September 2006 Archives

Despite this banner ad, this blog entry is not sponsored by Tommy Lasorda. But if you really want to get under the skin of, say, someone you know who's a Giants fan, Lasorda will help do it.

The Dodgers' Hall of Fame former manager has been hired as the focal point of the 2006 Major League Baseball postseason ad campaign that features three different TV commercials and plenty ofprint, radio, internet and mobile phone spots that try to "ignite fans' passion for the playoffs," according to the MLB press release.

You can check 'em out at Lasorda's MLB blog by clicking on the right links.

One of the first things you can do is email a condolence letter to a fan of a team that failed to make the playoffs, complete with a photo of Lasorda, decked out in full Sinatra tux gear, looking as if he could use a Bromo:

The three television spots each open with Lasorda stepping into extreme fan situations that capture the "wanting to run and hide" feeling that every fan has experienced at one point or another. With perfectly delivered dry wit, Lasorda shares a "tough love" message with fans; like one who has climbed into a tree to hide once his team was eliminated from postseason play. In another spot he declares: "Real fans don't hide in October. They celebrate it!"

Tommy's "tough love" messages will appear throughout the postseason in creative ways including beverage coasters and electronic condolence cards that he hopes fans will use to help him spread the word: "It's October! I live for this! You live for this! The World lives for this! To the TV!"

And if you didn't see Lasorda come on during the fourth inning of the Dodgers-Giants telecast on Fox (while the Dodgers were leading 3-2 with two out), they played one of the small ads in the bottom right corner of the screen with a cartoon version of Lasorda saying: "Watch the postseason on Fox! It's October! It's your duty, Judy."

"It's your duty, Judy?" play-by-play man Josh Lewin asked. "That's the new catch phrase we're going with?"

You got somethin' else brewin', Lewin?

From the way we've been told how the National League playoffs would shake out if there's a mess-o-teams bunched up after Sunday's play, two of the post-season entrants would be determined this way among the Dodgers (86-74), Padres (86-74) and Phillies (84-76):

If the Dodgers, Padres and Phillies all end up with the same record:
Monday, San Diego plays the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The winner takes the NL West. The loser goes to ....
Philadelphia, on Tuesday, to determine the NL wildcard and who'll start Wednesday in New York against the Mets.

If the Dodgers and Phillies tie for the NL wildcard:
Monday, the Dodgers go to Philadelphia for a 2:30 p.m. EDT game. The reason the game's so earlier: The Philadelphia Eagles have a game against Green Bay at 8:30 p.m. EDT, and they share the parking lot.

If the Dodgers and Padres finish with a tie:
San Diego is declared the NL West winner (based on regular-season head-to-head) and the Dodgers go in as the wildcard to face the Mets.

If the Phillies and Padres finish with a tie for the NL wildcard (behind the Dodgers):
Monday, the Padres go to Philadelphia, and the Dodgers start against either Houston or St. Louis.

Smart and tart, tacky and wacky, with a slant toward the crude and lewd, the new T-shirts and tank tops that have just come up at the online store for the Commerce Casino might be worth considering next time you get busted for busting too many hands and come home empty handed.

If you're down there for a World Series of Poker event, or just flipping through the merchandise at the casino's new webstore, you'll likely be amused and slightly confused by the shirt selection that includes:

For the men:
-- "The Commerce Paid My Rent��? ... navy blue with white lettering. At least pretend you're winning. $11.
-- “You, Me and a Friend Make Three of a Kind!��? ... in red, rust, mustard on brown. A corny pickup line, but considering the patrons, it's likely to work. $19.

For the women:
-- “Wanna Hold’ Em?��? ... across the chest, of course. Just ask for permission first. $20.50.
-- “Make My Day. Call Me!��? ... and when you do, prepared to be rejected. $20.50.
-- “Girls Always Hold the Nuts��? ... red lettering on an orange spaghetti-strap t-shirt with a pair of white aces as an exclamation point. So that's a card-playing term? $20.50.
-- “Nice Pair!��? ... black, white and gold poker chip on a pink camisole tank top. It's 95% cotton and 5% spandex, although more of the later would probably be more necessary. $21.50.
-- “These PAir Always Win!��? ... with the A’s are elevated and offset as a pair of aces—diamond and heart. Get it? $20.

“We wanted to give our customers a selection of creative and fun options that they could not find anywhere else,��? said David Mosikian, Player Relations Manager for Commerce Casino, said in a press release unveiling the new stuff.

Are you in?

Bob Miller, already a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame (2000), the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame (2002), the Wisconsin Hockey Hall of Fame (1992), and the benefactor of having the press box at Staples Center named for him, may be the best-known hockey announcer on the Hollywood Walk of Fame when his star is installed Monday (near the Hollywood Wax Museum on Hollywood Blvd., in an 11:30 a.m. ceremony). For more background on that, check out today's Daily News column. (By the way, any possibility of David Courtney doing the introductions over the loud speakers?)

But he won’t be the only one with a hockey connection.

-- Al Michaels, known more for his network baseball and football career, had the famous “Miracle on Ice� U.S. Olympic broadcast in 1980 for ABC.

--Monty Hall, who got his star for career as a TV game-show host, once called New York Rangers’ games.

--Dick Enberg called games for the former Los Angeles Blades minor-league hockey team.

--Bing Crosby was once a part of the original ownership group of the NHL’s California Golden Seals.

--Next year, local longtime L.A. sportscaster Stu Nahan, a former goalie who did Philadelphia Flyers games, will have a star installed.
So based on his background, if a hockey fight ever broke out on Hollywood Blvd., I'd put my money down on Captain Stu. By the way, where'd you get that jacket?

If not for the New York Yankees and New York Mets stamping an early ticket into the baseball playoffs, Fox's schedule makers might have had to actually wait and see which teams were worthy of some prime-time exposure.
Instead, they'll go with the automatic build-in audience. If L.A. joins the party, all the better.
Fox, which is doing up to 28 postseason games in October, already has the Yankees' first game of its playoff series against the ever elusive "TBA" locked into their Tuesday night schedule (5 p.m., PDT) at Yankee Stadium, with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver.
They take Wednesday off, then come back Thursday with the New York Mets' second game of its series against a different "TBA" -- perhaps the Dodgers -- at from Shea Stadium (5 p.m. PDT) with Thom Brennaman and Steve Lyons.
Fox, which has the World Series, has no intention of hoping for a N.Y.-N.Y. series. Last time that happened, it was the lowest-rated championship final of all time.

The rest of the Fox schedule through the first round:
Saturday, Oct. 7, 1 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. (PDT)
Sunday, Oct. 8, 4:30 p.m. (PDT)
Monday, Oct. 9, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. (PDT)

If you're in possession of one of those cool ESPN Mobile Phones based on your infatuation with Trey Wingo and the idea he could really be in your bed someday, hang onto it.
The phone, that is. Not the Wingo nightmare. The former will be a collector's item. The later, just another footnote in ESPN humiliation. Kinda like Kenny Mayne in "Dancing With the Stars." Or Chris Berman uttering "You're with me, Leather."
ESPN finally gave in Thursday, announcing it will shut down its phone company less than a year after it tried selling you on a $200 piece of junk, then started giving them away for free in the hopes you'd sign up for years to come.
The result is that ESPN will use their technology on other wireless operations. It's about as useless as an E-Ticket at the Magic Kingdom.
ESPN was quick to stress that its change in strategy had no bearing on Disney Mobile, another ambitious gamble into the cell market by its parent company, Walt Disney Co.
Disney invested $150 million in developing the Mobile ESPN and Disney Mobile phones, calling it the MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator.
Whatever. If the battery's dead after two days and you're sick and tired of all the alerts, it's no good for anyone.
Mobile ESPN will now be a provider of scores, video and other needless stuff to other wireless companies that already have a customer base.
The service had signed up only a few thousand subscribers since launching in late 2005.
At least this marks the end of those Wingo commercials. Even better, about two-thirds of the slightly more 100 employees at Mobile ESPN will likely lose their jobs next year as the company transitions.

The Golf Channel's reality show, "The Big Break," breaks out a new format: Girls vs. guys, as the sixth season starts today (7 p.m.) from Donald Trump's Trump National Golf Club in Palos Verdes Estates.

The course should be the real star of the show, which runs until Dec. 12. The winner gets $50,000 (supposedly of Trump's money) plus a 2007 Chrysler Aspen SUV ... oh, and some pro event exemptions.
The winning male contestant will receive exemptions into the 2007 Turtle Bay Championship and the 2007 Bank of America Championship, as well as waived entry fees in six 2007 Heartland Players Senior Tour events. The female champion gets an exemption into the 2007 SBS Open at Turtle Bay and the 2007 Longs Drugs Challenge, as well as waived entry fees for the 2007 Duramed Futures Tour season. The exemptions come in most part because The Golf Channel televises those events and has sponsor discretion as to who it can add to the field.

Why to watch this sixth season? The ladies have a former Miss Minnesota in their midst -- 25-year-old Karyn Stordahl-Utecht, who wised up and moved to Indiana, only because she married Indianapolis Colts backup tight end Ben Utecht (although if you go to his official bio on the team's site, there's no mention of this marriage under his personal achievements). There's also a former figure skater and hockey player from Scottsdale, Ariz. -- 26-year-old Laura London. Six others were on the Futures Tour this year, all aged 24 to 26 years old.

The men have ... well, what does it really matter. They're all old enough to be on the 50-plus tour. And despite Trump's claim that he's about a 6 handicap, they all could probably beat him (Trump's a huge cheater).

Here's a short preview of what to expect, including several appearances by big-shot Trump, who must think it can't be a reality show unless he's somehow personally involved.

(UPDATE on Wednedsay AM): Ms. Stordahl-Utecht plays golf about as smoothly as one can pronounce her name. She couldn't get out of a greenside bunker and had problems in deep rough during a closest-to-the-pin challenge. She was the first woman eliminated. Maybe she can caddy through the rest of the series?

The Arizona Republic reports that the NFL's Arizona Cardinals will announce a 20-year naming rights deal with the University of Phoenix to rename their new stadium in Glendale the "University of Phoenix Stadium."

Is this because the Bryman School didn't kick in enough dough?

Don't they realize that if you go by initials -- as the people did once with Bank One Ballpark, calling it "The BOB" -- then this place is really going to be called "UPS"?

Cardinals VP & General Counsel Michael Bidwill told the newspaper that the team talked to a "‘number of different" local and national companies about a deal, but would not identify them. That's because on of them supposedly was the Morton family, which created the Hard Rock Café and Morton’s Steakhouse restaurants, and was willing to put up the money to have the place called “Pink Taco Stadium,��? after its Mexican restaurant chain. They even reportedly put up a $5 million deposit to show good faith. The Cardinals wouldn't even consider it and called it a publicity stunt.

Publicity ....

And y'all know what a pink taco is, right? Don't play dumb.

But if the end result is having some commuter school that cranks out MBAs at 130 campuses or even online stamp its name on the thing, won't voters in the weekly coaches poll think that the University of Phoenix actually has a football team, competing against Arizona State and the University of Arizona for state supremacy? Just watch how fast the University of Texas bypasses McNeese State and tries to get the University of Phoenix on its schedule for next season.

Some other questions: How does a school that teaches business explain to its students it has to raise tuition fees so it can afford this naming rights deal?
Another question: Who's the first student to turn in a final term paper on the faulty business practices of buying naming rights to a stadium (do we have to start with Enron?). There's a quote that Al Michaels once uttered on a "Monday Night Football" game: As soon as you hear that a company has bought naming rights to a stadium, sell your stock in that company. It's bound to go bankrupt soon.

And somewhere out there, a pink taco goes uneaten.

Fred Cornwell and Nolan Ryan, forever linked on this day in L.A. sports history.

On September 26, 1981, USC (2-0, No. 1 in the UPI poll, No. 2 by AP) and Oklahoma (1-0, No. 1 in the AP poll) met up at the Coliseum in a Saturday afternoon game that didn't need any more buildup. USC pulled within three with just under seven minutes to go on the second of Marcus Allen's two touchdowns. Oklahoma, which fumbled 10 times in the game and lost five, had to punt with about 4:00 to go. Following a few crucial third and fourth-down conversions, USC faced a third-and-goal from the seven with 8 seconds to go, and coach John Robinson could have settled for a tie. But why? USC QB John Mazur scrambled away from Sooner defenders and found tight end Cornwell in the back of the end zone to clinch a 28-24 victory. One play earlier, Mazur tried to throw it to Allen in the end zone, but Cornwell put up an arm and knocked it down by accident. Allen ran for 208 yards en route to a Heisman Trophy season that ended 9-3 for USC and a Fiesta Bowl loss. Oklahoma finished 7-4-1.

(I was at this game as a sophomore going to USC, experienced plenty of beer in the student section and was lying on the floor of the bathroom back at my apartment later in the day when I heard about ....)

And on September 26, 1981, Ryan faced the Dodgers at the Houston Astrodome. The Dodgers had already clinched a spot in the playoffs based on winning the first half of this season split by a players strike. The Houston Astros were trying to fend off the Cincinnati Reds for the "second-half" title with eight games to go. Here, on the NBC Game of the Week, Ryan threw his fifth career no-hitter, breaking a tie with Sandy Koufax no-hitters. In the Astros' 5-0 win, the 34-year-old Ryan improved his record to 10-5. In the final inning, Ryan fanned pinch-hitter Reggie Smith on three pitches for his 11th strikeout of the game. Ken Landreaux grounded out to Denny Walling at first base, then Ryan got Dusty Baker to ground out to Art Howe at third base. "I really didn't feel like I had good velocity today," said Ryan, who at that point led the National League with a 1.74 earned run average. "but I got ahead on my curve balls." The Dodgers and Astros ended up meeting in the first round of the playoffs, with the Dodgers surviving to face (and beat) Montreal for the NL title and the Yankees in the World Series.

It was just a matter of time before Joe McDonnell found a new regular time slot to fill in the weekday lineup at Xtra Sports 570-AM, and starting Monday, that'll be the new 7-to-11 p.m. window that's currently taken up with repeats of the Phil Hendrie show. McDonnell's show will also run after Lakers games once the NBA season starts.

If only it could have been the Mancow morning slot..

McDonnell's reemergence comes at the same time when Lee Klein won't have his contract renewed to continue his 10 p.m.-to-1 a.m. weeknight show.

The residual effect: How will Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton (not his real name) blow his stack when he come to grips with the fact that program director Don Martin has kept him shoved back on the weekends instead of reintroducing him to the regular weekday audience that still can't be completely satisfied with how the new afternoon drivetime show has been sounding since he was pushed out.

As a way to fill valuable time on the 24/7 ESPN Classic ... and you'd think they'd have enough games backlogged so where this wouldn't be a problem ... they continue to churn out this pseudoshow called "5 Reasons You Can't Blame ..." and then it's about someone who's been blamed for something, and why you shouldn't blame them.

Who can blame 'em for continuing such an ingenious series?

The second season starts Tuesday (7 p.m.) with "... Bobby Cox for the Atlanta Braves Winning Only One World Series Title."
That's followed by "... Bode Miller for Not Living Up To the Hype" (7:30 p.m.)
Thursday is the one that may actually get us to TiVo this thing for the first time. At 7 p.m., it's "...Matt Leinart for Returning for His Senior Season at USC."
If Byrnn Cameron is one of the reasons you can't blame him for returning, then perhaps there's more blame to go around in other areas.

Also on "The Classic," the final five episodes of "Stump the Schwab" air (4 p.m.), leading up to Friday's finale. Remember, Stuart Scott hosts this show, which is produced by Inward Eye Entertainment ... which has nothing to do with the fact that Scott has .... never mind.

It's not like I needed a pair of Nike sunglasses, glued together by some 4-year-olds in Pakistan during their break on the shoe line, but finishing in the Top 25 of Fred Roggin's weekly quiz show, "The Challenge" on KNBC-Channel 4 woulda got me some.

Wasn't gonna happen. I finished tied for 28th -- the lowest finish in three weeks -- with a measly 145 points.

Not impressive at all for someone who's paid to know this stuff. I had four completely wrong of the nine (even waiting until some answers were eliminated, I still had bad instincts on most). Again, the three I did immediately know, I didn't get the full 40 points.

The 145 points are just half of the 290 that Brian Gomez and Tommy Tedros had to share the title on Sunday night. They had it made in the shade. I was just not focused. I'd been at the Dodgers game earlier in the day -- the Nomar grandslam finish -- and just didn't have my gameface on when I got home last night.

Lesson 2,382 of "The Challenge": It pays to play sober. I needed a designated clicker.

For the season, I've dropped down into a tie for 36th with 485 total points. Sonia Desaegher -- c'mon, a chick is winning? -- is the overall leader with 745 points, with our early favorite, Patrick Alog, second with 730 points, now that he's taken our advice and doesn't do the quiz on a DirecTV feed anymore. I'm still in the Top 100 even with that dismal performance, and seem to be far enough ahead of Mrs. Roggin to not worry about getting any crank phone calls in the middle of the night.

Remember, that's at least a five-second delay on DirecTV over cable or other over-the-air service means. That doesn't help at all get the full amount of points per question and, in this case, it really didn't help me at all.

So, no glasses this week after I did have a tied-for-ninth finish last week and, by finishing in the Top 25, was supposed to get of tickets to the Sept. 30 UCLA-Stanford game. The rules say they were going to contact me within 48 hours to get me that prize.
I'm still waiting to be contacted.... Seriously.

Here are this week's questions and answers. Again, if you finished better than me, drop me an email at thomas.hoffarth@dailynews.com and I'll guarantee a return email congratulating you on your achievement. As minor as it may be:

On Sept. 25, 1971, Marshall edges Xavier 15-13 before an emotional crowd in Huntington, W.Va. It marks a comeback for head coach Jack Lengyel's Thundering Herd after a chartered plane crash kills 75 players, student-athletes, support staff and alumni on Nov. 14, 1970, en route from a game against East Carolina in Greenville, N.C.

A new Warner Brothers movie, "We Are Marshall", will premier December 22, with Matthew McConaughey (pictured here, on the right) starring as Coach Lengyel and Matthew Fox as assistant Red Dawson (left). The movie follows the team from the air disaster until the epic victory over Xavier less than nine months later. Lengyel has served as a member of the National Football Federation Board of Directors since 1990. To view the movie trailer, link to: www.http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/wearemarshall.html or http://wearemarshall-themovie.warnerbros.com/

Are the San Diego Chargers being forced onto our NFL TV slate today? Oh, right, they have a bye.
Super.
But that's only temporary. We got some bigger plans here.

Start with the text of an ad that's been running on KCBS-Channel 2:

"On Jan. 8, 1999, KCBS-TV was granted a license by the Federal Communications Commission to serve the public interest as a public trustee until Dec. 1, 2006. Our license will expire on Dec. 1, 2006. We have filed an application for renewal with the FCC. A copy of this application is available for public inspection during our regular business hours. It contains information concerning this station's performance during the last eight years. Individuals who wish to advise the the FCC of facts relating to our renewal application and to whether this station has operated in the public interest should file comments and petitions with the FCC by Nov. 1, 2006. Further information concerning the FCC's broadcast license renewal process is available at 6121 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles CA 90028, or may be obtained from the FCC, Washington DC, 20554."

While that's going on, I ran a note in a Daily News media column on Sept. 8:

"The San Diego Chargers were given an extension on the Thursday deadline to sell out Sunday's home opener against Tennessee, meaning KCBS-Channel 2 waits a day before it finds out if it is required to deliver that game to the L.A. market instead of, say, Denver-Kansas City or New England-N.Y. Jets. As of 1:15 p.m. Thursday, the Chargers were about 1,750 tickets short of a sellout, and the local CBS affiliate will likely buy out the rest of the tickets today to insure the game is televised live."

Ended up, the game's tickets were all bought up by KFMB-TV, Donovan's Steak & Chop House and (get this) Daniel Tucker, chairman of the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation who's been linked to giving money to the agent allegedly trying to buy off Reggie Bush's family.

That media column note prompted an email from Simi Valley reader Jim Meser:

"When the local CBS affiliate was granted a license from the FCC, I thought they were suppose to act in the public interest?"

Jim followed that email up the other day:

"The problem lies with the NFL. Last year, the all powerful league officials deemed Los Angeles to be part of the San Diego market. Does that not show how arrogant the NFL truly is? Living in this area for 45 years, I can tell the dolts on Park Ave. that L.A. and S.D. are about as similar as Bill O'Reilly and Keith Olberman. Call me a conspiracy buff but since the rumors of the Chargers wanting to move to L..A. started, the NFL is now trying to force them opon our market in order to try to cultivate an audience.
"Forget putting a fence on the Mexican border to prevent illegal immigration. Can the Department of Homeland Security put a fence in Oceanside to seal the Chargers in San Diego? "

We've decided to include a map here of San Diego County. We're looking for Los Angeles ... looking up near the top ... still looking....
Nope, don't see L.A. Must be a smoggy day.

But that still had us thinking: What if we started a petition online that would let KCBS know that we consider having the Chargers forced onto our Sunday NFL TV schedule a "public interest" issue.

Consider it done.

Go to this link at Petitiononline.com and sign up. We'll keep it monitored and let you know how it goes. We'll also take suggestions as to what else we can do to get this problem remedied...

You got a better idea?

Probably a good thing the Raiders have a bye week.
Otherwise, we may all be saying bye to Art Shell.

How bad is this team so far? The writers at SFist.com make the case this could be an historical season for the Silver and Bleak. Could they be the Worst Team Ever?

"They're 0-2 and have yet to score a TD, having only scored two field goals. The QB has been sacked 15 times, they've given up a safety, been intercepted 3 times, fumbled the ball six times, and have only racked up 291 yards this season. To put that in perspective, eight quarterbacks threw for more yards last week than the Raiders offense has combined in two games.
"And then there's Art Shell, a proud, proud man and consummate professional who is slowly turning into comedy gold. Does his expression change? What's he writing in his notebook? What is he listening to over his headphones? Is he even paying attention?"

What are the odds he survives?

On the online website BetUS.com, here are some of the "Art Shell Special" prpposition bets that you can get some action on:

-- Art Shell puts his California home up for sale: 25/1
-- Art Shell applies for a job with USC: 50/1
-- Art Shell to retire from NFL before Christmas: 4/1
-- Art Shell to sacked By Raiders before Christmas: 3/1
-- Art Shell to elope with Al Davis: 100/1
-- Art Shell to be an NFL Head Coach next season: 2/1

There's more:

-- Art Shell will get fired after?
3rd Game: 3/1
4th Game: 4/1
5th Game: 7/2
6th Game: 6/1
7th Game: 9/1
8th Game: 12/1
9th Game: 7/1
Any time between the 10th and 16th game: 4/1
Does not get fired: 10/1
He resigns at any time: 5/1

By the way, the Raiders odds of winning Super Bowl XLI stands at 250/1
And the odds to win the AFC West Division is 50/1

By George Richards
Miami Herald
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A few years ago, the New York Rangers traveled to a remote town in Alaska to play a pond hockey game against some locals.
Of course, Mystery, Alaska, was just a movie. In the real world, NHL teams don’t play exhibitions in Alaska.
Puerto Rico? That’s a different story.
Tonight, the Florida Panthers play the New York Rangers, who will be the host team, in the first pro hockey game played south of Miami Arena when the two meet in San Juan.
“It’s crazy,� Panthers defenseman Joel Kwiatkowski said. “Everyone I tell about this trip just shakes their head. They
can’t believe we’re playing in Puerto Rico. I think this is great for the game. If there’s hockey in Florida, why not Puerto Rico and the Caribbean? "
The game will be televised in New York and in San Juan, but local interest is said to be tepid at best. There is very little buzz about the game on the island, although the Rangers — who set up the game — are trying to drum up
interest. The team has been on the island since Thursday, practicing in San Juan’s 2-year-old arena while visiting hospitals and sightseeing. The team also arranged to have the game called on Spanish radio.

If not for a bunch of prizes to contend for, why else would eight knuckleheads try to break the Guinness World Record for watching TV the longest in one sitting?
That's the scenario starting Sunday at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver as the Dish Network, La-Z-Boy and a few others sponsor the "Ultimate Football Fan" contest, hoping to shatter the mark of 69 hours, 48 minutes.
That's all? We've done that already trying to keep up with the Ryder Cup.
The winner wins a trip for two to the 2007 Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Other prizes include a La-Z-Boy recliner, a 32-inch high-def TV from Radio Shack and Dish Network programming for a year.
Contestants from Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Kansas City and St. Louis were chosen earlier this week by local radio stations who hosted their own contests.
Any possible contestants from Los Angeles likely refused to go because winning would mean they'd have to find a new use for their DirecTV dishes.

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Thirty baseballs that Pete Rose signed and inscribed with an apology for betting on baseball were sold Friday for $1,000 apiece.

The baseballs were scheduled to be put up for bid in April by Robert Edwards Auctions, which is selling sports memorabilia from the estate of former New York Yankees limited partner Barry Halper.

ESI Entertainment Systems Inc., a British Columbia company that provides gaming products and services, offered $30,000 for the 30 balls. The auction house consulted Halper’s family, which accepted the offer.

Auction house president Robert Lifson said he recommended accepting the offer after Rose started selling identical apology baseballs on his Web site for $299 apiece. The baseballs feature “I’m sorry I bet on baseball��? printed in block letters above Rose’s autograph. A personalized version is selling for $349.

Lifson said the Canadian company was aware that Rose is selling cheaper baseballs online.

Rose accepted a lifetime ban for gambling in 1989, but denied for nearly 15 years that he bet on baseball. He finally acknowledged in his latest autobiography, published in January 2004, that he made baseball wagers while he
managed the Cincinnati Reds.

From this morning's Ryder Cup action in Ireland, we see Michael Jordan apparently not hitting on Elin Woods, and a few other reasons why the gallery provides more drama than watching the Americans struggle again in the underdog role against those pesky Euros:

Whatever didn't fit into today's Daily News sports media column and sidebar notes happened for a reason.
What that reason is, we're not completely sure.
Here's some other tasty tidbits worth considering:

By ARNIE STAPLETON
Associated Press

DENVER _ Mike Shanahan never calls a timeout to ice the kicker because Jason Elam let him in on a little secret among the kicking fraternity: most of them like the extra time to check out the conditions.

“That’s why I don’t do it,� Shanahan said. “He said it gives the guy a chance to focus a little bit more. I don’t think
I’ve ever done it. If I did do it, it was before Jason told me.�

On Sunday, Elam missed a 44-yard attempt through a strong crosswind against Kansas City in the first half at Invesco Field, but nailed a 39-yarder through the same uprights in overtime for a 9-6 Denver win.

“On that last one, it was kind of nice when Kansas City called a timeout. I was able to go out there, see what the wind was doing, see what the plant foot area was like,� Elam said.

And visualize the ball going through the uprights.

“It is kind of funny. I don’t know where all that started,� Elam said. “But I love it when they call timeout. If they didn’t, maybe I would call my own timeout.�

Read on:

By ELIZABETH DUNBAR
Associated Press Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A policy banning strippers from on-campus events is back in the rule book at Duke University, after officials noticed it was missing when members of the school’s lacrosse team were accused of raping an exotic dancer earlier this year.

The policy governs only on-campus events and wouldn’t have applied to the March off-campus lacrosse team party where an exotic dancer has said she was sexually assaulted by three men in a bathroom.

The rule had been a part of Duke’s Bulletin of Information and Regulations long before the lacrosse case surfaced, said Stephen Bryan, the school’s associate dean of students and judicial affairs director. It was left out during a revision before the 2004-05 school year, he said.

“It was a complete error,� Bryan said. “When the lacrosse thing happened, that’s when I looked at it and realized it was inadvertently removed.�

Because the policy applies specifically to organized, on-campus events, students can hire a stripper to perform in an apartment or dorm room on or off campus. There are no plans to change that, Bryan said.

“The bottom line is that strippers are not illegal,� he said. “It’s a moral choice. ... We made a decision that a stripper at a campus event is something that we don’t want to support.�

Student government leaders said they will look at the policy and seek feedback from classmates.

Duke is “based primarily on freedom and liberty and we want to make sure our policies reflect that,� said Maggie McGannon, the student government’s vice president of student affairs. But she said banning strippers from campus events seems reasonable.

Fox’s decision to deliver the Angels-Athletics game Saturday (1 p.m., Channel 11) to the L.A. market (as well as 21 percent of the country) may have looked good on paper two weeks ago, when the pick was made. The Dodgers-Diamondbacks game would have been a better call, but the network has only one more Dodger regular-season appearance left to use (of nine total), and it’s saving it for next Saturday at San Francisco. Then how about showing the L.A. market the Philadelphia-Florida game (with former El Camino Real High standout Randy Wolf throwing for the Phillies), which is already going to 30 percent of the country and has wild-card implications for the Dodgers?

The Dodgers plan to unveil a test treat at Dodger Stadium on Friday night, a one-night-only attempt at making something already special even better.

Behold the Avo Dog, where Dodger Blue meets Guacamole green.

A topping with fresh Chilean Hass avocados, chopped tomatoes and lime juice will be offered at some concession stands tonight, courtesy of Farmer John and the Chilean Avocado Importers Association. There'll be folks stationed at the condiment carts throughout the stadium to serve up the topping for those who want it -- for free.

To some, sticking his or her wiener in a batch of guac may seem unsavory, even downright wrong. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it.
And here's how you try it, based on a recipe the avocado producers have passed on in hopes of making it a standard food item someday at the park:

Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves: 8 (or 2, if you're any kind of dog eater)

Ingredients: 8 Farmer John foot-long hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
2 medium ripe tomatoes, seeded, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
2 large ripe Hass avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, chopped and mashed
2 limes, juiced
Salt, to taste

Instructions:
1. Grill hot dogs until lightly browned. Open hot dog buns and grill flat.
2. Mix avocados, diced tomatoes and lime juice in a small bowl.
3. On each hot dog bun spread desired condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish, mayo)
4. Place hot dogs on each dressed bun and top with avocado mixture. (Add grilled or raw onions if desired.) Sprinkle with a little salt. Serve.
Eat. Eat more. Seriously.

Total cost for all those ingredients is about the $15 range. For our tastes, a red onion chopped in would be even better. And a little cilantro. And some tortilla chips.

You do it as you please. And go easy on the mustard. Don't want to take away from that guac burst of taste.
Ole.

And for those who thinks this all borders on blasphemy, well, we've got a book for you to read while the rest of your family loads up on this new concoction:

In an online blog he's doing for CBS Sportsline, New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush on Thursday again denies he did anything wrong while playing at USC amidst allegations he and his family accepted more than $100,000 from a sports marketing agent who was trying to procure his services.

"Firstly, for me and my family, we are not going to speak on the allegations, because there is nothing to speak about. We are not going to get into a shouting match with the media -- it could go on forever. It would just be a 'he said, she said' thing.
If there comes a time that we need to address it, we will, but I can assure everybody there is nothing to worry about. People are just digging to find something."

First, is "firstly" a word? Secondly, he does go on to address it:

"My friends and family support me because they know what kind of person I am and I would never put the school (Southern California) in jeopardy. Honestly, if I accepted $100,000 in gifts, I might as well have stayed in college and got my degree."

That's nice logic.
So the fact that you left early is supposed to be an indication that you didn't take any money? Or at least your family didn't take anything illegal?

Again, he's not done:

"These are crazy allegations and people don't use their head when they speak about stuff. I'm not worried about the media; they do what they do best -- write stories and give opinions. I don't even read the newspaper or listen to what they say on TV.
"I wasn't at all distracted against Green Bay. When it's game time, it's game time. I feel so blessed to be here, my whole life is a blessing. I love doing what I can, I make money and help people in need -- that's what matters the most. Making a difference in the community and focusing on football -- the positive things. "

Like, being positive when he can score his first touchdown before a national audience. He concludes:

"I'll be looking forward to scoring on Monday Night Football -- I look to score all the time -- but it would be great to get my first score in prime time.'

OK, we get it.

And for anyone who wants some more creative writing on this issue, check out the very latest story on The Onion, which carries the headline: Reggie Bush Claims He Made $100,000 Through USC Work-Study Program

We wrote the other day about the New York Daily News exclusive on 30 baseballs signed by Pete Rose that turned up in an auction that read, "I'm sorry I bet on baseball" with his autograph.

Then we updated it Tuesday to pass on how Pete figured out a way around that by offering the same autographed balls on his website for $299. Meaning, if you really wanted one, you don't have to get one by bidding up on it.

Now this story takes a step deeper into the muck that is Rose's ongoing bid to clear his name and make good on his gambling habits.

Again on his site, he's offering the same "sorry" balls, only personalized. For $349.

Is this really worth an extra 50 bucks? Maybe if you tell him your name is "Bud" and then mail it to the MLB offices in New York...

Here's the website pitch:
"Get Pete’s now-famous “I’M SORRY I BET ON BASEBALL‿ inscription on a baseball, addressed to you or the recipient name of your choice, with his autograph below it, all guaranteed authentic! Includes a Certificate of Authenticity from Mounted Memories ...

"Important: In keeping with our standard return policy, no returns or exchanges will be accepted on personalized autographed products. This item cannot be canceled after four days from date of placement."

It doesn't say you can't ask for the name "Bud," does it?

The next step for this punchline will be an opening of "The Simpsons" with Bart at the blackboard writing: "I'm sorry I bet on baseball."

In what figures to be his last regular-season scheduled start at home -- that's a lot of conditions put on one outing if someone's trying to decide whether it's worth saving the ticket stub-- Roger Clemens gave the Houston Astros fans the long goodbye after seven solid innings again during his performance Wednesday against the Cincinnati Reds. He left with a 7-0 lead, giving up just three hits and striking out six. He won the game 7-2, improving to a stellar 7-5, and No. 348 overall.

Worth every penny that the Astros spent on having him come back at midseason.

The Associated Press did a fine job covering all angles of Clemens' farewell salute at Enron, er, Lemonade Park. And the whole thing was completely staged.
The seven-time Cy Young winner walked to the mound for the seventh, but Astros manager Phil Garner came out before he threw a pitch and replaced him with Russ Springer. That allowed the fans to stand for aroaring ovation and let Clemens tip his cap as he walked off the field. The cheering continued and Clemens came out for a curtain call, shirt untucked, pumping his fist in the air before disappearing into the dugout.

The 44-year-old Clemens will have two more scheduled starts this season -- and possibly for his career -- at Philadelphia on Monday and at Atlanta on Sept. 30.

Here's another angle of his long goodbye:

To promote some stuff he's done in conjunction with Fox Sports Net's "Best Damn Sports Show," Kobe Bryant was offered up as interview fodder for any takers by the FSN folks.
Regrettably, we passed. I mean, what new could we possibly gleen about the Life of Kobe that we didn't already get from Fred Roggin's interview with him during Sunday's episode of "The Challenge"? Seriously, talking to Kobe isn't a high priority.
But John Nadel of the Associated Press took the challenge.
Here are the gems he got Kobe to reveal under a story with a headline: "AP Interview: Kobe ready for another run as season nears"
--"My knee's getting healthier."
--"We made some key additions."
--"I think they played extremely well" (on the U.S. basketball team that lost to Greece)

Already, my interest isn't piqued.
Read on, if you must ...

All right, so grounds keeper may be the more acceptable term for those who keep the grounds used for playing baseball in tip-top shape. You can either enter a contest to become a Fantasy Dirt Dragger through some "Think Blue" promotion, or you could actually educate yourself as to what goes into a career as a guy who does more than just cut the grass and drags a hose across the pitcher's mound.

The MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton has scheduled a "Grounds Keeping Field Day" on Saturday (Sept. 23) -- a sorta symposium on what needs to be done and how to do it. Murray Cook, the MLB Field Consultant and President of Brickman Sportsturf, will be there, as will Barney Lopas, the Angels field and ground maintenance manager; Chad Olson, the project director at International Sports Turf, and Kyle Waters, director of grounds and sports turf for the Home Depot Center.
They'll discuss the right way to water a field, build a pitcher's mound, take care of the home plate area, marking the lines, and set up batting practice.

Registration at the academy on the Compton Community College campus (901 East Artesia Blvd.) is first-come, first-served. The day, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., includes a lunch at 11:30 a.m. and a discussion on internship programs with Major League Baseball and the MLB Urban Academy

For more info, call (310) 763-3479 or visit www.youthbaseballacademy.com

According to the International Skating Union, that's the opening night of the 2009 World Championships -- which will be held at Staples Center and be used as the qualifier for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Sharpen your blades of steel right now. Dick Button's comin' to town.

"There are so many great skaters coming from the L.A. area, so I think the community will really embrace the event," Olympic silver medalist Sasha Cohen, left, who lives and trains in Orange County, told the Associated Press, still rubbing her behind from falling on the ice so many times during her Winter Olympics routine. "Plus, it's always great to get a worlds in our own country, especially right before the Olympics. It will make the event just that much more huge."

L.A. beat out bids from Helsinki, Finland, and Budapest, Hungary. It will be the 12th time the world championships have been in the United States, and the first since Washington had them in 2003. Only Germany has hosted more worlds — 13.

Staples Center will be used for all competitions in 2009 (March 23-29), just as it was when Los Angeles hosted the 2002 national championships. Some practices will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The worlds will be in Tokyo in 2007 and Goteborg, Sweden, in 2008. The 2009 European championships were awarded to Helsinki, which beat out six other bids. They will be held Jan. 19-25, 2009.

OK, that's too many dates to remember. Lemme pull out the calendar and start mapping this out before I get a brain freeze.

Back to Cohen: You may remember the story the Daily News ran a few weeks ago about her new Hollywood aspirations, and her official website, SashaCohen.com, isn't shy about pushing her into that next phase of her career.

Or is that Sacha Baron Cohen?

(Did you know her actual birth name is Alexandra Pauline Cohen ... she's already gone Hollywood)

Either way, if hooking up Tom Arnold just to get a role in "Soul Plane 2" is what you're looking for, please, just say no. See the red in his eyes? That's just from the flash photography. He's the devil.

Last week, the NFL was falling all over itself announcing it had the country's No. 1 and No. 2 prime-time rated shows..

This week ... well, when you consider Emmitt Smith's cha-cha was more important to some level-headed viewers, there can't be all that high-fiving around Roger Goodell's office.

NFL prime-time games ranked second and fourth for the week (9/11-9/17) among all programs. The Sunday night game on NBC (Redskins-Cowboys) ranked second (18.4 million viewers), while the CBS national game on Sunday (mostly Patriots-Jets and Chiefs-Broncos, while the L.A. market was stuck with Chargers-Titans) was the week’s No. 4 show (16.7 million viewers).
What was better? Ahem, ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars� ranked first; CBS’s “Survivor� was third for the week.

Oh, really?

Meanwhile, in what we've slowly come to realize is a pretty cool deal, the NFL Network (for those who have it) is replaying four games from the previous Sunday on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. On "NFL Replay," the New York Giants-Philadelphia game replays at 5 p.m., with the New York Jets-New England game at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at 5 p.m., it's New Orleans-Green Bay and at 7:30 p.m., it's Carolina-Minnesota.
They're edited down to 90-minute telecasts, with only the stuff that matters.

ESPN says Hall of Fame reporter Peter Gammons, who suffered a brain aneurysm in late June, will be on the 3 p.m. PT edition of "SportsCenter" and the 4 p.m. PT edition of "Baseball Tonight" on Wednesday (Sept. 20). Gammons willl report from Fenway Park, where the Red Sox are hosting Minnesota.

An ESPN spokesman said that future appearances will be scheduled as Gammons is comfortable with doing more.

On the ESPN.com website, Gammons has posted his first column since coming back and explains how his aneurysm happened:

"Honestly, I remember very little except that I got a splitting headache driving to the Gold's Gym in Mashpee, Mass. At 7 a.m. on June 27, I pulled into a parking lot to sleep. I remember very little about all the people who saved the life of someone whose sister, Anne Durant, died of the same type of aneurysm a decade earlier.

"A wonderful person named Agnes Rockett-Bolduc watched me pull into a parking lot, tried to talk to me and immediately called 911. Within minutes, or, really, seconds, the guys at Mashpee Fire and Rescue had me in an ambulance screaming for the Falmouth Hospital, and Dr. John Mendleson, where they immediately diagnosed that I had suffered an aneurysm and needed to get to Boston. So Bill, Christopher and Tim were flying me in their helicopter toward Brigham and Women's Hospital in a matter of minutes."

We're trying to find a reason to get pumped for the Ryder Cup over in Somewhere, Ireland at a club that goes by some letter ... K? ... when it occured to us:
Elin Woods? Elin Nordegren? What do we call her now?
We call ourselves lucky.

Lucikly, there was a photographer around to shoot Mrs. Woods (above, center) as she showed up with Diane Antonopoulous, the girlfriend of Europe's Luke Donald, at the Curragh Racecourse in Ireland on Tuesday while the players of this weekend's big golf tournament were attending a meeting.

Not so lucky was the fact a photographer also found Mr. Woods out on the course later in the day. It appears Tiger was either trying to duck the crush of fans or he found a nice quiet place to contemplate his next shot.

This may not answer the question about what a bear does in the woods, or what Woods does while chasing The Bear, but it's a nice ad someday for PortaPotty.

Meanwhile, Tiger apparently is having a (bleep) fit about how his wife is portrayed in the media. According to this story in something called NewsMax.com, Tiger "is furious after a magazine in Ireland printed topless photos of a woman it wrongly identified" as Elin. It quotes the Britain's Daily Mail as saying Tiger was "appalled" by the latest issue of the Dubliner.
The magazine goes on to claim that golfer Chad Campbell's wife Amy is a "large-chested singer" and says David Toms’ wife Sonya finds it "liberating" to wear her bikini around the house.

We have no link to any of these pictures because, well, we feel if you really want to find 'em, you'll find 'em on your own.
Now get to it.

By the way, the Belfast Telegraph has a story with the lowdown on each player and his wife. This includes a blurb on Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman and his wife, Melissa, the 1981 graduate of Crescenta Valley High (who went by Melissa Zoutendyk back then):

The deeply religious United States captain credits his rock-solid marriage to brunette Melissa for his golfing success. Indeed Mrs Lehman’s support extended to acting as his caddie during the 1998 Nissan Open when his regular bag carrier suffered broken ribs in a basketball game. The couple met on a blind date 22 years ago and have become stalwarts on the PGA tour social scene. Described variously by observers of the tour as “glossily attractive� with an “irrepressible� personality, the perma-tanned Mrs Lehman yesterday presented prizes at a race meeting at the Curragh.

While things happen as they do in Iraq, the U.S. armed forces do what they seem to have to do to continue this conflict.
My brother-in-law Mitch, who's been there a couple of weeks now with his Marine Corps squadron, sends his latest email to update us on how the sports scene is taking all their minds off the reality of the situation.
Tuesday morning (or Tuesday night in Iraq), Mitch tells us he's proud again that his Indianapolis Colts are off and running, defending Vin Scully , seemingly missing the end of that Dodgers' 11-10 victory and wondering who's going to win ESPN's "The Contender," among other things:

"How is it going. Good for the Colts, but it is early.

"Well Tom take care, talk to you later. I ordered dog tags for the Squadron. The guys all think that is a great idea, and want me to thank the company on your blog, so thanks a lot from the Marines and Sailors of VMA-211."

The boys at Bodog.com have a proposition for you. Especially if you're a USC football fan who can't sleep at night. One that Reggie Bush might even like some action on, considering he claims to know the outcome.

Now posted on the site is this bet under college football propositions:

Will NCAA fine or place USC on probation due to the Reggie Bush incident?

Yes -130
No -110

(If no results are made public by December 31 2006, all wagers will be counted as "no action." Max bet: $100)

That's the headline on the webversion of today's New York Daily News on their exclusive story about how Pete Rose "hit an all-time low" by altering his autograph to now read: "I'm Sorry I Bet On Baseball ... Pete Rose."

The story is, a New Jersey auction house plans to sell 30 of these novelty balls, hoping to fetch about $1,000 each, after obtaining them from the estate of the late great collector Barry Halper.

Rose, who lives most of the time these days with his wife, Carol, in a Sherman Oaks condo, as his daughter plays basketball and pursues an acting career while going to Notre Dame High School, was banned by Bart Giamatti in 1989, three years after his playing days ended and while was managing the Cincinnati Reds, for betting on baseball. In 1991, he was removed from the Hall of Fame ballot, despite his denials of gambling on Reds games. He's been formally pleading for reinstatement since 1997.

As for these new batch of balls, the NYDNews surmises this could hurt Rose's any future attempt for Hall of Fame reinstatement.

In January of 2004, Rose came out with his book, "My Prison without Bars," where he came clean about betting on baseball, hoping that would lead to his inclusion on the Hall of Fame ballot. It hasn't happened, and probably won't in his lifetime.

(Update on Sept. 19):
The official Pete Rose website is circumventing this auction and offering "sorry" autographed balls for $299. "Now you can get the baseball collectible everyone’s talking about -- Pete Rose’s personal apology for betting on baseball newly inscribed on an actual baseball – at a fantastic price!" according to the site. Better yet, Pete gets the money, and auction house doesn't. It'll start shipping in two weeks -- with a free ball case to show it off in.

For those of you who stayed home and watched the USC-Nebraska game on TV (and avoided those $70 parking lots outside the Coliseum), you might have noted that later that night, HBO's prime-time movie was that old standby, "Twister," with Bill Paxon and Helen Hunt. Didn't realize it was already 10 years old...

According to this blog site Dirty Laundry, there was an actual tornado warning through the state of Nebraska and some weren't happy with how it interrupted their viewing. This was part of the entry:

"As everyone was waiting for some storm to erupt from the coliseum in LA, there really was one coming through Omaha. We all kept looking out the windows for scenes from the actual movie Twister, including the cows flying around and maybe even a Helen Hunt sighting. Finally at halftime, the local ABC affiliate, KETV, had no choice. They went to their local newsroom for halftime, confirming Tornado sightings and therefore tornado warnings in all of the nearby counties. But they couldn't leave, so we got the infamous split screen for the entire 3rd quarter. ... in this day and age, isn't it enough to just run a crawl during the game mentioning all of this, tell people to take cover or shelter immediately and if they really need more info, direct them to your website or the Weather Channel. I mean, this is now ESPN sports on ABC, and if this game were actually ON ESPN we wouldn't have had the split screen interruption for most of the second half. Thankfully, next week's game (against Troy, who's hungry for a big road win) is on pay per view and nobody's gonna mess that baby up by trying to chime in with some weather."

They've got tornados, we've got earthquakes, flash floods, brush fires, car chases and occasional rain that causes people to drive like nincompoops on the freeways. And, yes, we'd like it, too, if they just run a crawl across the bottom of the screen during our sporting events while the apocalypse is occuring.

It's like one of those things where if you stare at it long enough, your eyes start playing tricks with your brain.
What do they call 'em? Optical dillusions?

So here's Bob Costas, the multi-Emmy Award winning NBC/HBO host with the most who, by all estimates measures maybe 5-foot ... should we stop there? How about 5-foot 7? That's what this story from Televisionweek claims him to be. It's also the same as is listed on the IMDB.com site (he's made so many movies, from "BASEketball" to taking a whiz in "The Paper," we just can't name 'em all ... and did you know he was divorced a couple years back and has recently remarried, according to this site?)

And there's Conan O'Brien, the snarky late-night talk show host, who admits to being about 6-foot-4, and has that in his IMDB.com data base, so it must be true. It's gotta be more with his hair.

And then this picture shows up, from Premiere Radio Network, showing how Costas "decided to level the playing field" when he had O'Brien into the New York studios as a guest on "Costas On The Radio," which launched Saturday. It's syndicated on 90 stations, including KLAC-AM (570). Sorry we missed it. But at least we got a nice visual now.

Week 2 of Fred Roggin's "The Challenge" live on KNBC-Channel 4 turned out to be just about as difficult as the first week, but I ended up finishing with 180 points and was surprised to see that I was tied for 11th -- up from my tie for 24th place (and 160 points) during the first week. Congrats to Michael Gutenplan, who racked up 250 points (out of a possible 360) to win by a 25-point margin over the two second place finishers.

My season total after two weeks: Tied for 23rd overall with 340 points.
C'mon. Who's doing better than that? I know there's about 5,000 people out there playing this game each Sunday night... Step it up.

Again, I'll let you know I'm playing with a bit of a handicap -- a brief delay because of watching the show on DirecTV, so I'm resigned to the fact I'll never get a full 40 points for a correct and immediate answer. Which was too bad since I did have the first two questions right off the bat before the answer choices even came up on the screen. Those extra 10 points would have tied me for ninth.

Regardless, I'm getting two tickets to the UCLA-Stanford game on Sept. 30 because I finished in the top 25 -- take that! (Anyone out there want to beg for 'em?)

By the way, I've discussed this technological snafu with Fred, and we agree there's not much that can be done about it. His contention is it is possible for anyone watching on DirecTV to win, so we'll see how this plays out. Just for reference, one of the guys who tied for first last week (Patrick Alog, who currently is the overall leader after two weeks) told me he was watching on DirecTV and never received a full 40 points for a correct response. I heard from someone else that, while he was watching the show and doing the contest on a Time Warner Cable broadcast talking to a friend doing the contest on DirecTV, there was a full minute delay between the two...

Just be warned...

Of the nine questions, I had seven correct, four of which were pretty fast and could have got the full 40 points (but I only got 35 for them). My new strategy is not to guess as much and wait for at least two choices before making an educated pick if I have no clue, and that payed off somewhat. The two I had wrong were after I'd waited until a choice or two were elminated, then I picked what I thought was a decent answer, only to pick the guy who actually finished second in the event that was the focus of the question.

By the way, have you noticed that on the new KABC Channel 7 "Sports Zone" that comes on after the Saturday night college game, they've added a new element: Answer the question with your cell phone and get put into a drawing to win a Olevia flat-screen TV! (Sound familiar? Yeah, kinda)...

Again, we've provided the full questions from Week 2, the four choices and the answers below. Email me (thomas.hoffarth@dailynews.com) and let me know how you did compared to my final score and I'll acknowledge you with a return email...
It's not much, but it beats a stick in the eye:

By NANCY ARMOUR
AP National Writer
There’s a lot to consider when planning the entertainment for an NFL game: keeping the mascot in line, making sure the fake smoke doesn’t choke anybody, finding the right D to go with the fence.

And now, criminal records.

NFL fans around the country might notice something missing this season. “Rock and Roll, Part II,� the anthem that’s as much a part of American sports as trash talking and jerseys, has been silenced.

“We’re not looking to play the role of Simon Cowell,� NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said. “We simply advised our clubs not to play it in light of current events.�

For those not up on their ‘70s glam rockers, Gary Glitter’s life has taken a decidedly unseemly
turn since he gave us “Rock and Roll, Part II,� also known as the “Hey� song. He’s currently serving three years in prison in Vietnam after being convicted in March of child molestation. A 1999 conviction on possession of child pornography in Britain got him two months in jail there.

So no, not exactly the ideal guy to be leading the band when fans are cheering and high-fiving each other. Especially considering the NFL is still smarting from its last brouhaha with a singer.

Read more on this biggest Glitter scandal since Marah Carey decided to make a movie:

The FCC-imposed deadline for Time Warner Cable and the NFL Network to work out their little spat seems to have come and gone Friday, meaning that as far as we can tell, the cable company can now cut the league-supported channel from all its systems (including those just purchased from Adelphia and Comcast) and not have to worry about the government butting in.

But will free trade work here?

Do you care? Maybe you should. Maybe you shouldn't. In the long run, you get hosed. As usual.

Time Warner, which now controls about 2 milliion homes in Southern California (and 14.5 million nationally), says it wants the NFL Network on an optional tier of sports channels that would cost about $120 a year. The channel wants to be part of the basic cable package, which would forced the cable company to charge everyone extra just to have this speciality network.

On Aug. 1, Time Warner dropped the NFL Network from its lineup after the merger, but the FCC ordered them to restore it a couple of days later, and keep it for 30 days. They extended that by 15 more days in hopes of reaching a settlement and to give each company time to try to brainwash customers into believing their stance made more sense.

Maybe more dollars. But hardly more sense.

DirecTV, meanwhile, has no problems with the NFL Network and continues to offer it to its customers.

Wie vs. Men.
Wie loses. Again.
Not to discourage someone from doing what she thinks is a benefit to her career, but 16-year-old Michelle Wie hasn't made any progress at all attempting to compete again against pro male golfers, and her embarassing performance in this weekend's PGA Tour 84 Lumber Classic adds to the list of losing efforts.
“She’s certainly not scaring anybody around here,� said Scott Verplank after the second round of the 84 Lumber Classic. “To be honest, I didn’t even know she was here.�
Here's a recap (via the Associated Press) on how Wie has done in her career in men's events:

2006
84 Lumber Classic, PGA Tour, Sept. 14-15: Shot 77-81 for her second last-place finish in two weeks against men. She was 13 shots away from making the cut and a whopping 23 shots behind co-leaders Ryan Moore and Ben Curtis.
European Masters, Sept. 7-8: Rounds of 78 and 79 left her 15 over and last in the field, her worst finish against men.
John Deere Classic, PGA Tour, July 13-14: Withdrew during the second round because of heat exhaustion following an opening round 6-over 77. Was 2 over through nine holes of her second round before pulling out.
SK Telecom Open, May 4-7: Became the first woman in 61 years to make the cut in a men’s tournament, finishing 3 under with scores of 70, 69 and 74 in a rain-shortened Asian Tour event against mostly little-known golfers.
Sony Open, PGA Tour, Jan. 12-13: Followed her highest score in a men’s tournament, a 9-over 79 in the opening round, with a 2-under 68 on a Waialae Country Club course she has played many times. Missed the cut by four shots.

2005
Casio World Open, Nov. 24-25: Was in position to make the cut after opening with a 1-over 73, but bogeyed the final two holes of her second round for a 75 to miss the cut by one shot.
John Deere Classic, PGA Tour, July 7-8: Missed the cut by two strokes after shooting rounds of 1-under 70 and even-par 71.
Sony Open, PGA Tour, Jan. 13-14: Missed the cut by seven strokes with rounds of 5-over 75 and 4-over 74.

2004
Sony Open, PGA Tour, Jan. 15-16: At age 14, missed the cut by one shot with rounds of 2-over 72 and 2-under 68. Among the golfers she outscored were Adam Scott and Jeff Sluman.

2003
Boise Open, Sept. 18-19: Had rounds of 5-over 76 and 7-over 78 on the Nationwide Tour to miss the cut by 12 shots.
Bay Mills Open, Aug 21-22: Had rounds of 2-over 74 and 7-over 79, missing the cut by
five shots in a Canadian Tour event held the weekend before she began ninth grade.

By EDDIE PELLS and PAT GRAHAM
AP Sports Writers

WHEATLAND, Wyo. -- The stands were always full on Friday nights at the Wheatland High School football stadium, one of the main gathering places in a small town where everybody knows everybody and prep sports still bring
people together.

On most other days, the stands were pretty much empty — except for the presence of Suzanne Cozad and her video camera.

"She filmed pretty much everything Mitch did,� said Wheatland football player Taylor Derra. “It seemed like she was there a lot.�

Suzanne’s son, Mitch, a backup punter at the University of Northern Colorado, is accused of stabbing his teammate, first-string punter Rafael Mendoza, in the back of the leg in what court documents call a jealous attempt to take away Mendoza’s starting job.

(That's Mendoza, pictured above, No. 19, kicking the ball, with Cozad, No. 60, standing on the left in the background)

It’s an unseemly case that stirs up memories of the mauling of Nancy Kerrigan by Tonya Harding’s henchmen in the run-up to the 1994 Olympics. And it exposes other distressing elements found all too frequently in sports these days — overbearing parents, unrealistic expectations and the desperation that can set in when those expectations aren’t met.

Read on for an interesting saga on what goes through the mind of the kids, and parents, when the pressure of sports gets too great:

If there is a part of the Internet that one can considered an untapped market, it's "televising" sports.
Take ESPN.com's 360 site, where video streaming live games that aren't available on traditional TV has sort of set the bar for what could be something that makes almost every sporting contest accessable to those who chose to watch.
Now pushing that concept to another level -- and to a techo-savvy demographic that is sure to embrace it -- high school football should get its first Internet viability test now that new website Vootage.com has finally got up and running , including covering four games tonight (Friday) and four Saturday.
Jeff Proctor, a long-time live TV game sports producer, is president of a company called ProAngle, with business partner Steve Rangel. Together, they've started doing Lakers and Dodgers games for KCAL Channel 9, as well as produce things such as Raiders exhibition games, pool tournaments and a Special Olympics show.
With a four-camera set-up doing high-school games, they've created an Internet experiment that they'll call a work in progress, one that Proctor and Rangel continue to learn about as they go along. Most games this first year will be from the CIF Southern Section, but they just signed a deal to carry all the games from the new Herbstreit Challenge in Ohio that puts the top teams from that state against others from around the country.
Proctor reviewed the status of the site and how it'll work in a quick Q-and-A:

This is the day when any network that had the foresight to throw millions of dollars at Roger Goodell's company in return for the honor of having guaranteed ratings begin the annual ritual of boasting about what a wonderful world this is we all live in.
Roger, Roger. And don't call me Shirley.
Of course this is a great planet, much better off than Pluto. This is the NFL's world and we're living in it.
It's the only sports programming that's guaranteed gold. Other than poker.

The real season is here, and ESPN, NBC, CBS and Fox are doing cartwheels.
Here are the samples of the number-crammed, head-spinning press releases we've been bombarded with in the last 24 hours, proving that there's never a better time to be living than the here and now if you're NFL branded, and that we can't hit the delete button fast enough:

The second dispatch from my brother-in-law Mitch , came at about 9:30 p.m. (PDT) Monday, or about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Iraq, where he's serving a tour of duty for the Marines and feeling a little smug that his Peyton Manning-led Colts are 1-0 already, even at the expense of Eli Manning. Mitch also caught some of the Chargers-Raiders game live while he was at breakfast today. He's also making a point that his dad's favorite team, the Boston Red Sox, aren't doing so hot:

"I did see the Colts game live in the chow hall at around 07 in the morning (on Monday; it was on at 5 p.m. Sunday night PDT). Of course, my buddy was going for N.Y., and he was not to happy with the outcome, or the fact that he now owes me a vanilla smoothie. We started to watch the Raider game (this morning), but had to leave because it looked like every other Raider game of the last few year. I think now even Johnny Depp is ashamed to be a pirate.
"We watched the U.S. Open and saw Federer win it for the third time ... way to go. My roommate Armando is ecstatic that the Yanks are 10 games up on Boston. My dad is a restocking so I am sure he feels the opposite.
"Saw the Lakers signed their second-round guard, his numbers looked good in the Summer League.
"You asked about whether we get to see the Ultimate Fighting Championship ... yes we get it eventually because that is usually a PPV show, we have to wait for a tape/DVD edition to be mailed to someone out here. We also get to see the "Ultimate Fighter" (a reality TV show) just before they air "The Contender."
Take care-- Mitch

Here is the link to Mitch's first email sent late Friday night:

A tie for 24th place with 160 out of a possible 360 points doesn't make me feel too dumb, so I give props to Patrick Alog and Vashon Jackson, whose 275 points each tied them for first after the first week of Fred Roggin's "The Challenge" on KNBC-Channel 4 after Sunday's NFL game.

Fred was right: The questions were harder than the first test episode.

But I think I found a glitch in the process (at least for me): I have DirecTV, and the signal is already on a five-second delay over what you'd get with cable or a regular TV antenna. On three of the questions, I knew the answer before the four answer choices were shown, and should have got the full 40 points. But on the final scoresheet, I only got 35 points for them (this is about being correct and being fast). With those extra five points on each one, I'd have received 175 points and probably got into the Top 20. To get into the Top 10, you needed 235 points.

Not complaining, just pointing out the technological circumstances. Ironically, one of the prizes given away in this is a DirecTV subscription.

In all, I had six of the nine questions correct. I missed the first two (ending in 0 points right away). Two of the six right came after a slight delay (so I got docked in points) and one came after a couple of choices were eliminated (so only 10 points for that one).

Want to see how you'd do with the first week's nine questions? Read on.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Surrounded by a dozen people, including three police officers, Maria Sharapova strode the grounds of the U.S. Open on Sunday, doing a champion's duties.

She posed for photographs with her second Grand Slam trophy, met with members of the media to rehash her 6-4, 6-4 victory over Justine Henin-Hardenne in Saturday night's final, and stood in the players' lounge to autograph tennis balls, ticket stubs and other items.

And, much to her chagrin, Sharapova was asked to address again the apparent signals she received from her father and her hitting partner during matches at the Open, including holding up four fingers or waving a banana.

In-match coaching isn't allowed in tennis, but she and her agent offered this explanation: Sharapova focuses so much on the task at hand when she plays that she sometimes forgets to drink as much as she should to stay hydrated -- and the hand signals were simply meant as a reminder.

When asked about it after the final, Sharapova deflected the question, saying it wasn't what she wanted to be talking about on a night she earned a major championship.

"I believe, at the end of the day, personally, my life is not about a banana," Sharapova said Saturday night. "It's not about what I wear. It's not about the friends that I have. My career right now is about winning a tennis match. And right now, I'm sitting here as a U.S. Open champion, and the last thing I think people need to worry about is a banana."

Just let that last quote float in the air for a second ...

That's my brother-in-law Mitch, posing in front of some bombed-out structure near his Marine base camp in Iraq, where he's serving another tour of duty for the next few months. He just arrived and, without giving away as much of the declassified information that we think we even know, he's assured us he's supposed to be pretty much out of harm's way while dispatching Harrier hover fighter jets during the ongoing peace-keeping mission.
Not as important, but with as much enthusiasm as he can muster, he's going to email dispatches to us describing how he and his cohorts are keeping up with the sports world.

It's an 11-hour time difference, so anything live here means a middle-of-the-night viewing there, but a lot of it becomes delayed for the Armed Forces Radio and TV Service.

He wanted us to know that he saw the Miami-Pittsburgh NFL opener, which kicked off at about 5 a.m. "I watched some (live) then saw the replay last night at 7p.m.," Mitch wrote. "The difference is the only beer we have is non-alcoholic."

Here's the first complete dispatch from our Iraq correspondent (an Indianapolis Colts fan who grew up in NFL-less L.A. before moving with his wife and two kids to the Marine base in Yuma, Ariz.):

"I am doing fine out here. I just started a fantasy football league ... makes time pass faster. As far as sports, it's pretty good here. We get college and pro games. Got to see the Colts, although it was preseason. We see "The Contender," (the ESPN reality show), so that's always fun. Most guys are waiting till football season is in full swing.

"Just trying to get more info on the Lakers, new signings, rumors, etc. The Dodgers come on every now and then, just like to see them race for the pennant. My roommate loves the Yankees -- yes he loves to waste his cheers -- then again, he loves 'Friday Night Lights.' All that movie just to root for some losers. Hahaha. Well, take care I will update you as I can."

Revisionist history is apparently needed these days for the USC football program, because everything that's happened between 2002 and this minute has to be put into some sort of context, or else we'll all just not be able to sleep at night.
Since newspapers and magazines and the Internet are woefully inadequate, a heap of new books have come out to discuss, among other things:
Were Pete Carroll's 2004 or 2005 squads better than those John McKay teams from the '60s or John Robinson's rosters in the '70s? How does Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush stack up against O.J. Simpson and Frank Gifford in USC lore?
There are enough writers are out there willing to ask and answer those questions to fill a full-house backfield.
At least five new USC history books have been or will be out by the end of September. It's our attempt to sort 'em out based on what we've read, what we hear and, most important, what we pretend to know:

That's Moe Most, standing on that guy doing a complete backbend and holding four guys (including Jack LaLanne, above Most).
Most, who performed gymnastics a half-century ago before curious crowds at famed Muscle Beach, has died.
He was 89.
Most, whose first name was Deforrest, died of heart failure on Sept. 2. at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center, said his son, Steven, of Carmel Valley.
From the 1930s through the 1950s, Most joined other amateur acrobats and strongmen who worked out on the stretch of sand south of the Santa Monica Pier. They swung on high bars and formed human pyramids.
From 1947 to 1958, Most was in charge of staging Mr. and Miss Muscle Beach contests.
LaLanne, the pioneer physical fitness guru, said Most was one of the greatest athletes he had ever known.
The city shut down the original Muscle Beach in 1958. Bodybuilders moved south to a new area near the Venice Boardwalk. The original site was resurrected more than 40 years later.
For more background on the history of Most and Muscle Beach, check out Dave Draper's Website, where he discusses the book "Remembering Muscle Beach" by Harold Zinkin and Bonnie Hearn.

Imagine this crazy scenario:
Second half is about to start at the USC-Notre Dame football. The Irish lineup on the Coliseum grass, ready to boot the ball to a Trojan standing near the goalline. The crowd starts to roar, the bands get louder, that stupid leprechaun is prancing around waiting to get squashed by a white horse ....
And you get the microphone to do the call on 710-AM KSPN. That is, if someone can pry the mike out of Pete Arbogast's hands...

One of the perks that the new USC flagship radio station is offering to listeners is a contest where the prize is to do just what's described above.
Including that potentially awkward situation involving someone who already feels stung by a station that didn't hire him after he pleaded for any kind of news update job....
But we digress...

According to the announcement put upon the ESPN Radio 710 website , all you've got to do is call the audition hotline (1-800-471-0710) and scream into the phone like a ridiculous homer.
Or, if you're trying to win, do it right.
Entries are to be judged equally on professionalism, creativity and passion -- the same qualities that the incumbent broadcaster upholds on a semi-daily basis.
Got to get it in by Nov. 11, and top three finalists will be determined by Nov. 18.
Give it a shot. And good luck (as the Irish would say).
And just imagine what'd happen if that second-half kickoff return is brought back 101 yards by Desmond Reed, doing some kind of cut-back Reggie Bush-like touchdown run, and it's the only score of the game, so the call is replayed over and over through history.
You'd be the voice of the Trojans.

Considering the last installment in the "Rocky" series hits theatres this December, it's only appropriate that Rocky Balboa lands back at the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Appropriate, that is, if you're Syl Stallone trying to get a little pub before he starts going on the talk-show circuit to promote the thing.
After nearly a quarter-century of squabbling and storage, the Rocky Balboa statue returned Friday night to the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, not far from the steps where the fictitious hard-luck fighter made movie history.
"Yo, Philly! How you doin’?� Stallone said to a raucous crowd, according to the Associated Press account.
Thousands of fans erupted in chants of “Rocky! Rocky!� when Stallone took the stage for the statue’s dedication, some 30 years after Stallone and “Rocky� debuted and spawned four sequels, leading into the grand finale, "Rocky Balboa," due out Dec. 22.
There's been debate during that time about what to do with the statue that had nearly as many locations as the movie had sequels. Stallone commissioned the statue for a scene in 1982’s “Rocky III� and donated it to
the city afterward.
It was first was placed at the top of the museum steps, but was quickly moved to the city’s sports stadium complex in South Philadelphia after art devotees panned the statue as a movie prop not suited for the renowned
institution.
After 25 years, the statue’s fate was on the ropes after it was moved again and left to cool its boots in a warehouse. But the city Art Commission voted 6-2 Wednesday to move the statue out of storage and put it on a street-level pedestal near the museum steps.
“This leaves me absolutely even more speechless,� Stallone said in a speech that didn't leave him speechless. “This is mind-bending to me that this could happen.�
Six "Rocky" episodes, or the bronze statue that stands 9-foot-11 and weighs about 1,300 pounds?

Consider this a traffic warning rather than an announcement of a sporting event:
Sunday, the L.A. Triathlon will weave through our region, attracting nearly 3,000 competitors who'll start with a nine-tenths of a mile ocean swim off Venice Beach, followed by a 24.8-mile bike ride from the beach through Hollywood to downtown, and finishing with a 6.2-mile (10K) run to the finish at Staples Center.

Prepare your travels accordingly. Heavy traffic will probably occur between 7and 9 a.m. somewhere along the route. The awards ceremony at Staples starts at noon.

For more specifics, go to the triathlon's official website.
But here's what they say about the traffic issues:
"The Triathlon will begin at Venice Beach at 6:45 am with the swim segment. The bike course will proceed through the Fairfax District, Museum Row, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Downtown, Chinatown, and Elysian Park areas. Crossing points are listed for intersections that cars can cross at the direction of DOT traffic personnel, considering the safety of the bikers or runners. All streets will be opened by noon.
It is advised that persons with unessential travel avoid driving in areas affected by the event. Vehicles will not be allowed on the course at any time. However, several crossing points have been designated to allow traffic to cross the route.
The Department of Transportation will be aggressively enforcing all temporary parking restrictions for this event to secure the safety of the participants and to facilitate the movement of traffic around road closures. Typical vehicle recovery costs are in excess of $130, which does not include the $60 citation fee."

Honestly, the "test" episode of the new Sunday night KNBC Channel 4 series "The Challenge" that we saw recently was a bit disappointing.

This show, which will follow NBC's Sunday night NFL games, isn't just one of those filler programming things that gives the channel a time cushion leading into the prime-time programming. This is meant as a real-deal thing, where Fred Roggin shows his video bloopers and such, then has nine questions that viewers can answer via their computer or cellphone and compete for prizes against others watching.

But some of the questions on that first show ....
"How many runs for a grand-slam homer?"
"Who's the owner of the Clippers?"
Won't insult you by revealing the answer to that one above, or get into the rest of the brain teasers.

"That's not indicative of the questions we'll have," Roggin insisted the other day. "I don't actually know the questions. Our producers, Charlie Rosene and Steve Leveton, have them all written -- did 'em three months ago -- they're locked up and no one has access to them. This has a game-show element, and we have to be protective of all the information we use.

"Believe me, they get harder as the show goes on."

Welllll .... OK, then. We'll tune in Sunday night at about 8:30 with our computer ready to stomp all you know-it-alls. The rules are basic: First log in at www.thechallenge.nbc4.tv When the show starts, you're rewarded for answering accurately and quickly. If you wait until the very end until the last (correct) answer is revealed, you at least get 10 points. Answer wrong early, and you're locked out. Stuff like a trip to Hawaii, flat-screen TVs, game tickets, etc., are ready to be distributed to weekly and season-ending winners.

Roggin says more than 26,000 people have already preregistered to compete.

"Something like this has never been tried before, because of the technology and the difficulty to produce a show like this," said Roggin. "You watch it, and it looks like a snap, but there's alot that's gone into this."

This might remind you of the days when Todd Donoho did "Time Out For Trivia" on that old cable channel whose name escapes us. But take it a step further: No waiting for someone on the phone to stumble through an answer, it moves much faster, and, like those games you play in a sports bar, you can impress your drunken friends.

And don't bother trying to cheat by using TiVo to freeze the question and google for an answer. It's all live.

"You don't even have to be home to play it, just in front of the live TV and use your phone," said Roggin. "We hope this works as a TV show that has a game element, because in the end, it is a TV show. But I think we've covered all the bases."

Right about this time each year, this same press release comes poking its way into the in-basket from something called the Center for Consumer Freedom. And the point this "watchdog" group is trying to make: According to current stupid government standards, those NFL players you're watching are overweight.

Oh, wait. They're not just fatties. They're super fat. Really, freakin' fat. (But not Stuart Scott phat). And the government is stupid. (Did we just repeat ourselves?)

This Body Mass Index scale the g-men use is apparently so out of wack, the CCF contends, that it's hurting the restraunt business, food suppliers ... the people that the CCF stands up for!

According to the BMI, guys like Tom Brady and Reggie Bush are overweight, and Donovan McNabb is down-right obese. And we know that's not true, right? BMI doesn't take into account muscle mass, and that's where most of these guys carry it, right?

Thus, athletes today have "fallen victim" to this measurement, the CCF contends.

If you care about such fatty matters, someone at the CCF can answer your questions at (202) 463-7112 or at their website. Otherwise, read on:

When we want our updates on the status of L.A.'s bid for the 2016 Summer Games, we now know where to look.
The Chicago Tribune.
Staff writer Phil Hersh had a piece the other day that put far more detail into what was going into L.A.'s bid as it competes first against Chicago and San Francisco to see who gets the USOC's stamp of approval next year to represent our country's nod before it goes up against other nations in the IOC's final decision.

Seems there's a guy named Barry Sanders who chairs the Southern California bid and has nothing to do with the Detroit Lions or the Pro Football Hall of Fame and knows everything about everything here.

"This will be a new Olympics," Sanders said of L.A.'s 2016 bid. "At least 70 percent of the sports will take place in different facilities from 1984."

From this story, L.A. will:
-- Plan to use the Coliseum as the focal point -- putting a track back in -- as it was for the 1932 and 1984 Games.
-- Have just one main Olympic Village, either at USC or UCLA.
-- Hold soccer prelims all around the area, but that's the only sport that goes outside of L.A. or Orange county.
-- Rowing and canoe-kayak goes to Long Beach instead of Lake Casitas.
-- Swimming would be at a temporary pool built in Long Beach, just as they used for the recent US Olympic trials.
-- Diving would be at a new facility at UCLA.
-- Staples Center would hold gymnastics.
--The new Nokia Theatre (being built across the street from Staples Center now) would hold weightlifting.
--The soon-to-be renamed Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim would hold basketball.
--The new Galen Center near USC would hold boxing.
--The Home Depot Center in Carson has tennis and a velodrome, plus could do soccer.

And all this, according to Sanders, can be finished with $150 million in costs.
Beat that, Chi-Town.

Bryant Gumbel apparently will keep his play-by-play gig with the NFL Network despite saying on his HBO show that Paul Tagliabue should show his successor as commissioner “where he keeps Gene Upshaw’s leash.�

Roger Goodell, who officially took over for Tagliabue last Friday, said he met with Gumbel to discuss his remarks about the Upshaw, executive director of the NFL Players Association. Without disclosing the specifics of the conversation, Goodell said: “We had a good discussion. I feel comfortable and he will stay on.�

Gumbel had addressed his closing remarks on HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel� on Aug. 15 to Goodell.

"Before he cleans out his office," Gumbel said, "have Paul Tagliabue show you where he keeps Gene Upshaw's leash. By making the docile head of the players union his personal pet, your predecessor has kept the peace without giving players the kind of guarantees other pros take for granted. Try to make sure no one competent ever replaces Upshaw on your watch."

An HBO spokesman said Gumbel was unavailable for comment.

A press release issued today by ESPN about its upcoming NFL coverage decided to focus on Chris Berman.
It couldn't have been written any more complimentary of him unless he wrote it himself.
Did he?
You gotta wonder after stomaching this after just the first few sentences:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 6, 2006

ESPN’S BERMAN: NFL SUNDAYS NOW A TWO-DAY AFFAIR FOR DEAN OF NFL HOSTS

For 19 years, Chris Berman had his fall routine down pat. On Fridays, he taped “The Swami� – the SportsCenter segment featuring his NFL prognosticating alter ego which dates back to 1979. Saturdays meant meetings, and phone calls to NFL insiders – players, coaches, GMs and owners. And Sundays were a marathon. He arrived at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., campus, not long after dawn and hosted Sunday NFL Countdown in the morning, NFL PrimeTime in the evening, and “The Fastest Three-Minutes in Television� halftime highlights during Sunday Night Football. Then maybe some time on ESPN Radio and he didn’t get back home until around midnight.

Now, all that’s changed.

Changed for the better? You read on and decide ...

It's come out from various sources today that The Sporting News empire has been sold off to American City Business Journals, Inc. The Associated Press says the deal is expected to be finished early next month.

Here's the specifics:
Vulcan Sports Media Inc., the company run by former Microsoft kajllionaire (but quickly losing his pocket money) Paul Allen, bought the Sporting News, its website, book publishing company and its radio network, back in 2000.
American City is a part of Advance Publications, which owns Golf Digest, Conde Nast, a bunch of newspapers and The Sports Business Weekly and Sports Business Daily.
Locally, the sale could affect the future of KMPC-AM (1540), aka "The Ticket," the Sporting New radio local affiliate that has been in scale-back mode for the last few months since trying to make itself more attractive to a buyer. We're thinking this won't have any affect on the future of the station until at least the first of the year, at which time, the contract of Petros Papadakis , hosting the only local show left on the station, runs out and leaves him as a free agent.

Station GM Roger Nadel had this to say about today's news: "We continue to operate the same way today that we did last week. As a reminder, our competitors have been speculating about the demise of Sporting News Radio for some time, and it turns out that they were both misinformed and inaccurate. We can’t control the speculation about our radio stations either, and are continuing to focus on the opportunities to serve the needs of our listeners and advertisers.
"We still have a great lineup of talented hosts including Tony Bruno, Dave Smith, 2 Live Stews, Petros Papadakis and David Stein. We still are carrying five NFL games this week (including the opener Thursday evening). We are still broadcasting this Saturday’s Notre Dame game (and the ten that follow).
"It’s business as usual here until or unless someone tells us otherwise. We are still a great vehicle for distributing an advertiser’s message in a top-notch sports environment."

CBS Sportsline has enlisted Reggie Bush to do a blog on their website, starting back in training camp and continuing through the end of the NFL's regular season. Although they call it a weekly column.
Call it what you want. We call it ... sorry, did we fall asleep on you there for a second?

Bush's columns pop up every Wednesday on CBS SportsLine's NFL homepage. This is what he wrote in his first piece, on Aug. 16, that a CBS Sportsline press release actually said "showed ... rare insight into the world of an NFL rookie - often a learning experience."

"I was fined by the NFL this week. My shoe wasn't approved by the NFL, because there was gold on it, and I got fined for wearing it. I might have to switch shoes, but hopefully we can get it approved this week."

He followed it up with this one on Aug. 30:

"Madden 2007 came out last week. I had it sent to me, but I haven't had a chance to play it yet. It's kind of crazy to play as yourself in the game. I grew up playing Madden and College Football and now I get a chance to play as myself. It's surreal."

Is this sponsored by No-Doz?
Can't wait to hear how he's mastered his ESPN Mobile phone ...
Although, we will cut him some slack for his humanitarian efforts.
Tuesday, Bush (pictured here) helped distribute food in New Orleans' Central City, teamming with Feed The Children. The organization identified 800 families to recieve the donated items at the food distribution site. Each 25-pound box contained food and personal care items.

The benefits of living in an NFL-less city -- even though the San Diego Chargers claim us as a TV market -- is a better slate of games on the tube for Sunday.
Here's how Week 1 of the NFL shapes up for L.A. viewers -- the Rams, Chargers, Raiders, Reggie Bush and T.O. are all on -- based on what the local affiliates are saying right now. Subject to change? Only if you call now to complain.

Thursday:
Channel 4: Miami at Pittsburgh, 5:30 p.m. (a national game, the big super-sized opener, Madden out of control, Roethlesburger holding his side in pain)

Sunday:
Channel 2: Denver at St. Louis, 10 a.m.
Channel 11: New Orleans at Cleveland, 10 a.m.
Channel 11: Dallas at Jacksonville, 1:15 p.m.
Channel 4: Indianapolis at N.Y. Giants, 5:15 p.m. (another national game, the Manning family renunion)

Monday:
ESPN: Minnesota at Washington, 4 p.m. (the MNF A-team)
ESPN: San Diego at Oakland, 7:15 p.m. (the MNF B-team)

Meanwhile, in NFL.com, the first banner ad you see reads as such:
Time-Warner thinks you're just a fair-weather fan
Because after today, you won't get the NFL Network
Don't be fooled. You may get to see your home team play but don't miss other key matchups airing live only on the NFL Network!
Call now and let Time Warner know they're wrong. Again.

And then they give a number for the NFL Network, which surely some will automatically call and think they're talking to someone at Time Warner.
But if you clink on a link to the ad you get some Time Warner phone numbers city by city.

By the way, here's the list of eight NFL Network games you have to worry about not seeing:
Thursday, Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving): Denver at Kansas City, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 30: Baltimore at Cincinnati, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 7: Cleveland at Pittsburgh, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 14: San Francisco at Seattle, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 16: Dallas at Atlanta, 5 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 21: Minnesota at Green Bay, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 23: Kansas City at Oakland, 5 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 30: N.Y. Giants at Washington, 5 p.m.

Earlier this year, U.S. Postal Service honored the late Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella with a 39-cent stamp as part of a four-player set with Hall of Famers Mel Ott, Hank Greenberg and Mickey Mantle.

This weekend, the Dodgers have given their stamp of approval on what they'll call the Roy Campanella Award, to be given to the player each year who best exemplifies the spirit and leadership of the former catcher.

Dodgers players and coaches will vote on the award, and the winner will be honored during a pregame ceremony on Sept. 24, the team said in a press release.

“Roy Campanella was a winner in every sense of the word,� said his former teammate and Dodger Director of Community Relations Don Newcombe, who will join members of the Campanella family in the ceremony honoring the inaugural Dodger winner. “The things he taught me both on and off the field help set an example for generations of Dodgers to come and he would be overcome with joy in knowing that he was being honored in this manner.�

Campanella, a three-time NL Most Valuable Player (1951, 1953, 1955), made the All-Star team eight times and played in five World Series. In 1,215 career games during a 10-year career, all with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he batted .276 with 242 home runs and 856 RBI.

He began his career in the Negro Leagues, establishing himself as one of the top catchers in the league before joining the Dodger organization in 1946. Along with Newcombe, Campanella played for Class B Nashua of the New England League, making him the first catcher and that duo part of the first integrated affiliated baseball team in the United States.

On Jan. 29, 1958, just as the Dodgers were making final preparations for their move to Los Angeles, Campanella was involved in a tragic car accident that paralyzed him from the neck down, marking the end of his playing career. On May 7, 1959, a Major League record-setting 93,103 fans filled the Coliseum on “Roy Campanella Night� for an exhibition game between the Dodgers and Yankees.

He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969 and was among the first three Dodgers to have their uniform numbers retired alongside Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax. Campanella remained active in the Dodgers’ Community Relations Department until his passing on June 26, 1993 at the age of 71.

Associated Press national writer Nancy Armour has decided against lists about pre-season Top 25, Heisman Trophy candidates or any other kind of "BCS nonsense ... Fashion Week is about to get under way in New York, so why not a gridiron critique?"
OK, let's try.
"Between the thousands of fans at the game and the millions more watching on TV, a whole lot of people are going to be giving these guys the once-over," she continues. "So let's examine the good, the bad and the really ugly in college football fashion."
Let's try not to sound too snarky as we read through her list of what teams are presenting which fashion faux paus this season (and, as a preview: prepare an eight-clap for UCLA):

By COLIN FLY
Associated Press

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. -- Larry Williams keeps one eye on the buoys bobbing in the setting summer sun and another on his 4-year-old daughter playing in the sand.

It's not a day at the beach along an ocean. In fact, the nearest ocean is about 700 miles away. Williams is just hanging out, waiting patiently until he and others can resume surfing waves that reach 10 feet off frigid Lake Michigan in the fall.

"I don't think we do it for the uniqueness," said Williams, who sprinkles Hawaiian lingo into his conversations. "A lot of us do it for the health of it, a lot of us do it for the sharing, the extended family, the 'ohana.'"

The 52-year-old Williams and his twin brother, Lee _ the better of the two surfers _ are well-known outside the Third Coast because of documentaries on Great Lakes surfing. Larry does the majority of interviews while Lee focuses on the surfing, and both have gained the respect of the surfing community during their more than 40 years surfing the lakes.

The season opens this Labor Day weekend at the Dairyland Surf Classic, which is sponsored by beach beer Corona and has more than 200 surfers fly in to participate from as far away as Hawaii.

What if there are no waves?

"Everybody asks, 'What happens if you don't surf?' What do you mean, are you kidding? It's a day at the beach," said Larry Williams, who looks the part, too, with a Hawaiian print shirt, tiger tattoos on his arm and a large shark tooth hanging from his neck. "It can never be a bad day if you're at the beach."

Read on ...

They may be in the game, but they're not in the Olympics.
Not yet. Maybe, not ever.
If softball can't make it as an Olympic sport, what makes those who sit in front of their TV and smack around a joy stick have a chance?
Global gamers are attempting to make their fantasy world a reality at the 2008 Bejing Olympics, and reports are that someone named Ted Owen, founder of the Global Gaming League, is lobbying the Chinese government to accept video game events as a demonstration sport.
Let's demonstrate how that'd work ....
IT WON'T.
"There's no question that the computer will be the 21st century tennis racquet," Owen said. "It smells and feels like a sport to me. It's on every continent. Why doesn't it belong on the world stage as an Olympic event?"
Because, maybe, it's not a sport?
A representative for the U.S. Olympic Committee said it is not "impossible" for video game events to be accepted as Olympic sports. But the representative added that crossword puzzles are more likely to be accepted.
Probably, too, is Scrabble. Or Monopoly. Or cup stacking. Or hot-dog eating. Or dominoes. Or any of the other crap that ESPN has been trying to pass off as "competitive entertainment" this year.
Owen is convinced that public support will push Olympic organizers to accept video games.
"It will be an Olympic sport, someday," Owen said. "It'll be that because it'll be undeniably a choice of the masses."
Owen said he plans to stage his own video game event outside the Olympic Stadium in Beijing if the Global Gaming League does not succeed.
Good luck to you on that. Hey, can you autograph my Pokemon cards while you're at it?

If there's a chance to get out to Dodger Stadium early tonight, the team is holding a pregame ceremony tonight to honor Don Newcombe on the 50th anniversary of his 1956 MVP and Cy Young Award-winning season, complete with a resolution from the City of Los Angeles.

The resolution will be adopted by the Los Angeles City Council on Sept. 8 and the certificate he will receive tonight is signed by L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, City attorney Rocky Delgadillo, City controller Laura Chick and the entire City Council.

The 80-year-old Newcombe was the very first Cy Young Award winner. Combined with the fact he won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 1949, he's the first and only to date to win all three major awards in big-league history.

The right-handed pitcher spent the first seven years of his 10-year big league career with the Brooklyn Dodgers before joining the franchise in its move to L.A. in 1958. He helped the Dodgers win their first World Championship in 1955, leading the National League that season with an .800 winning percentage (20-5). That season, he also became the first NL pitcher to hit seven home runs in a season.

Ten years after his retirement in 1960, Newcombe started the Dodgers’ Community Relations Department in 1970 and he still serves as its Director. He makes dozens of appearances throughout the Los Angeles area each season, speaking to youngsters and participating in the Dodgers’ Speakers Bureau.

Not quite compelling enough to make it into the main draw of the Daily News weekly media column, but newsworthy nontheless because, well, someone wants to know something about everything.
Such as:

-- Jim Gray alert: The Hollywood Walk of Famer, who could be selling advertising space on his forehead, will be trying to look busy, scurrying around at Staples Center with his producers in tow on Saturday night, when Showtime carries the heavyweight contender bout between former champ James Toney and Samuel Peter (10 p.m., delayed) will have the usual broadcast team of Steve Albert and Al Bernstein. Showtime, remember, antied up much of that $15,000 fee that it cost to have a star put on the sidewalk near the Kodak Theatre to honor Gray's legacy as a general pest and Grade-A rodent.

-- Terry Bradshaw, who insists he’s cutting back on his acting roles despite exposing his rear end in the recent movie “Failure to Launch,� plays Will Gilbert, a competitive-minded father of three kids named Dil, Gil and Lil, in the made-for-ABC Family movie “Relative Chaos� (premieres Monday, 9-to-11 p.m.). No bare butts expected. But crosspromotion on ESPN (a member of the Disney family) is, as Bradshaw’s recent appearance on “Cold Pizza� gave him a chance to talk about current football issues with a poster of the show behind his left shoulder. We gave that one the cold shoulder.

We got more: