huge. But can Pete repeat this in his own "How Do You Do?" way?

Posted by Tom at 02:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

It's been confirmed by People magazine, so it must be true: Brynn Cameron is taking a pregnant pause from her basketball career to have Matt Leinart's kid.
The Associated Press even thought enough of it to run the thing as a story today, which started as a note in the Daily News' Scott Wolf's USC notebook a couple of days ago, and it was discussed as a topic on Wednesday's "Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN.
Stan Cameron, the father of Brynn, the 20-year-old junior guard on the USC women's basketball team, says she'll sit this season out and have the baby in November.
Brynn isn't going to say anything more about it. Asked Wednesday about Cameron, Leinart said, "I'm not going to comment."
"Brynn does not want to get married," Stan Cameron told several newspapers about the circumstances. "She wants to finish school and let Matt do his thing and then figure it out. ... It might not be the best timing in the world, but we are obviously very happy to have a new baby in the family. Brynn just found out about a month ago and told the team on Monday ...
"Once the baby is born, she wants to get back to playing basketball again and finish school. I know Brynn will make a great mom. Things will be fine. It will be fun."
As much as we feel disappointed that this all happened, it still could be a great script for "Love and Basketball 2."
And at least grandpa knows where to find the quarterback (and his checkbook) if he's thinking about making another walk of shame from Paris Hilton's condo.

Posted by Tom at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The American's Milk Processor's marketing department has a new approach: David Beckham, Alex Rodriguez and Sasha Cohen are doing to tell teenagers that drinking the stuff that comes out of four-legged grass-eaters-- especially the low-fat version -- is better for you than that sugary sodas that come out of the vending machines at school.
We never thought of it that way.
Maybe it's because we aren't some easy-to-influence teenager who ponders this while squeezing zits in the mirror.
The new marketing campaign by AMP, which we're not sure if it's related to the Milk Advisory Board or the National Dairy Council or the International Dairy Food Association or a zillion other "Got Milk?" related stuff, was released today (Wednesday). Don't have a cow, but what does this poster of party-boy Beckham say to kids about putting tatoos all over their body?

Posted by Tom at 01:01 PM | Permalink

Jeff Garlin, from HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm," calls his team "Nipsey Russell."
David Boreanaz, from the Fox series "Bones," has a team called "Dis n Dat aka Wit Wit out."
Kellita Smith (Wanda on "The Bernie Mac Show") and comedian Guy Torry have called their team "The Faulk U's."
Get it? Got it? Good.
They're three of the eight teams that'll compete in season three of the NFL Network's "NFLTotal Access" Hollywood Fantasy Football League. The season-long competiton will updated on the "Total Access" show every Wednesday night (4 p.m.) and the teams will make their picks on the Friday "Total Access" show.

The half-hour draft airs tonight (Wednesday) at 5 p.m. (repeated Thursday at noon).

The rest of the competitors:
=Comedian Nick Bakay, with the "Nick Bakay's Love Handles."
=Larry Joe Campbell (Jim Belushi’s sidekick on "According To Jim"), with "The Abattoir FC."
=Rex Linn (from "CSI: Miami"), with "T-REX"
=Paul Rudd (from "The 40-Year Old Virgin") goes with "Tastes Like Chicken"
=Michelle Williams of the group Destiny’s Child is trying to win with "The Bootyliscious Browns."
Garlin, left, won the contest last year. He didn't curb his enthusiasm.

Posted by Tom at 06:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So maybe it wasn't quite the Dodger Dog-town Buffet we envisioned. It was, never the less, a fulfilling experience. A survival of the fattest, if you please.

This latest promotion by the Dodgers -- buy a $35 ticket to the right-field pavilion and eat until your guts busts -- sounded too delicious to pass up. But the question was: Could a 45-year-old with cholesterol already too high and a competitive nature of Kobayashi figure out a way to make this a cost-effective venture.

Turns out, it wasn't that tough. In what the team may soon be be able to promote as the "Anti-$2 Tuesday," we must admit we turned in a credible, gastric-challenged performance Monday night and 2,000-plus-calories later, we've kept it all in to tell about it.

Here's the deal:

The setup:
On a trial basis, the Dodgers' marketing department has set aside three nights -- Aug. 15, Aug. 28 and Sept. 21 -- for this promotion they're calling "Pavilion Party Pack." The intent seems to be to get groups to plan an outing and benefit from the scaled-down, easy-to-figure-out menu that in theory makes it easier for folks to go down between innings and grab a bite to eat.
Tickets are priced at $35 each, or $40 on the day of the game. That's up from $8 (advanced sale) and $10 (day of game sale). Groups also get a break with 10 or more.

The all-you can eat menu is pretty clear cut:
-- Dodger Dogs
-- Nachos
-- Peanuts
-- Popcorn
-- Coke
-- Water
If you break it down by what these items normally cost, the dogs go for $4.50, nachos are $5.75 ($1.50 for extra cheese) and water is $5.50. The peanuts, popcorn and Cokes are in that ballpark range, too, but we'll get to those later.

If that wasn't enough -- and don't you think it oughta be? -- there's a menu of things you can actually pay for to consume. That includes beer, which is normally not sold in the pavilion due to past ugliness. But because this is supposed to be a more upscale crowd -- if you've paid $35 for this seat, you must be consider more of a model citizen than someone who'd just come in at the $8 rate -- the thought behind this is that it's worth the risk. Again, more on that later.

The disclaimer:
I didn't actually pay for my seat. The Dodgers comped it. They didn't have to, and I didn't have to accept it, but I did anyway because I was doing the story on it and had no trouble remaining unbias about anything I wrote.
The other thing is: For those who rarely venture into the pavilions, it's a much difference experience, one that you need to see at least once, but then ... well, you be the judge. During a day game, the right-field bleachers are definitely one big tanning salon, but it can also drain you of most of your energy.
During the summer night, though, it's quite pleasant. The wooden bench seats, which aren't seperated by arm rests or have cup holders, are a bit more picnic-rugged, but then again, those who need the extra space can usually find it for baby bags, setting down foot and kids who need something to climb on, over and around.
The view ... well, that takes some getting used to, as well. The right-fielder can be your friend, unless you're one who tends to taunt, and for that reason, he'll usually keep his back turned to you. Between every inning, the fans tend to yell and scream at him to throw them the ball they use to warmup with the center fielder. Sometimes they get it, most times they don't, which leads to more taunting. It comes with the territory. Watching the ball come off the bat is another optical challenge, especially line drives and fly balls. A pop up behind home plate can look for a few seconds as if it's coming your way. You gotta watch the fielder's reaction at all times. If you're lucky enough to get a seat in section 302 of the right field pavilion, you could have great access to the visitor's bullpen, which is an interesting exercise in staring down the opponents. As a kid I didn't mind sitting out in the pavilion and getting a little rowdy. Now, maybe having seen too many games on TV and getting the up-close feel to everything, this is kind of a distant feel, almost removed from the action -- unless a home-run ball comes your way.

But we digress... On to the digestion.

The strategy:
Without sounding like Morgan Spurlock, we understand going in that this abrupt super-sized barrage to our stomachs probably isn't the healtiest thing in the world to do.

According to our research, a typical Dodger Dog carries 190 calories, with 50mg of cholesterol. The bun ... not sure how that adds to anything, except maybe to cushion the blow.
A nacho (6-to-8 chips with cheese) is about 340 calories. A typical Dodgers nacho plate may be three times that.
Peanuts are about 170 calories per half-cup.
Popcorn can be about 170 calories in two cups, depending on how much butter is there.
Cokes can go as much as 200 calories for a 16 ounce cup, or down to 1 calorie for diet.
Water ... there's the healtiest thing you can consume.

Price-wise, you need to figure out how to make this an economical success. Take the $8 out of the $35 ticket, and you've committed to eating about $27 worth of food. If a typical Dodger Dog is $4.50, that's six dogs to break even. Or five dogs and a coke. Or three dogs, a nacho and a water.

Everything else is gravy.
And we like gravy. Especially on nachos.

Here's the timeline:

6:30 p.m.: Pick up the tickets from willcall. The first indication that we're on a set schedule of eating is noted on the bottom of said ticket: "All Inclusive Menu Ends 2 Hours After Game Time." Everyone sitting in the right field pavilion, by the way, has this same ticket (so, no, you can't have one person get the $35 ticket and buy another for $8 and get around the food issue like this is some kind of Sizzler buffet).
What this fine print indicates is that you'd better hope for a late start, or that the game doesn't end in record time.

6:45 p.m.: In the pavilion,we start the marathon with a sprint to the foodline. There's only one place to go: a square concession stand that has two lines per counter, making six in all.
First order: Three dogs, one peanuts and one water.
"Only two dogs per order," says the cashier -- who really isn't a cashier tonight, but just the go-between for the customer and the food.
"Are they grilled?" I ask.
"I don't know," she says.
Turns out, they aren't.
Consider that a huge downside to this already: Dog limits, and the boiled versions that, frankly, aren't all that Dodger-iffic.
My pal Chuck (pictured here) orders the same, but with a Diet Coke. We figured we better use the buddy system for something of this magnitude, someone we could each pace ourselves with, and, most important, someone to call 911 if our left arm starts tingling. One of us could become the Designated Dog Driver, but we're not sure who'll it be.
Chuck is a Dodger fan from when the team first moved here from Brooklyn. There's a picture of him somewhere as a kid sitting with Pee-Wee Reese when the Dodgers had a big city welcome celebration. Chuck also went to one of the Dodgers' 1959 World Series games at the Coliseum with his dad, and sometimes just buys a ticket and comes to the game by himself to enjoy an evening or afternoon. If anyone deserved an all-you-could-eat treat by the team, Chuck's the guy.

6:56 p.m.: Our four dogs are devoured.

7:04 p.m.: After the National Anthem, we make another food run. Yes, if this is a marathon, we've already turned it into a series of 100-meter dashes. Maybe we haven't trained right, but we have to do what our body says is right.

7:09 p.m.: Back in the seats, it seems as if we're now surrounded by a group party. The organizers asks if it'd be cool if we moved because he bought the four rows of seats for his friends and family, and somehow, we got wedged in there. So we move. There's plenty of room. But I forget my water back at the seat.

7:16 p.m.: There's Marty Greenspun, the Dodgers' senior VP in charge of business operations. He's sitting in the second row kind of taking in the experience. We sit behind him. Marty says this is all about "improving the fan experience." That's his motto.
For the first Pavilion Party Pack promotion, the team, with somewhat limited word-of-mouth, had about 700 ticket sales and 300 more walk-ups for about 1,000 people. Marty says that's about what they'll get on this night, too, although as the game moves on, it'll probably be bigger.
Chuck, a forward-thinking fan and always one with a marketing idea, takes the opportunity to pass on his grand plan for the ultimate Dodger in-stadium promotion: Give everyone a beach ball, and inside each ball is a pea. One specially-marked pea is worth $1 million, and ...
"It's never gonna happen," Marty replies.
The next two dogs are finished by now, making four total by the end of the first inning.

7:47 p.m.: End of the second inning after a two-run Russell Martin homer, and time for another food run.
The lines now are 10-deep at most spots. Marty is down there with an assistant as well as Lon Rosenberg, the stadium operations guy, who's on a walkie-talkie.
"This is when it gets crowded because some people are still arriving and getting in line, and alot of people are coming back for seconds," Marty explains.
He's got that right.
It's interesting to note that the lines don't necessarily go faster just because there's no money changing hands. In fact, we've pretty much missed the entire top of the third, where Dodgers pitcher Brad Penny is struggling to get out of it. There's only one TV monitor at a bad angle, so even standing in line, it's tough to figure out what's going on. Only the audio of Vin Scully describing it keeps everyone updated.
We get to the front of the line at about 8:08, order two more dogs and a Diet Coke. Chuck is keeping up the pace as well.

8:24 p.m.: Diamondvision camera captures Kid Rock and Pamela Anderson in the bottom of the fourth. Neither seem to be eating. They kiss. I'm not sure if I can stomach that.

By the way, back to the Coke sizes: One reason people may be going back into the line is because they're only serving soft drinks in the 8 ounce cups, which are almost all filled with ice. Maybe that's OK for the kids, but there's only about four gulps total per cup. The water bottles last longer. As for the peanuts, it's not that bigger bag that runs $5.50, but a much smaller one that's easier to wolf down.

8:34 p.m.: Near the end of the fourth inning as the Dodgers put up two more runs. Cokes are, of course, gone, so it's another trip. Two more Dodger dogs? Probably not going there. Two more Cokes, and a bag of popcorn, which is pretty small and probably doesn't fall into the $5 food-item range. The lines, by the way, are practically non-existent, but for a group of employees behind the counter who didn't have to bring any math skills, they look kind of stressed out.

8:38 p.m.: Diamondvision puts up a shot of Pete Rose sitting next to Charlie Sheen. Boos reign. For Pete or Charlie? Not sure. It's food for thought. Maybe they'll put 'em up on the Kiss Cam later.

8:52 p.m.: First noticable indication of general queeziness setting in.

8:53 p.m.: First good belch. Stomach back to good.

9:06 p.m.: According to the ticket, here's the bewitching hour. We're only in the bottom of the sixth, though. There's no way they can shut this down with a third of the game to go, right?
It's done. All the windows are closed up. The guy selling the beer, frozen malts and frozen lemonade is still open.
At least the restrooms are open.

9:49 p.m.: Top of the eighth. I could really use another drink. You don't realize how dehydrated you get from eating so much pork byproduct. But, of course, there's no concession stand with just water. But there is a water fountain, tucked far under the bleachers.

10:35 p.m.: Game over, a 6-5 Dodger victory that may have been tough for Grady Little to swallow. That was pretty gutwrenching at times.
And the first thing you'd notice is the amount of debris under each seat. It's both amusing and kind of disgusting. Look at how much trash each person generated, with half-eaten dogs, nacho trays, thousands of empty Coke cups...

The final damage:
12 dogs (or "half a dozen" each, as Vinny would say)
4 Diet Cokes
1 water (lost somewhere)
2 peanuts
1 popcorn
And no residual effects.

Grand total of calories: At least 5,000 combined. A trip to the gym ASAP.

We definitely made it cost efficient, but without the challenge to eat as much as possible, it's doubtful we'd have had that much food during one game.

So to grade this somewhat degrading experience for those of us who had asperations of eating the team out of ballpark and home:
-- Food quality: C-minus. The boiled dogs weren't always hot, and without a lot of mustard, relish and onions to bury the taste, it's not all that mouth watering. We didn't even venture into nacho land. The Coke sizes were too small, and the popcorn was very kid-sized. The main problem with sitting in either pavilion is there's no access to any of the Panda Express, Philly cheese steak, Carl's Jr., or whatever else they're advertising on the message boards. It's kind of like being in coach class with the other 35,000 flying business or first-class (that goes for you, Pete Rose). You gotta know that going in.
-- Service: D-plus. That second-to-fourth inning stretch is a killer. The main problem is that there's only one stand under the bleachers for that kind of food. Slowness seems to be a problem at all Dodger concession stands, but here, it was unquestionably slow despite the fact no money was changing hands. And having only 1 awkwardly placed TV set to keep track of what's going on while people are in the dark about how the game is progressing was unacceptable.
--Fans: B-plus. All seemed pretty behaved and enjoyed the night. There was only one "$2 Tuesday"-type of incident near the end when two guys squared off -- one actually taking his shirt off -- and they were quickly rounded up by security and taken away. Beer was probably involved. No kids were harmed in the viewing of the game. By the way, that photo of me and Chuck above was from the guy who came around with the camera working for "Stadium Memories." It costs nothing for them to take your picture, then you go to Dodgers.com/fanphoto and see how it turned out. Prices are very reasonable. So I ordered a couple. It's much better than getting on the "Kiss Cam." And now we've become the poster boys for binge eating.
--Execution: B-minus. Having a two-hour window of eating opportunity would seem reasonable, but shutting things down before the seventh inning was kind of abrupt, and without any warning for those who didn't look at their tickets. Having beer sales in a pavilion is a nice option, even at $8 a pop. This kind of arrangement only encourages people to eat quickly and force it down before things are shut down or else you'll get shut out.
--Overall grade: B-minus. There's plenty that can be improved upon. Had the Dodgers lost, it would have felt like less of an enjoyable experience. The Beatles tunes, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their Dodger Stadium performance, were also a nice touch. We must have missed an announcement about that while we were in the food line.

In the words of the Beatles, I feel fine after that whole experience. Could actually eat one more dog, except my blood lab work woud go off the charts. Now, if you'll excuse us, before we head to the traffic gridlock getting out, we have to powder our nose and loosen our belts. And that would be ... where again?

Posted by Tom at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Since we're not the gambling type -- especially in matters where human error can determine the outcome -- the latest odds posted by PinnacleSports.com on the Heisman favorites and the team expected to win the national championship doesn't pique our interest as much as it might those who have a couple hundred bucks to throw away.
This list won't generate much controversy, but as long as we're throwing numbers out there, it's interesting to note that this website has no interest in a USC Heisman candidate -- while Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn, who already has a website selling T-shirts for his campaign, is clearly the top dog.
Meanwhile, Brady's bunch of Irish (7/1) aren't given a better shot at winning the title than West Virginia (13/2). The Hokies, according to the Pinnacle odds makers, have a softer schedule and do better against the odds to date. USC (8/1) is the fourth pick; UCLA (85/1) actually is on par with Oregon and Arizona State, but behind Cal (28/1)

Here's how the largst sports betting site on the Internet manipulates the numbers:

TOP HEISMAN ODDS:
Brady Quinn, Notre Dame quarterback: 3/1
Adrian peterson, Oklahoma running back: 4/1
Troy Smith, Ohio State quarterback: 9/1
Michael Bush, Louisville running back: 12/1
Brian Brohm, Louisville quarterback: 14/1
Steve Slaton, West Virginia quarterback: 16/1
Chris Leak, Florida quarterback: 20/1
Marshawn Lynch, Cal running back: 21/1
Mike Hart, Michigan running back: 23/1
Ted Ginn Jr., Ohio State receiver; 23/1
Drew Tate, Iowa quarterback: 25/1
Darius Walker, Notre Dame tailback; 26/1
Who'd we'd put our pretend money down on (based on those odds): Ginn, Bush, Lynch.

BCS CHAMPION ODDS:
West Virginia: 13/2
Notre Dame: 7/1
Ohio State: 15/2
USC: 8/1
Florida: 11/1
Texas: 12/1
Auburn: 14/1
Oklahoma: 14/1
Florida State: 21/1
Miami : 21/1
Louisville: 24/1
LSU: 26/1
California: 28/1
Michigan: 29/1
Iowa: 35/1
Virginia Tech: 58/1
Clemson : 71/1
Penn State: 74/1
Alabama: 85/1
Michigan State : 85/1
UCLA: 85/1
Georgia : 85/1
Nebraska : 85/1
Oregon: 85/1
Arizona State: 85/1
Tennessee : 85/1
Arkansas : 100/1
Boston College: 120/1
TCU: 120/1
Purdue: 200/1
Given those odds, we'd put cash (not credit) down on USC and Ohio State, and maybe a couple of spare coin on Florida

Posted by Tom at 07:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sunday, Aug. 28, 1966. Where were you, and why weren't you at Dodger Stadium? Hey, I've got no excuse, even though I was just five and couldn't drive myself.

But somehow The Beatles were there, in the very first rock concert that Walter O'Malley allowed at his ballpark. Above is a very rare shot (found on a bootleg website) where John Lennon is at the main mike with the Stadium Club and the rest of the seats along the first-base line are clearly in the background. That's Paul McCartney and George Harrison at the left. The archives in the Dodgers organization doesn't even have a photo of this performance.

Forty years ago today, the Fab Four's next-to-last concert ever as a group took place here -- the same venue, by the way, where the Rolling Stones are schedule to perform Nov. 18 (tickets go on sale to the public today at 10 a.m.).

A poster promoting the event (above) had them dressed in baseball unforms with the tagline: "KRLA brings the Beatles to Dodger Stadium, Sunday, August 28th ... Move over, Sandy."

(If you think about it, the Beatles' run and Koufax' best years sort of parallel. Koufax had only six really impressive seasons from '61 to '66, before retired; the Beatles formally became the group in '61 and stopped touring in '66)

Here's what happened at Dodger Stadium that night:

A recent story in the Dodgers' official program by Jorge Martin tells how it was Bob Eubanks, who'd later become more famous as host of the "Newlywed Game," who pulled this show together for KRLA radio as the main promoters. Some 45,000 filled the stadium.

Martin takes a clip from Eubanks' book, "It's In The Book," to tell about how it went down with a "special $750 sound system" that was installed to help amplify the music.
"For the first time since I began doing business with them, the Beatles actually expressed fears for their safety. ... The crowds had been evolving over the previous few years and a crowd this size usually had a few nuts. Because of that we planned what I thought was a perfect excape."
Meaning, the Beatles, blocked from exiting through the main gate because of fans, leave from the rear of the stadium in an armored car. The LAPD is charged with beating dozens of fans in attempts to maintain order.

The Beatles, who had just release the "Revolver" album, had a playlist that included: Rock and Roll Music, She's A Woman, If I Needed Someone, Day Tripper, Baby's in Black, I Feel Fine, Yesterday, I Wanna Be Your Man, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and I'm Down.

-- The website YouTube.com actually has about a one-minute bootleg clip of the group singing "Day Tripper" from the stage set up right behind second base, taken probably with a movie camera up in the top level. It was just added to the site about a month ago. Click here.

-- The official website of former Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley has an excellent piece written by former Dodgers front-office man Brent Shyer on how the event went down. Click here.

-- One fan's collection of stuff from that day, including ticket stubs -- the top price was $6 -- a copy of the contract for the team to perform at the stadium, a list of damages done to a Long Beach officer who helped with crowd control, and a newspaper clipping reviewing the show is at this website.

--Another link to what the tickets to this concert looked liked is at this Rare Beatles website.

-- For a transcript of the Beatles press conference in L.A. earlier that day, where the reporters try to pin Lennon down on his recent remark about the Beatles being bigger than Jesus, the Beatles Discography website has more interesting information. Scroll down a bit to the history for August.

Posted by Tom at 01:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

RENO, Nev. (AP) -- Will MacKenzie was a golfing prodigy as a child in North Carolina. Then he quit playing after high school and spent five years living out of his van in Montana, snowboarding, kayaking and climbing rocks. He once tried to sell hammocks to make a living.
A glimpse on television of his boyhood idol, Payne Stewart, winning the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst was all that was needed to rekindle his love for the game.
It was a turning point for MacKenzie, one that was justified Sunday when he won the Reno-Tahoe Open for his first PGA Tour victory.
The 31-year-old free spirit in his second year on tour made a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole to shoot a 1-under 71 and finish at 20-under 268 for a one-stroke victory over Bob Estes.
MacKenzie, who earned $540,000 for the victory, entered the week ranked 179th on the money list with $197,158. His previous best showing was a tie for eighth last year at the Michelin Classic at Las Vegas.
He admitted that five or six years ago he never would have dreamed of winning on tour after having "burned out" on golf at age 14. He passed on some college golf scholarships and packed his bags for Montana.
"All the local pros hate me," he said about his hometown of Greenville. "I was sort of the prodigy kid in eastern North Carolina and then I left."
After the stint in Montana, he went to Costa Rica.
"I surfed for three months and I met some dude who made a fortune off of selling hammocks and I was like, all right, I'm in," Mackenzie said.
He returned to North Carolina and imported hammocks from the Yucatan in Mexico.
"I went door to door selling them, but it didn't work," MacKenzie said. "I was in debt huge.
"That's when I saw Payne win the U.S. Open in my home state. I told my dad I was thinking about going to hit some balls and he said, `Go hit some, bud.' And I fell in love with it again."
He kept at it 12 hours a day and picked up a victory on the Nationwide Tour last year. He also played at Reno last year, but missed the cut partly because he was enamored with the local casinos.
"I was gambling and losing and had a few drinks," MacKenzie said. "This year, I came here to win."

Read more about the Mackenzie comeback:

"I was sort of like, `Wow, it went in,'" MacKenzie said of his tournament-winning birdie putt. "I thought I could make it, but I hadn't made any all day."
MacKenzie led by three strokes with five holes to go and was ahead by one before he bogeyed the par-5 17th. Estes could have taken the lead there, but missed a 20-foot birdie attempt and missed another on the 18th from about 16 feet.
"I figured if I was there at the end, I'd win the golf tournament. But my game wasn't really just sharp enough," said Estes, who shot an even-par 72 in the final round.
MacKenzie, who started the day tied with Estes at 19 under, said he slept only about three hours Saturday night, tossing and turning in bed from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
"I wasn't worried. I was just thinking of all these different scenarios," he said. "I knew it was going to come down to the wire. I haven't become Tiger Woods yet where I can just blow them away."
Joe Ogilvie was third after tying the course record Sunday with a 10-under 62, including 11 birdies _ eight of them on the back nine for a tourney-record 28 at the 7,472-yard Montreux Golf and Country Club course.
MacKenzie had two birdies and a bogey on the front nine and was 20 under through 13 holes, three ahead before Estes followed with back-to-back birdies to get to 19 under.
Still leading by one, MacKenzie drove the ball 307 yards left into the rough behind some towering ponderosa pines on the 636-yard, par-5 17th. His third shot went 10 yards over the green into the rough. His chip rolled 33 feet down hill past the hole and he two-putted from there for a bogey.
Estes missed his birdie attempt from 20 feet but still managed to grab a share of the lead by making par before MacKenzie won it on No. 18.
Daniel Chopra shot a 69 to finish in fourth at 17-under 271.

Posted by Tom at 06:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alexandra Paul was one of the beach babes on "Baywatch" who once upon a time could actually save someone's life while Pamela Anderson and David Hasselhoff stood by and watched. Steph had that mouth-to-mouth stuff down much faster than Yasmine Bleeth.

The 43-year-old living in L.A. is about to prove it again when she competes in the 9.5 mile ocean swim race from Lanai across the Maui Channel to Kaanapali, Maui on Saturday, Sept. 2. It's expected to take her about five hours to complete and be completely out of breath.

This really isn't anything new for Paul, whose husband, Ian Murray, is her coach. She's competed in the Hawaiian Ironman and run in several marathons, including L.A., and qualifed for Boston in 1999.
Read up more on this Hawaiian race at this link.
There's more about Paul and her work in movies, including "Who Killed the Electric Car," at her Website.

Posted by Tom at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

STANFORD (AP) _ The NCAA has chopped down the Stanford tree.

The Division I women's basketball committee reprimanded and fined Stanford on Friday for the antics of its tree mascot during the NCAA tournament last March.

The mascot, which has been nearly as controversial as Stanford's notorious band in recent years, also was suspended for the Cardinal's next appearance in the NCAA women's basketball tournament.

The tree refused to leave the court at halftime of the Cardinal's victory over Florida State on March 20 in Denver, and the NCAA also cited "violation of multiple tournament policies regarding bands, cheerleaders and mascots" in its announcement, giving no more details. At the time, the tree reportedly was suspended for Stanford's next game in the regional semifinals.

"The committee was very disappointed in this disturbing pattern of behavior and strongly believes that these acts compromised the integrity of the championship," said Joni Comstock, the committee chair and the athletic director at American University.

The previous student to wear the tree costume was fired in February when she performed while drunk at Stanford's game against Cal. The NCAA cited policy violations in previous years as a factor in the suspension.

The Stanford band _ a loose, irreverent collection of musicians _ also has been in hot water countless times in recent years for off-color pregame shows and questionable behavior, ranging from public urination to mean-spirited lampooning of religious schools.

Last month, Stanford suspended the band for causing more than $30,000 in vandalism damage to its own "Band Shak," the trailer that serves as the band's on-campus home.

Posted by Tom at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pat Summerall will serve up readers with countless stories about his crazy drinking days with personal friends such as Howard Cosell, Tom Brookshire and (most notably) Jack Daniels. But the sobering revelations about his near-death battle with alcoholism, a liver transplant and discovering religion are the message that the Hall of Fame network NFL, PGA and tennis broadcaster would probably want you to take away most from his new book, “Summerall: On and Off the Air� ($24.99, Nelson Books, 240 pages), which hit bookstores this week.
“As you might recall, I entered this world a little twisted,� Summerall writes in the last chapter entitled “Amen Corner.� He was referring to the fact he was born with his right leg completely turned around and had to have a his rural general practitioner doctor break it, turn it around and reset it.
“It took a while longer than anticipated to get me completely straightened out,� Summerall concluded.
Summerall, 76 and doing radio games for the Dallas Cowboys, says it was he and Brookshire who “were living like we hadn’t a care in the world - or wives or families. It was a very seductive and hedonistic lifestyle that eventually took a toll on both of us. We were swept up in Boy’s Land. We had a lot of money and a lot of down time and we were usually traveling away from wives and family responsibilities. We had our dream jobs and we were determined to enjoy the fruit until we’d squeezed out every last drop.�
It wasn’t until Summerall’s body started breaking down because of the alcohol abuse, and he was given a new liver in 2004.
“God’s not through with you yet,� his minister told him after he continued to struggle with the notion that he’d been kept alive but someone else died - a 13-year-old junior-high student — and surrendered the vital organ. “You’ve got a lot of work to do. You can help other people.�
That help, as it turns out, is this book.

Posted by Tom at 01:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not as long as Jim Bouton is around.
The acclaimed author of "Ball Four," who happened to play a few years of major-league ball as a pretty good pitcher, announced Thursday he's launching an organization called the Vintage Base Ball Federation.
That's Base Ball -- two words.
They're going to play by 19th century rules: Six balls for a walk, foul balls don't count as strikes, foul balls caught on a bounce are an out, no hit batters and gloves are about as small as they come.
Best of all, only one ball is used per game, unless it's lost of falls into pieces.
Bouton put this kind of game on display a couple of years back on a July 4 ESPN Classic showcase, and actor Tim Robbins brought his family out to the old field in Pennsylvania to watch the Hartford Senators and the Pittsfield Hillies at Wahconah Park, a field that Bouton had to practically fight city hall to keep as a landmark.
"It's the game the way it was meant to be played," says Bouton. "No batting gloves, helmets, wristbands, elbow pads, shin guards, sunglasses. No arguing with the umpire. No stepping out of the batter’s box. No charging the pitcher or posing at home plate. No curtain-calling, chest-thumping or high-fiving. Just baseball.�

For more info on the league, go to the Vintage Base Ball website -- something that the game would have loved to have when it existed -- at www.vintagebbf.com.

Read on for more info:

From the Associated Press report on the press conference Bouton (left) had at Delmonico's restaurant in New York:
Amateur baseball and softball teams are invited to join the VBBF.
Chris Moran, who plays for the Hartford Senators, said fans look at these games the same way as the spectators viewed old-time ballplayers in the movie “Field of Dreams.�
“Where did these guys come from?� he said was the reaction.
Teams will play about a dozen games during the season. A six-team, double-elimination Vintage World Series is planned for Aug. 15-19 next summer at a site that hasn’t been determined.
There will be some allowances for modern times, such as protective gear inside uniforms for catchers and lining under the short-billed caps when players bat. There will be relief pitchers, and uniforms will have polyester, because flannel isn’t durable enough.
“A night game is not forbidden, even though it’s pushing the envelope,� said Greg Martin, the VBBF vice president and owner of a company that produces vintage gear.
While the Hartford Senators have a team spittoon, gambling will be prohibited — 19th century baseball was marked by alleged fixed games.
“The 1880s and ‘90s were characterized by very rough play and ill-mannered conduct toward umpires and opponents and spectators,� said John Thorn, a board member who serves on the 19th Century research committee of the Society for American Baseball Research.
Wearing a brown derby and a vest, Bouton said Vintage Base Ball already was played by 225 teams in 32 states. The rules will be a mixture of those in use from 1860-90, with an emphasis on the 1880s. The ball will have seams in the lemon-peel style, which was replaced by the current seam pattern designed by Albert Spalding, adopted by the major leagues in 1877. Pitching will be overhand, and games will average about 2 hours, 15 minutes.
Before each plate appearance, a batter will declare his “desired strike zone preference� — belt to knee or belt to armpits. If the umpire misses a call because his view is blocked, a team captain can ask for a “gentleman’s ruling,� in which players involved in the play are to truthfully say what occurred. If a dispute remains, the umpire may ask the cranks for their opinion.
“I’m intrigued by the concept of people playing baseball for fun,� said former MLB commissioner Fay Vincent, a member of the VBBF board. “Someone said this will be an effort where the strike will be something that goes over the plate and doesn’t involve a labor dispute.�
Because catcher’s gloves are tiny and don’t have much padding, most pitchers throw about 70 mph to avoid passed balls.
“The pitching game is less a power game and it’s more a skill game: changing speeds, moving the ball around, deception,� Bouton said.
It’s certainly different than 21st century baseball.
“What irks me about the modern game is the enlarging ballplayers and shrinking ballparks,� Thorn said. “A home run at one point in baseball’s history actually involved a run — running around the bases. There weren’t very many home runs hit out of the park where you could stand at home plate, watch the thing soaring over the fence, cast a menacing glance at the opposing dugout and then take your time around the bases.�

Posted by Tom at 05:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I may never actually surf. I'll bogey board and body surf and swim as far as I can without the aid of floaties on each arm, but the actual balancing act of getting on a Dewey Weber piece of fiberglass and foam and navagating through a three-foot swell off the South Bay coastline -- maybe it's a better dream than reality.

Surf history is a much safer venture. If you live near Hermosa Beach, you can walk on the pier and check out the legends of the sport who made their mark in the area. Further south, you can visit one of several standing monuments to the surfing legacy. We dropped into the California Surf Museum in Oceanside the other day to check out the longboard competition they were having at the local pier.

The place at 223 North Coast Highway, about a mile South off the Coast Hwy exit on Interstate 5, is half gift shop and half display of either surfing photography, a timeline of board making and great conversation with who ever is behind the counter (Jane Schmauss, the acting director who happened to be around that day I came in, is pretty cool).

There's a 155-pound redwood plank made in 1930 that someone named Eddie McBride used to ride off San Onofre. A year earlier, Tom Blake's "cigar" paddleboard, hollow in the middle, actually floated.
There's a restored '50s era Hobie balsa board. One of the strangest things is this thing called a Jet Board, made in the 1960s. It sold for $1,700. Why so expensive? It had a McCullough chain saw engine embedded in it. The board is made of aircraft aluminum. Jet Board actually had a shop on Sunset Blvd. in L.A. back in the day, and you can read up more on its history at www.powerboarding.com, more specifically at this link.

The collection of surf books, DVDs, posters, music and collectables is something pretty special, too. An exhibit currently up by photographer Tom Kech, who has been documenting the sport since the late '50s, is worth the visit alone.

Our pitch really doesn't do it justice. You have to see it with your own eyes, and feel it with your soul.
Oceanside's California Surf Museum, on the corner of Pier View and Coast Hwy, across from the Longboard Cafe and four blocks up from the pier, can be found on the web at www.surfmuseum.org. Or call 'em at (760) 721-6876. Open daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
The International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach (aka, Surf City) (www.surfingmuseum.org) should be a must-pitstop on that southward journey. And if you're ever in Santa Cruz, there's another to seek out (www.santacruzsurfingmuseum.org).

We'll leave you with this quote from famous author Jack London from his book, the Cruise of the Snark, which sits in the Oceanside museum on a tiny plaque: "The man who wants to learn surf-riding must be a strong swimmer, and he must be used to going under the water. After that, fair strength and common sense are all that is required."
Maybe its the latter I lack. Maybe a wack with a loose board will bring some my way someday.

Posted by Tom at 02:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're trying to channel Dan Cortese here.
Some of you may not even remember that MTV was once really into sports. So much so that when it had its "MTV Sports" show back in the early '90s, it won an Emmy Award. Whatever that shows.
Cutting edge, mostly.
The channel that prides itself in telling you what's hot in music and pop culture breaks out a new eight-episode reality series starting tonight (10:30 p.m.), with many repeats, called "Two-A-Days," (right after "Laguna Beach.")
This, from the networks's News & Doc department that cranked out "True Life" and "Cribs" comes this series that follows the 2005 football season at Hoover High in Hoover, Alabama, who go after their fourth 6A state title in five years. (And, for the record, these Hoovers still don't suck. The latest issue of Sports Illustrated names Hoover the top-ranked team in the nation.)

This fall, NBC has its "Friday Night Lights" drama series based on the successful movie, but this show will more likely be what it'sreally like to see high school football pressure at its highest level.
For an online compliment, MTV Overdrive plans to have a "postgame" show with interviews, deleted scenes and other bonus footage.
The main players focused on for the show from the team coached by Russ Propst (pictured): Alex (No. 34), a senior safety trying to earn a scholarship and balance a relationship with cheerleader Kristin; Repete (No. 91), who has trouble fitting in at the new school that his dad has forced him into attending; Ross (No. 14), the junior quarterback trying to follow in his famous brother's footsteps (he's the QB at the University of Alabama) and Max (No. 24), a senior safety who has struggled after having a standout junior season.
MTV has all the photos, video, storylines in depth at its website here.

Back in February, the Birmingham News reported that not everyone was happy about an MTV crew coming around and getting in the way. They probably remember what a mess ESPN made of that team in Pennsylvania, hiring Dick Butkus to kick some butt and get the program back to prominence, only to see Butkus quit halftway through.

Check out the "Two-A-Days" opener tonight and give us your reviews.

Posted by Tom at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the NFL, it can. Why, we're not sure.
If you've stumbled upon any exhibition games this summer on TV while looking for "Baseball Tonight," the new Garanimal outfits forced upon the league officials are almost laugh-out-loud funny.
The league that wants to be on the cutting edge of change has messed with one of the most sacred icons of the game. Why did the officials need to change from the traditional black-and-white precisely measured strips to this new optical illusion thing that, yes, does make some of the refs look a little more overweight.
Reebok is the reason, in large part. What they're calling "fashion-forward" uniforms that are more "ergonomically designed" is mostly to give the refs a break with something more lighter weight. The asthetic "enhancements" have alot to be desired.
The players have benefitted from this "PlayDry" "moisture management technology" since 2002, according to the people at Reebok (now owned by adidas). The refs, finally, get to benefit.
Which is cool. Or hot, depending on how they sweat.
But why did they have to mess with the look?
“We are impressed with the performance quality of the new uniforms,� said Mike Pereira, NFL Vice President of Officiating, in the Reebok press release. “The new fabrics will offer our officials superior protection on the field while making it more comfortable on the hottest days of summer and in winter’s coldest moments.�
Note, Pereira didn't make any fashion statement about the new fashion statement.
Read on for more about the stripped-down stripes in other sports:

David Courtney, the public address announcer for the Kings, Angels and Long Beach Ice Dogs -- and who's seen his share of bad calls by guys wearing the officials' jerseys -- passed along a few examples of how even those standard hockey refs stripes are being altered as well.

NHL ref Rob Shick, left, shows off the standard stripes here (either that, or he's ordering another drink for Marty McSorley to be brought down to the penalty box)...

The officials in Europe have altered their look -- but only because they want to stick advertisements on themselves like some kind of NASCAR driver. This is how one German League hockey ref stays above any conflict of interest, while keeping the stripes down in the belly section to give him a slimmer look.

The saddest thing about all this is now we have to go to Foot Locker to see what a real NFL ref shirt looks like.

Just forget it. It's just an NFL referee, right? As long as they stay out of the way and don't hog up time under the camera tent on a replay, wear whatever you want.
We'll just stay away from any fashion-forward Reebok product in the future...

Posted by Tom at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The curious, slippery-slope decision by the L.A. City Council last Friday to side with the NFL Network in its contentious contract dispute with the new, improved Time Warner Cable company, which affects about 2 million cable suckers, er, subscribers in the city and its surroundings, kind of tells everyone exactly where the city's decision-makers sit with wanting a team back in its backyard.

It'll do whatever it takes to make the NFL happy.

The Council turned away for a moment on less pressing issues of homelessness, polution, poverty and immigration to waste its breath with a 7-1 vote to approve asking the FCC to extend its order that the NFL Network stay on those Adelphia and Comcast cable systems recently swallowed up by Time Warner. It's an easy PR move to make the NFL and new commissioner Roger Goodell look as if it has the league's back in all situations -- even one where it has no business getting into. The lone abstaining vote was from Bill Rosendahl, a former Adelphia cable monger, who rightly says the two money-grubbing companies should fight it out without the city sticking its nose into it.

The bottom line remains: Time Warner wants the NFL Network on a tier of channels that'll cost the consumer extra. The NFL Network wants to be in the group with ESPN, TNT, etc., that don't cost the customer any more than they're already paying. The NFL Network has jacked up the subscriber rate for its channel from about a quarter a month to six bits after it decided to increase its value by adding eight regular-season games this season.

The viewer, of course, caught in the middle without a voice, does have an option that we'll continue to advocate until we're blue in the dish: DirecTV. Better service, better selection. We know some can't get it because of where they live in a condo or apartment that prohibits it or the signal doesn't work. Then move. Really. It's that simple. Don't get caught in this greed-vs.-greed scenario. You'll only lose.

Posted by Tom at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Are you telling me this screen grab of soon-to-be injured coverboy Shaun Alexander from the new "Madden NFL '07" doesn't look kinda creepy? What's going on with the latest, greatest game on earth, which hits the stores TODAY, FINALLY, TODAY amidst more hoopla than Terrell Owens taking a shower with some "Desperate Housewives" skank?

From what the kids tell us, here's the new, improved stuff on the '07 game:
-- Players can step up as the lead blocker to create a hole and then take control of the tailback and smash through, overpower, or slash away from would-be tacklers as they fight for every yard.
-- New rushing controls give a game-breaking ground attack featuring all-new jukes, cutbacks and the distinct running styles of the league’s favorite backs.
-- New modes include NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame mode, Run Like the Players Run with the Highlight stick, plus things added to the Franchise mode, Team-Specific Defensive Playbooks and Online Play.

And to think, I was once just happy to have a Farrah Fawcett poster on the wall above my bed.

Meanwhile, EA Sports, which boasts in its latest press release of posting revenue of $2.95 billion in fiscal 2006 and owning 27 titles that sold more than one million copies, has already mapped the fifth annual Madden Challenge, under the assumption that it will crown the "best player of Madden NFL 07."

There are 31 regional competitions -- including five out of the U.S. --if your'e yearning to win them all. Each regional winner gets $1,000, and the grand champion wins a prize package that includes $100,000. Last year, 73,000 idiots attended and 16,000 competed, with someone named Jarvis Thomas of Maryland winning in Honolulu.
Here's the upcoming schedule:

Sept 1: Denver Invesco Field
Sept. 3: Minneapolis MetroDome
Sept. 9: Indianapolis RCA Dome
Sept. 10: Chicago Soldier Field
Sept. 16: Green Bay Lambeau Atrium
Sept. 17: Detroit Ford Field
Sept. 23: Atlanta Lenox Mall
Sept. 24, 25: New Orleans Superdome
Sept. 30: Cincinnati (Newport on the Levee)
Oct. 1: PIttsburgh Heinz Field
Oct. 7: Boston Gillette Stadium
Oct. 8: Philadelphia King of Prussia Mall
Oct. 14: New Jersey Garden Mall
Oct. 15: New York Grand Central Station
Oct. 21: Baltimore M&T Bank Stadium
Oct. 22: Washington DC's Fed Ex Field
Oct. 28: Charlotte, N.C., Concord Mills
Oct. 29: Tampa, Fla., Raymond James Stadium
Nov. 4: Houston Reliant Stadium Park
Nov. 5: Dallas Texas Stadium
Nov. 11: Phoenix Cardinal Stadium
Nov. 12: San Diego Qualcomm Stadium
Nov. 18: L.A.'s Hollywood & Highland
Nov. 19: Oakland McAfee Coliseum
Nov. 24: Seattle Qwest Field
Nov. 26: San Francisco Metreon
Jan. 3, 2007: Toronto (TBD)
Jan. 20, 2007: Hong Kong, China (EA Experience)
Jan. 27, 2007: Mexico City (TBA)
Feb. 4, 2007: London (Superbash)
Feb. 4, 2007: Frankfurt, Germany (Commerce Stadium)
Feb. 8, 2007: Honolulu Pro Bowl (finals)

Official rules available at www.maddenchallenge.com. Registration is $15 per person. Walk-in, on-site registration only as space permits.

Posted by Tom at 02:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wilt Chamberlain, the greatest player in NBA history -- shut up, Jordan fans -- would have been 70 years old today. Born Aug. 21, 1936, the Big Dipper did more to change the game of pro basketball than anyone before or after him. You can look it up, my man.

Four MVP awards. Seven All-NBA picks. Only player to score 4,000 points in one season. Only player to hit 100 points in one game. Only man to grab 55 rebounds in one game.

The shame is that his death in 1999 was far too early. He coulda played a few more years, even today.

One of the cool tributes you should be aware if is taking place on NBA TV. Documentaries, specials, classic games ... they're pulling 'em out of the archives, including some insights from NBA TV on-air guy Gail Goodrich, another Hall of Famer who played, of course, with Wilt on that '72 Lakers championship team for the ages.

Here's the lineup today:

9 a.m.: " Wilt: The Dominant Force" : From his early days on the streets of Philadelphia to his college years on the plains of Kansas to his professional career on the hardcourts of the NBA, this comprehensive documentary follows Chamberlain on his journey to becoming one of the most dominant players in basketball history.

10 a.m.: "NBA TV Over Time: Wilt Chamberlain" : Hosted by Bruce Beck, this special features historical interviews conducted throughout Chamberlain's career. From an early interview done shortly before his NBA debut through an upclose conversation as he prepared for a possible 1983 comeback, Chamberlain's career is relived in his own thoughts and words.

10:30 a.m.: "Giants of the Game: Wilt & Russell": Bob Costas sits down with Chamberlain and Bill Russell as they talk about their heated rivalry on the court and their strong friendship off it.

11 a.m.: "Vintage NBA: Wilt Chamberlain": Robin Roberts hosts this special, featuring the greatest moments from Chamberlain's career as current NBA All-Star Kevin Garnett provides his thoughts on the Hall of Famer and the impact the legend made on his life.

Noon: "NBA Hardwood Classics: Sixers vs. Celtics, Games 4, 1967 Eastern Conference Finals": Chamberlain outduels Russell as the Sixers roll over the Celtics, 140-114, on his way to his first NBA title.

Posted by Tom at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bill Plaschke over at the Forward Thinking Downtown Paper makes the melancholy comment in Sunday's column that, sitting outside AT&T Park in San Francisco amidst the statues of Willie Mays and Juan Marichal, it's surprising that there's nothing big and bronze outside of Chavez Ravine, as there is at Staples Center -- which honors Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson, two players who never played a game at the facility during their pro careers...

Billy throws out the idea of a Sandy Koufax statue.

Amazing! Why haven't we heard it before?

Oh, right. We have.

Click over onto Howard Cole's Baseball Savvy website for a tour of this online petition he's had for at least three years campaigning for a Koufax statue. Howard's even got the sculptor picked -- Malcolm DeMille, whose company has been making the distinctive PGA Nissan Open trophy for the annual winner at Riviera Country Club to hold up for years, among other things. Here's Malcolm's site to show you some of his work.

Howard's idea includes a charity fundraiser, having the community help determine how it would look, etc. We thought he was making some headway with the previous Dodger ownership, but we're not sure if the McCourt's are up to speed on this one yet. The only way to know -- or help -- is to sign the petition and we'll help carry it over to Frank and Jamie's seats down by the dugout when the time's right...

So, what are you waiting for?

Posted by Tom at 09:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

This is not Christina Applegate. Her name is Misty. She wants to carry your clubs, wipe your balls, and offer some advice on lining up a putt.
No, really. All it'll cost you is $75 an hour. If you live in Phoenix.

Misty is one of the star attractions at a new website called Caddy Chicks. The sad premise is quite simple: You're heading to the golf course. You have some friends playing with you. You decide to have some babe sit in the cart with you. You also pay her. She may or may not know a thing about golf, but the point is, so what.

Even the girls know the score.

"I actually was hired by one man to caddy for a bunch of his friends who get together once a year for a guys trip," writes Misty, featured as the Caddy of the Month. "The atmosphere was very laid back. For being with a group of eight, it was a blast. I obviously know that I was mainly hired to be eye candy and for one guy to show off in front of all his friends, but it was still great. I do have to give him credit, he did send me with a group of four. He wanted to make it a good experience for his friends too. It was exciting, fun, and ya'll it was darn right entertaining! I would love to be involved with a large group again. However, one on one would still be fun too. To basically sum it all up, anyone can carry clubs and wash golf balls but wouldn't it be better if you had someone who is good looking to do it?"

Read on for more on how to legally buy a professional ball washer...

Money will exchange hands when all is said and done. Whether it goes farther than handing a few head covers, that depends on chemistry, availability and how much of a sugar daddy you care to be.

The altruistic mission statement written apparently by the pimpman (whose name doesn't appear anywhere, probably for legal reasons) is posted on the site:
1. Give women that could not normally afford the high cost of entry or are too intimidated a glimpse of the game by being a caddy.
2. Provide training programs online and around the country at select golf facilities.
3. Bring back the dying profession of the caddy.
4. To provide a scholarship fund for our caddies wanting to become professional golf caddies.

Charity begins at home. And someone named Charity can be the one searching through your pockets for a ball marker on the 8th green if you're lucky.

The fine print (it's on another page) says you have to be 18 or older to be a user of the site. Or to join his harem.
These are college students or models looking for part-time work. Some know golf. Some will admit they know nothing.

How stupid do you want them?

And this is all on the up-and-up? Apparently so.

Here's how it works:
= Search the site for the golf course you plan to play
= Sift through the list of girls who are willing to join you at that course
= Book the girl on line (note when she's available and when she's not)
= Give the guy who runs this website -- we'll call him the pimp -- $20 as the "finder's fee"
= Pay the girl when you're finished with the round. She's an "independent contractor" and doesn't work for CaddyChicks.com, per se.
= Go home either empty handed, or arrange a round of golf next week with the same chick, and save yourself from going onto her MySpace.com posting to find out more about her secret life.

Against all logical reasoning, we decide to at least give this a whirl:

Say, we're going to Harding Course at Griffith Park this week. Not sure what day. Maybe just to wack the ball by ourselves.
Click around and we find ... holy cow, 51 girls to choose from at this site!
Let's see who's up to the task. If only Chuck Woolery could help guide us through this mess.

Here's Marisa, from North Hollywood. She's 24. 5-foot-3, 115 pounds, charges $40 an hour and prefers to drive a cart. "I am a professional dancer and cheerleader. I am fun, outgoing, friendly, and I love to meet new people. I am new to golfing, so I would love for you to teach me all about it!" She's free all this week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

OK .....

What about Charlotte, from Redondo Beach. She's 29, 5-foot-2, 110 pounds, charges $35 an hour and is also cool with the cart. "If you're here you're looking for good company as well as someone to help you out while playing one of Man's greatest sports...why not chose someone that golfs! I love the sport and would love nothing more than to spend my day with others to enjoy it too! Before you ask my handicap, I'm not THAT great, but I make up for it with plenty of style and my X-14's ;) Outgoing, USC educated, cultured, well traveled, and knows the difference between a wedge and a wood!" Her schedule is wide open next week.

Not bad ... USC educated? And she's doing this ...

(Why do we start to feel dirty right about now ...)

Sara from L.A. shows some promise. She's 24, 5-foot-9 and 128 pounds. For $35 an hour, she'll even go on the pullcart route. All she has to say about herself, though, is: "UCLA educated, party starter/barmitzfah dancer, fitness model." Doesn't sound like she'll be much of a conversationalist, does she? But she does seem ... what the heck does she seem? How can you tell anything except from a few racy pictures...

Not bad ... UCLA educated? And she's doing this ....

Now, if Nicole from Carlsbad showed up at the course looking like this, we'd never make our tee time. She's a 5-foot-5 22 year old who wants $30 an hour and prefers a cart. (As we note, very few are willing to walk. Probably because that would make them sweaty. Although any good businesswoman could figure out: You walk a golf course, you take more time, and if you're charging by the hour, the longer the better). Nicole offers nothing else from her bio. How mysterous ... Except in the place where is says "Golf knowledge," she answers: "What is golf?" There's a keeper. NOT.

Talor, as opposed to Taylormade, is from L.A., says she charges $400 an hour, and -- what the hell do you think she'll do for $400 an hour! Knit you a new wedge cover. There's no way to tell if that's a typo or a come-on for you to contact her to find out the real going rate.. But just look at her. She says she's 21. That's already some false advertising. "IIM WITTY AND INTERTAINING, A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY! I WILL ADD FUN AND GOOD LUCK TO YOUR GAME, IM WORTH IT!" Really, worth $400 an hour? Who's her idol, Heidi Fless? Don't trust anyone who types in all capital letters. They're way too high maintence. Even on a golf course. Even if you just ask them to pop open the top of that can of beer. They brake a nail, you never hear the end of it ...

This is just getting more and more icky.

Here's one named ... Heaven? Yup. A 19-year-old who's ... as old as my kid. "Love the outdoors, love sports, and love life. I'm a responsible, hard-worker and I listen well." Listen well? I'm not directing a porn movie, just looking for someone to toss me a 60 degree wedge without hurting herself. Heaven - and I'm sure that's your real name - do me a favor: Call your dad and have him pick you up by 4:30 so you can make it back for dance class. You have no business offering yourself to men on a golf course who get behind a sand trap and think since they're paying you, they own you. Especially with those Japanese golfers... but we won't get into that.

This is getting more and more wrong ...

Let's see about ... C. That's her name. C. A 26-year-old who goes for $37 an hour (that's an odd price ... maybe she does have a brain and has figured out she needs at least $100 to make this worth her while, and after three hours she's going to bail no matter what) and she's a walker. And, apparently, talker. "I am a reliable caddy that will be a good assistant for you," she writes, starting to make us wonder why she's not already asking for HMO care and good dental plan. "Depending on the situation and atmosphere, I can be fun, but serious and helpful to keep you to be on top. Although, there are some things I need to know about golfing, I believe that Caddy is an important person to the golfer, and because the two of them develop a camraderie from spending significant amounts of time on the golf course together, I would like to be the kind of caddy that you can trust for moral support during competiti ..." That's where it cuts off. She's probably still talking somewhere. And she's got some time this week. Wonder why. You got a fettish for an Asian chick in a sailor suit, suit yourself.

We get to the very last candidate. This is Iris. She's 20. From Los Angeles. She's only charging $12 an hour -- by far the lowest price we've seen. She says only she's been golfing a couple of times. She offers no more information except this picture taken in a mirrow with her camera phone. That's pretty creative considering she has no modeling agency photos up there.

So here's what we've come do: We're bargain shopping. And we apparently stumbled onto the very last chick -- wonder why she's at the end of the list -- and now we're almost ready to click on that ... Wait, it says she's "NA" all next week. Not available? Or No Aspirations of helping a guy in need out with a little handwedge on the back nine.

Hey, whatever makes your putter flutter.

Posted by Tom at 01:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This weekend, the U.S. squad for the Homeless World Cup is being put together. Think about that for a minute.
They have no address. No place to keep their clothes, other than a plastic bag.
But they love soccer. And they want to represent our country.
Homeless people from seven states, including California, and Washington D.C. have been picked to congregrate in Charlotte, N.C., through Sunday, hoping to qualify for a team that will be one of 48 to meet in Cape Town, South Africa for the fourth Homeless World Cup from Sept. 23-30.
They have one goal in mind: Eliminate global poverty. Or, at least the organizers of this whole thing have that optimistic business model in place.

Dr. Jeff Grunberg, the CEO of Homeless World Cup-USA, organized the formation of the American team and the first USA Cup hosted by the Urban Ministry Center. Grunberg is a sociologist working with the homeless since 1976 and has published a street newspaper called BIGnews. Lawrence Cann, director of the Art Works 945, is also a homeless service provider who brought last year's team from Charlotte to Scotland for the '05 World Cup.

Read more to find out how you can help with donations to this amazing cause....

For an overall idea of what the Homeless World Cup is all about, this Wikipedia entry is pretty thorough. Find how how this four-a-side game is played, what the requirements are for national team membership and a history of the event.

One of the first places to go to find out about what this tournament is all about is to track down this book, "Goal," written by the tournament's co-founder Mel Young, and available on the homesite for the tournament. Proceeds for this and the sale of Nike-sponsored T-shirts help support the cause.

This annual street soccer event is always looking for sponsors and those who want to help keep it going. For more information, click here.

As a side note, the world organization did some research about how this tourmanent affects those who participate. Their results:
-- 94 percent (198 of the 217 surveyed, players from 2005) said it gave them "new motivation for life."
-- 85 percent said that it improved social relations.
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