October 2006 Archives

The truth is, Kobe Bryant changed his number from 8 to 24 because ...
Well, we'll let him explain it:
"Nosce is super omnia. ... Haec vita tua tantum vita est. ... Sic dum vivas, face plurrimi suli momenti, punti et horae ut habes. Tempus nemini consistet. Consiste non tempori. Carpe diem."
For a translation, or just to be dazzled by more French/Latin words from Kobe's keyboard, venture over to the new Kobe Bryant website that launched today (Oct. 31).
In a link to what's called "Truth," that's what Kobe has posted. We're not sure if he's explaining that number change, or ordering something for lunch, but that's the kind of weird vibe he's throwing off as he's back into cyberworld with that among the three "news" items he has posted.
In addition, he's talking about whether he'll be ready for tonight's regular-season opener ("Kobe feeling 'really, really good' says the headline on a story we're not sure of the author) and he gives his take on the new NBA ball ("It's just a ball.")
So, when compared to what, say, Barry Bonds delivers to his fans on his site, Kobe has a lot of prose to work on.

The site, which we're not sure will be something that's just a place for Nike to advertise or Kobe to actually connect with fans, has eight distinct links. The one for "Forums" has that creepy photo of just his eyes (shown above), which seems to mean that he's watching everything that you chatters are saying about him. SO BE CAREFUL.
Another link, called "Mamba", is a list of his annual accomplishments taken out of the NBA media guide. "Vivo" is about his foundation. "Sight-Sound" has plenty of video from games, clinics and even a commercial that's running on TNT. The "Store" opens early next year, but there's a notice at the bottom of the home page that "your final chance to get hand-signed No. 8 items from Kobe Bryant" is at an eBay auction that runs through Nov. 5 (so far, no link, but it appears to be sponsored by Upper Deck).

Our Lakers beat writer, Ross Siler, emailed us last week with the link, and said at the time, the Lakers PR department wasn't even aware of the site beling launched. The domain name rights are listed as:
Kobe Family Entertainment, Inc.
21163 Newport Coast DR #184
Newport Coast, California 92657
United States
94985-28890

We've got no problem separating Harold Reynolds, the broadcaster, from Harold Reynolds, the married guy (that's him, left, with the little woman) who just wanted a little hug and got his heart stomped on because of it.
As an ESPN studio and baseball game analyst, there are far better talents in the organization than the former Seattle Mariners player (who ended his career with the Angels). For the last 11 seasons, HR has panned out to be remarkably average, predictable and hardly insightful. Yet, a few months ago, the network decided to give him a six-year contract extension, at $1 mil per. That's their own idiotic decision.
Now, as for a guy of high ethical standards, it's hard to bicker over his resume. On his personal website, he lists all the Roberto Clemente Awards for charitable works, his Boys and Girls Club activity, his ability to serve as a chaplan for teams that need a religous word or two, etc.
So when the network abruptly canned him in July for an egregious act that it wouldn't even make public, Reynolds justifiably asked why. He didn't get a satisfactory answer. So Monday, he filed a $5 million lawsuit that, thanks to a site called BizofBaseball.com, you can read for yourself. It of course is also on The Smoking Gun, but you coulda figured that one out.

The suit says HR was "a consistently hard worker, with a polite, respectful and engaging personality." That, and a six-year contract, apparently is what ESPN wanted.
Later, Reynolds admits in July that he "gave a brief and innocuous hug to a female intern" whom he later took out to dinner at Boston Market (so you know it wasn't a date), he never saw her again, and three weeks later, she complained to the company.
The latest account of Reynolds suit in USA Today gives ESPN's stance as saying this is "without merit."
Yup, it's gonna get ugly before it gets better.
And the thing HR has to figure out: Is it worth trying to circle the bases here, or is something else coming out later about some (more) bad behavior?
And with ESPN's track record in sexual harassment (see the Michael Freeman 2002 book, "ESPN: An Uncensored History), you can be sure their lawyers are locked and loaded with private investigators memos, documented missteps and other ammo to stop this from happening at any cost. Or, they're desperate to get out of that insane $1 mil-per-season deal that someone in corporate approved.
Is HR looking for a financial settlement, or does he want to clear his name?
Or does he think someone out there will actually hire him as a game analyst after all this?
Yuck.

Last December, Golf Digest put out a list of the top 100 Hollywood-types who didn't embarass themselves on the golf course. The guy we thought would be No. 1 -- soap star Jack Wagner -- was only No. 11 on their list because he claimed he's a 10 handicap. Rule No. 1: Soaps are full of lies.
Dennis Quaid was ranked first, followed by Thomas Gibson and, tied for fourth, Tom Dreesen (we'll believe that when we see 'em at the Bob Hope Classic and AT&T Pro Am at Pebble Beach).
Today, GD came out with its list of the Top 100 musician golfers.
A guy without a last name won it.
Kenny G, (pictured) the long-haired flutist -- or is it a long funky sax you're using as a device to pull your ball out of the lake? -- was deemed the best (and his last name is Gorelick, dang it) with a plus 0.6 handicap index and the fact he won the club stroke-play championshp at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, where he plays a lot with actor Craig T. Nelson.
So, moving on, where's Alice Cooper? A disappointing tied for 11th (sound familar ... another sandbagger still kicking some grass at age 58).
Where's Justin Timberlake? Tied for 15th. He's a frequent Sherwood player as well.
Glen Campbell, who once had the L.A. PGA Tour stop named after him, is No. 21 with 6.5 handicap. At age 70?
Robbie Krieger, the former guitarist for the Doors, gets out at Riviera CC enough to log a 6.8 handicap. Johnny Mathis (10.5) is also out at Riv a lot at made it on the list at No. 38.
The biggest surprises?
Bob Dylan claims to have a 17 handicap for all the time he spends at Malibu Country Club. As does Flea (25) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Eddie Van Halen (18) plays enough at Lakeside to merit consideration.
And Eddie Money (25), who used to do radio spots for a golf club company, has a pretty wild handicap to find any kind of paradise on a golf course. Hey, it's his money.

Since we are an active member of our neighborhood watch unit, trying to keep the streets clean and the street sweepers from having to make those wide turns around our parked cars so that all those dang leaves finally get swept up in front of our house, it's our civic duty to inform you all that one Michael Irvin, aka "The Playmaker," former Dallas Cowboys badboy, official Terrell Owens spokesperson, current ESPN NFL "employee" and an "idiot" according to Tiki Barber, will be in our fair city for two "official" engagements.

Wednesday, Irvin will be joined by (gulp) Jose Canseco and Kevin Willis at the Home Depot Center in Carson to launch the new season of "Pros Vs. Joes" on Spike TV. It's too bad they've come too late to join Chivas USA in their now futile pursuit of the MLS Kickball Cup.

The next day, supposing that there's no bailbondsmen involved, Irvin is scheduled tol be at Pierce College , but not pursuiting his AA degree in criminal justice. On Thursday, ol' No. 88 should be hanging out with Lawrence Taylor and Eric Dickerson , not for auditions at the "Monday Night Football" sideline reporter, but for the filming of a movie called "The Comebacks," which is supposed to be a spoof of some of the greatest sports movies of all time. The plot for "The Comebacks": The losing-est football coach in history (played by David Koechner) attempts to redeem himself by leading his team of misfit players to the greatest victory of all time. Carl Weathers will play a bitter-rival coach opposite Koechner. Irvin, LT and Dick supply the football hijinx.

Is it a closed set? We have no idea. But gawk at your own risk. Just make sure you have campus security on speed dial.

For some reason, the Monday night episode of FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show, Period" got TiVo'd. Accidentally.
Coincidentally, the episode hosted by Leeann Tweeden (pictured here) and Lisa Dergan Podsednik (yup, she's using that last name that the Chicago White Sox outfielder gave her recently) attempted to run down the list of the 50 top beauties to ever be a guest on the show.
To make the list, the hottie had to score points in attractiveness, charisma, personality, style and sex appeal -- the total package. Sounds like either Tweeden or Podsednik finishes top 5 hands down just for that.
But since those two, plus Lisa Guerrero, Holly Robinson Peete or Lauren Sanchez didn't qualify (they were regulars), here's the list they decided on (unfortunately, just about each clip included Tom Arnold stammering next to them about something that made no sense):

Our first naive venture into the Petition.com world of cyber-signature gathering seems to have been a much milder success than we anticipated, but then again, it's probably just a reflection of the L.A.-centric nature of the protest.
We decided to try to find out how many people we could find to sign our petition asking the NFL and the local CBS affiliate, KCBS-Channel 2, to stop forcing San Diego Chargers games into our market. We understand that, for most of these Sundays, the Chargers weren't a bad choice and probably played in the "best game" of interest. But on several occasions, we were asked to wait to see if the team had sold out its home game before we were going to get that contest -- as if Angelenos were going to start buying tickets for the Chargers.
Maybe if the former L.A. Rams were playing San Diego, like last weekend.
Anyway, from our petition, we got a whopping 21 signatures.
So that's what we're sending, for the time being, to the FCC, which said it needed to know by Nov. 1 if there were any protests to KCBS having its license renewed to "serve the public interest" of the Los Angeles viewing audience. If you care to keep signing this petition, we'll hold off before sending it to the NFL.

We've made it clear how we stand on measuring audience viewership based on whatever the Nielsen people dish out as their accurate data, which doesn't include anyone living or breathing at a sports bars, hotels or dorm rooms. Or strip club (can't overlook that).

But the fact that Fox has apparently owned up to having just televised what's being called the least-watched World Series in history, they've concluded that it's not how this one cumquat compares to year's past canalopes (we're not into the apples/oranges metaphor), but really how it compares to the current batch of stinking cumquats dropping off trees around the other networks.

"Once again the World Series has proven to be a prime time success as Fox out-rated every other network all five nights in the advertiser coveted 18-49 demographic," said Fox Sports President Ed Goren in a statement issued by the network. "We are in the business of winning nights and the World Series consistently helps Fox achieve this goal. There is also no questioning the tremendous yearly promotional power that one of the world’s greatest sporting events and its 15.8 million viewers per night provides the network."

For the record, the fifth and final game of the World Series on Friday night coughed up a 10.3/18 furball, which translated into 16.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen numbers.

Nielsen also estimates that 40 million saw at some of the game. How they come up with that, you take a guess.

On Friday, Fox did a 4.1 rating with adults 18-49; CBS was second at 3.0 with that specific demographic.

The entire World Series average (as Fox eventually put in its release, way down somewhere) at 10.1 rating and 17 household share. Last year's four-game sweep by the Chicago White Sox produced an 11.1 rating and 19 share, and Fox points out the home markets of St. Louis and Detroit produced more than 800,000 fewer homes than last year's markets of Chicago and Houston.

Compared to everything else out there, the World Series was the 12th-rated show in prime time for the week in all homes. And Fox also says that while comparing ratings for this World Series to those of past, it's important to note that the Fall Classic, from 2001 through 2006 Game 5, has averaged an audience that is 74% higher than those of the other major broadcast networks. During the '90s, the difference was +69%; the '80s, +58%; the '70s, +52%. While audience fragmentation has had an impact on prime television in general, the World Series has held up extremely better than everything else.

According, again, to Nielsen.

A bowling question? Fred Roggin had the nerve to ask a question about the sport of bowling in "The Challenge" on KNBC-Channel 4?
And I got it right?
How was that possible.
Actually, I got five of the nine questions correct, and guessed wrong on the other four, so I ended up with a not-too-terrible 150 points this week, tied for 121st. The winner, Tim Meister, had 265 points.
Like you did better.
The top 25 received tickets to the Clippers-Utah game on Dec. 13. Not that I'd need 'em anyway.
For the season, I'm in respectable tied for 62nd with 1,040 points. The series winner so far is still Patrick Alog (1,720 points), a 50-point lead over Meister.
Just as long as I'm far enough ahead of Mrs. Roggin.
Here's how the nine questions and answers went this week:

As we tried to map out in today's Daily News column about the upcoming new Rocket Racing League, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see there's an inherent element of danger for both the fans watching and the pilots competing. But founder Peter Diamandis says the FAA will be there every step of the way to make sure all safety measures are taken.

That said, try to imagine what the real will look like when the RRL launches next fall after watching this animated video from the Bridenstine Rocket Racing Team website (courtesy of the RRL) of what a typical race could look like, both from the grandstand view and in the air:

So how does RRL president and CEO Granger Whitelaw pitch this to those who may want to race?

"Just think about when you're in a stadium for a big sporting event, and just after the National Anthem, they do a flyover with a bunch of military planes," said Whitelaw, who used to own an IndyCar racing team. "You could be at the biggest race in America, but when those planes fly over, no one cares about the cars on the ground. My friend, trust me -- we all know the future is in the sky."

As you can see from a prototype X-Racer, each weighs about 2,000 pounds and carries a 1,500-pound-thrust rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene. The single-pilot, first-generation Mark-1 X-Racer is expected to reach maximum speeds of more than 320 mph (500 kilometers per hour).

Whitelaw also knows the value of a big Hollywood production in putting this league together. One of many gigs during his mergers-and-acquisitions career was fund raising for independent film companies created by Steven Segal and Jim Belushi. Recently, Whitelaw added movie producer Bob Weiss to the RRL board. Weiss, who has produced 17 movies including "The Blues Brothers," "The Naked Gun," and "Scary Movie," was also a sonsultant to the Boeing Corporation and a principal in a consortium that produces and distributes space-related multimedia educational and entertainment programs.

Again, the addition of Arthur Smith, the former head of programming at Fox Sports Net, is a key element to getting the mainstream viewers hooked on the RRL once it's up and flying.

"Our production company has had a lot of success with reality shows," said Smith, who has done such projects as "The Swan," "Hell's Kitchen" and "Skating with the Stars." "But once a sports guy, always a sports guy. And this is definitely a sports series. It's a videogame come to life. The planes are painted with great colors, and the pilots are the real heroes -- astronauts, Air Force pilots.

"I just remember my father telling me about how amazing flying is, and in his 80-plus years, he's seen the progress of it almost from the start of travel advancements, and now he's going to see them racing. You think about how air shows are so popular, and they draw these huge crowds of 30,000 or more. This is even better, with the planes taking off and landing and refueling right in front of the grandstands."

Smith's company has been using computer-generated animation to try to figure out how to cover this race on the ground and in the air, with as many as five cameras in each cockpit for the racers to use -- known as "heads-up" views -- and the fans to enjoy.

With New Mexico as the main base, the RRL has a satellite office on Wilshire Blvd., in Santa Monica, as well as in Boston and New York, and much of the racer plane construction takes place in Mojave. Southern California will also be targeted as a place to hold preliminary RRL races, said Granger, but sites have not been established as yet.

(AP photos by Chiang Ying-ying)

When collector cards of New York Yankees pitcher Chien-Ming Wang were made available for the first time in convenient stores throughout Taiwan on Saturday, the natives scooped 'em up.
Wang, born in Tainan, in central Taiwan, has become a national icon in the country, having had the most successful season for the high-profile team.
According to a recent editorial in the China Post, Wang has "has become 'the son of Taiwan,' eclipsing President Chen Shui-bian -- the original favorite son who is fast becoming fake.
"Nowadays in Taiwan, when the "dump Chen" protests have dominated newspaper front pages and prime time television, Wang Chien-ming has suddenly become the media's superstar. President Chen Shui-bian and his beleaguered party should thank Wang for diverting the public's attention from the scandals involving himself, his family and his son-in-law Chao Chien-ming (same first name by accident).
"All of a sudden, Wang has become a national hero. Perhaps an international hero to boot. He has put Taiwan on the map, just as our little leaguers did three decades ago when they won LL World Series year after year. Wang Chien-ming is from the crop of Taiwan's Little League baseball, like many others now playing in America's Major Leagues.
"Like Wang, many of Taiwan's proud products that have made this island rich and famous are the legacies of that older era, an era that is vilified by the current administration as authoritarian and corrupt. What is ironic is that six years after the "son of Taiwan" seized power and ruled this island as its imperial president, the people are taking to the streets to heave him out of office."
Hey, whatever works for you.

Remember when the Clippers were considered the worst franchise, not just in the NBA but in all of sports?
The Atlanta Hawks, apparently, have taken the crown.
Here's a story that tries to prove it:

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Joe Johnson averaged more than 20 points last season. He played on the U.S. team at the world championships. And he can still walk the streets of Atlanta without being bothered.

“I love to go out in the city and have nobody recognize me,� he said. “If I could have it like that throughout my career, I would love it.�

Such are the perks of playing for the Atlanta Hawks, the city’s forlorn NBA team and perhaps the worst franchise in all of pro sports.

Granted, there’s stiff competition from teams such as baseball’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays and football’s Arizona Cardinals. But the Hawks can make a pretty good — or should we say bad — case for themselves in several key categories:

-- Seven straight losing seasons. The Hawks haven’t made the playoffs since 1999, the second-longest drought in the league behind the Golden State Warriors. Two years ago, they managed to win all of 13 games, the worst season in franchise history. Heck, the expansion Charlotte Bobcats have won more games in their first two seasons than Atlanta during the same span.

-- Lack of tradition. Since moving to Atlanta in 1968, the Hawks have never gotten past the second round of the playoffs. The franchise’s only championship came in 1958, while still based in St. Louis during Eisenhower’s second term. No other NBA team has gone so long — 48 years — without a title.

-- Apathetic fan base. The Hawks usually rank at or near the bottom of the league in attendance. Former owner Ted Turner once tried playing home games in Charlotte, Louisville and New Orleans, hoping to boost the number of folks cheering for his team. It didn’t work. Last season, only woeful Portland drew fewer fans at home than the Hawks, who often announce turnouts that are in no way reflective of how many people are actually in Philips Arena.

-- Ownership mess. A group known as the Atlanta Spirit, which bought the team in 2004, seems to have spent as much time in court as at the court. The unwieldy partnership collapsed when one of its members, Steve Belkin, refused to approve the sign-and-trade deal for Johnson. The other owners went to court to push it through, then agreed to buy out Belkin’s share. But Belkin claims they reneged on the deal, so he’s asked a judge to let him buy out the others. Stay tuned.

-- Bad luck, bad karma, bad trades. Did you know that Julius Erving once suited up for the Hawks? Dr. J played for the team during the 1972 preseason, but a legal injunction forced him back to the American Basketball Association and the rest is history. The Hawks lost first-round picks David Thompson and Marvin Webster to the ABA in ‘75 — one year before the upstart league was absorbed by the NBA. And let’s not forget that Atlanta willingly dealt for troubled Isaiah Rider, who didn’t even make it through one season before he was let go, having repeatedly showed up late for practices and games.

Need to read more? Be our guest ...

By JANIE McCAULEY
Associated Press
OAKLAND -- Krazy George Henderson has spent the last quarter-century trying to persuade everyone that he debuted the “Wave‿ during an Oakland Athletics’ playoff game against the New York Yankees — not those University of Washington football fans who claim the Huskies first performed the now famous cheer.

Debate aside, the Wave is 25 years old and still going strong.

“It’s been really interesting,‿ Krazy George said in a phone interview from his home in New Rochelle, N.Y. “I see it at the Olympics. There’s a video of Fidel Castro doing it. If it had actually originated in New York at a
Yankees game, they would have thought it was sent by the gods.‿

Krazy George, now 62, says he spent three years perfecting the Wave. He first pulled off the move — in
which fans take turns, by section, standing up and waving their arms — on Oct. 15, 1981, at the Yankees-A’s AL championship series game in the Coliseum.

Washington, meanwhile, did it two weeks later, on Oct. 31.

Former Husky yell leader Robb Weller had returned to campus for a homecoming game against Stanford. He began a vertical version of the Wave in the ‘70s, but first did the horizontal Wave that day.

Officials at Washington acknowledge Krazy George as being first, but what they are certain of is that the Huskies popularized the cheer. It soon caught on at a Seattle Seahawks game, too.

It took a year and a half, according to Krazy George, for the Huskies to fess up that they’d seen the Wave on television and given it their own twist. Good thing, too, because he has the proof on tape: The Wave was part of
the A’s 1981 highlight video shown to potential season ticket holders for the following year.

“That’s the best-kept lie in the last 25 years. But now, most of the world recognizes me,‿ Krazy George said. “Their theory is that they came up with it in 30 seconds! ‘Oh, we just thought it up.’

“They kept doing it the whole football season and of course they were a big national football power with a big
budget. I tell everyone to call Seattle and get their side of the story. It’s like a war with me.‿

Krazy George, known best by that name and for pounding his drum in stadiums across the United States, is a California native who moved north to Napa from Southern California at age 17. He left for New York three years ago.

A former high school shop teacher, Krazy George’s lone job the last 30 years has been as a for-hire cheerleader — working all of about three hours a week. Yes, that’s it. He averages one game every seven days.

In that first Wave game, the Yankees eliminated the A’s 4-0 to reach the World Series. Dave Righetti, now the San Francisco Giants’ pitching coach, was the winning pitcher. A crowd of 47,302 was on hand for the first Wave.

“We put it on the map in 1981,‿ said Shooty Babitt, a rookie on the ‘81 A’s. “A lot of people wish the Wave would go away now. A lot of people don’t understand when you should do it. ... The new-age fan doesn’t understand where the Wave originated. But Krazy George still looks the same today as he did 25 years ago.‿

Krazy George is a well-known figure at sporting venues, especially in the Bay Area. Mostly bald with blond curls above his ears, he wears his striped athletic socks pulled up and always has a drum in hand.

A simpler version of the wave originated at San Jose State several years earlier. Krazy George would call for the three student sections to chant — one word for each group — “San!‿ “Jose!‿ “State!‿ He would point to each section signaling those students’ turn.

He also did something similar for the former Colorado Rockies hockey team, using “Go! Rockies! Go!‿ But it didn’t work so well with only 5,000 fans in the seats many nights.

He knows there are plenty of fans out there who refuse to participate or become grumpy when their view of the game gets briefly blocked.

“There are always a few people,‿ he said.

Some interesting ideas tossed around the Internet since news broke that it appears KFWB-AM (980) has all but thrown in the towel on covering the Dodgers anymore after the 2007 ends.
Such as one presented on The Sports Examiner, a new-ish online publication started by Rich Perelman, one of the most connected sports guys in town and publisher of "Unforgettable: The 100 Greatest Moments in Los Angeles Sports History."
The Examiner, according to its sources, figures that the depleted KMPC-AM (1540) will soon be bought up by someone, probably in the $20 million ballpark, and it'll take another $5 mil to fix the poor signal. Why wouldn't Dodgers owners Frank and Jamie McCourt considering doing what their counterpart at the Angels has already done: Buy their own radio station, and put their team on it? Additional programming could be filled with Dodger talk and replays of old games.
Just another way of looking at it.
You may read that KFWB execs say they aren't about to just give up on the Dodgers, but are willing to renew their deal for the right price. That's just a nice way of saying we don't want to make ourselves look like a lame duck, because there's no way in heck we've figured out a way to make this work financially and giving up a block of time to the Dodgers when we should be doing what we're supposed to be doing best -- reporting news and traffic -- isn't worth the hassle any more.

Give 'em some credit for a pretty clever marketing ploy, this dual cover issue of Los Angeles magazine for its November issue. In a city where the inhabitants are either pro-USC or pro-UCLA -- are there any other alliances? -- the magazine that otherwise wouldn't get anyone's attention except for its annual "Best Of L.A." issue has managed to make sure all Trojan and Bruin followers have a reason to fork out $4.95 to buy it this month.
Do the Bruins Rock! Or do the Trojans Rule!
Or should we stop ending ever sentence with an exclaimation point and just get to the premise: Why (USC/UCLA) kicks (UCLA's/USC's) Sorry Butt.
Katie, identified as being from UCLA's spirit squad (actually, it's the dance team), and Natalie, co-captain of USC's Song Girls, do a great job of sexing things up, making one almost want to buy both issues. Kinda like we did.
The 10-page spread inside appears better suited for the December issue, when the two teams actually meet in their annual football game (this year, it's Dec. 2 at the Rose Bowl, but maybe L.A. Magazine got ahold of a bogus schedule ... or they're simply Cal State Northridge grads).
But what one author and five researchers put together in an 80-plus quiz to see who's smarter about their school's comings and goings is a snappy way to kill a few minutes. A fake Wikipedia entry for each school is also inspired writing.
Some of the sports-related questions asked in the story, with the answers:

Q: What do Trojan fans kick on their way to the Coliseum to ensure good luck at a football game? a) a can; b) a flagpole; c) a parking meter; d) a Bruin.
A: b) A flagpole.

Q: What weighs more: The Victory Bell (which is a former Southern Pacific locomotive bell that is kept at whichever school wins that year's UCLA-USC football game) or Matt Leinart?
A: The Victory Bell (295 pounds) has 65 pounds on Leinart.

Q: Name the school whose athletes have won more Olympic medals.
A: USC: 234; UCLA: 213.

Stuff that didn't make the final cut of the weekly Daily News media column and notebook:

-- CBS’ coverage of Saturday’s Georgia-Florida college football game from Jacksonville, Fla. (Channel 2, 12:30 p.m.) will be self-muted for the phrase: “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.��? At the request of the presidents of both schools, CBS and ESPN have instructed their announcers to drop that punchy punchline because they’ve decided to fool everyone into thinking that drinking isn’t the primary focus of the day’s events. CBS’ Verne Lundquist, doing the play-by-play for CBS, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he’ll honor the request, but added: “If I thought not using the phrase would diminish the amount of public drunkenness, then I would be more than happy to refrain. But in my experience, that is not the case. I wish the omission of the phrase had more relevance. But I'm afraid it doesn't.��? ESPN’s “College GameDay��? crew will broadcast from the gamesite early Saturday. Meanwhile, someone has already bought the trademark for the name and has a website (thewlcparty.com).
-- The Lakers somehow still get the opening-night treatment on national TV, but the Clippers are somewhere on the radar. For TNT’s exclusive opening night doubleheader Tuesday, the Lakers-Phoenix game from Staples Center (7:30 p.m., with Kevin Harlan and Doug Collins) is on the back end of the Chicago-Miami contest (5 p.m.). Two nights later, TNT takes the Clippers-Denver contest from Staples Center (7:30 p.m., with the same broadcast team that did the Lakers) following the San Antonio-Dallas coverage (5:15 p.m.). ESPN has the same idea, only reversed. On its first night of coverage Wednesday, it has the Clippers-Phoenix game (7:30 p.m., with Mike Tirico, Bill Walton and Jon Barry) after the Washington-Cleveland game (5 p.m). Friday’s Seattle-Lakers game from Staples Center (7:30 p.m.) comes after Cleveland-San Antonio (5 p.m.)
--Those ESPN games with the Lakers and Clippers, though, are blacked out here. FSN Prime Ticket has the Clippers on Wednesday, the first of 44 regular-season telecasts, with KTLA-Channel 5 taking 30. The Lakers have 34 regular-season games locked into FSN West, starting Friday, with 39 on KCAL-Channel 9.
-- The “NBA League Pass��? on DirecTV, Dish Network and In-Demand still runs $179 per season for up to 40 games a week. This season, the deal this year includes live webcasts at NBA.com. Take advantage of the free trial of the service from Tuesday through Nov. 7 before tuning out.
-- Since those who run Staples Center have already named the upstairs press box for Kings’ play-by-play man Bob Miller, and the lower-floor press room for the late Lakers’ play-by-play man Chick Hearn, it decided that Clippers play-by-play man Ralph Lawler will be honored by having his name on the “green room��? where the players’ families gather before and after games. It’ll be called “Lawler’s Lounge��? sometime this season. We can hardly wait.
-- On the Sports Business Journal’s newest list of the “20 Most Influential People in Pro Basketball,��? ESPN/ ABC Sports president George Bodenheimer ranked second to NBA commissioner David Stern at the top. Turner Sports president David Levy (No. 7), and Fox Sports Net COO Randy Freer (No. 17) were included – ahead of LeBron James (No. 18) and Yao Ming (No. 19).
-- “Dreaming Green: The Making of the Celtics Dance Team��? – which sounds like a Michael Flatley production – is something NBA TV has decided to air as a mini-reality series for the next couple of Mondays, chronicling how the Boston Celtics held auditions (some in L.A., of all places) to finally become the last league franchise to break down and pay for a dance squad.
-- Ahmad Rashad isn’t going away. “NBA Access with Ahmad Rashad��? will run on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2 whenever they feel the need. NBA TV also has a weekly show, “Tuesday Night With Ahmad,��? which sounds like something Mitch Albom should be co-hosting, acting as a pregame show for whatever contests the league-owned channel airs on that night.
--Tommy Lasorda, in St. Louis for the World Series, has been bombarded with shouts of “To the TV!��? when he makes his way around the park, according to the Sports Business Daily blog. “This thing has taken on a life of its own,��? the Dodgers’ Hall of Fame former manager said. “It’s really been sort of overwhelming.��?
--If Kobayashi is the king of hot dog eating, who rules the hamburger world? The World Hamburger Eating Championship will be carried live on ESPN2 (Saturday, 1 p.m.), apparently because there isn't a college football came worth showing. Paul Page, who long ago was the voice of the Indianapolis 500, is stuck with this assignment.
-- Part of the next episode of HBO’s “Real Sports��? (Tuesday, 10 p.m.) is a look-see at what makes ESPN’s “College GameDay��? show tick. Reporter Jon Frankel asks Lee Corso why he need a couple of police deputies for protection during the show. The 71-year-old Corso says: “It’s embarrassing to say this -- in the 17 year or 18 years (doing this), I probably made every school in America mad at me. And they don’t ever forget. . . . Auburn’s a perfect example. About 10 years ago, I picked Fresno State to upset Auburn in the opener. Auburn beat them, 62-0. And to this day, (the fans) will walk up to me and say, ‘Yo, sweetheart! How’s Fresno State doing?��?

DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Cowboys assistant coach Todd Haley is suing a suburban McDonald's, claiming his wife and the family's live-in baby sitter found a dead rat in their salad.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in state district court seeks $1.7 million in damages, The Dallas Morning News reported on its Web site.

In addition to Haley, the Cowboys' passing game coordinator who got in a well-publicized shouting match with Terrell Owens earlier this month, the suit was also filed on behalf of his wife Christine and the family's au pair, Kathryn Kelley.

A message left for McDonald's Corp. spokesman Walt Riker on Thursday evening was not immediately returned.

According to the lawsuit, Christine Haley and Kelley had eaten part of the salad purchased June 5 at a McDonald's in Southlake before the dead rodent was uncovered.

The women became violently ill and endured long-lasting physical injuries, the lawsuit said.

In the Cowboys' loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 8, Owens (above right) was seen screaming at Haley (above left) on the sidelines. Owens later said his relationship with Haley was ruined, but then said after his three-touchdown game against the Texans on Oct. 15 that there was mutual respect between the two.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -- Matt Leinart was a proud father, showing off baby pictures to teammates, as he returned to Arizona Cardinals practice Thursday after a day off to attend the birth of his son in Southern
California.
The rookie quarterback out of USC was with former girlfriend Brynn Cameron, who gave birth to the couple’s son Cole on Tuesday night, then was given Wednesday off by Cardinals coach Dennis Green to remain with them a bit longer.
"It was a great experience,� said Leinart, who provided a rare glimpse into the private life that he normally guards closely. “The best thing is we brought a healthy boy into this world. Now my next job is to be a great dad.�
Leinart and Cameron, out of Newbury Park High, were together for much of the quarterback’s time at USC. She plays basketball for the Trojans and plans to return for her junior season next year. Leinart thanked Green for allowing him to miss a practice.
"Everything went well. Everything’s great,� he said. “Now I look forward to every chance I get to get back there.�
Green said he felt it was important for Leinart to have the time to attend the birth.
“He’s a great guy, he’s a great person,� Green said. “He’s a very mature adult. I think he’s going to be a great father.�
Leinart said it was an interesting few days because of his awful experience on Sunday, when he drew several fierce hits in the Cardinals’ 22-9 loss at Oakland. It was his first bad outing in his three NFL starts.
The emotions shifted in a hurry for the birth, which conveniently enough for him occurred in the middle of the week between games at Oakland and Green Bay.
Asked if Cole was left-handed like his father, Leinart laughed and said, “We don’t know that yet.�

With the internet at our disposal, and that plastic card with a bunch of numbers on it laying nearby, the most dangerous temptation is thinking you know more than you really do and putting bets down with an off-shore bookie that's just waiting to lure you into losing your shirt, pants and marriage.
But what the heck. You only live once. You can always remarry.

But here's how stupid it gets.

At Intertops.com, you can take the safe bet and predict that Art Shell will be the first NFL coach to lose his job. The odds right now are 7/2. Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher (13/2) is somehow ahead of Tennessee's Jeff Fisher (7/1) and Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden (15/2). Arizona's Dennis Green, who you'd think might be at the top, is only 9/1. The odds of no coaching change before Super Bowl XLI is 13/1.

Or, over at PinnacleSports.com, Green is the 1/1 favorite to get canned first, with Shell at 8/1, Fisher at 13/1 and Cowher at -- gulp -- 31/1.

Jump over to BetUS.com, there's the tempation to take an educated guess which NFL team will be involved in the next great sex scandal.
There's no way to fix that bet? When's the next Cincinnati Bengals' bye week?
Every NFL team is listed at 10/1 odds at the site that one of their players will be involved in a sexcapade, but the odds change when predicting where that will happen.
The breakdown:
On a boat: 10/1
In a locker room: 4/1
At a strip club: 2/1
In a hotel room: 5/2
On a roof top: 10/1
On a football field: 50/1
In a movie theater: 8/1
At the Playboy mansion: 25/1
In an airplane: 20/1
What, no stairwell?
"Sex scandals are almost inevitable in professional sports,� said BetUS.com spokesperson Christopher Bennett. “The combination of athletes, copious amounts of money and/or alcohol and team groupies will always produce a scandal.�
And the combo of money, free time and stupidity will always produce gamblers.

The start of the NBA season is a time to reflect and decide: How much less will I pay attention to the games this season? Will I watch more if I have some action on it?
That's where Bodog.com comes in, with its list of wacky roundball proposition bets.
Try these out:

Lakers odds to win the 2006-2007 NBA Championship: 20/1
Lakers odds to win the Western Conference Championship: 8/1
Lakers win more than 43½ games: -125
How many games will the Lakers win against the Clippers this regular season?
0: +350
1: +200
2: +160
3: +250
4: +340

What will Kobe Bryant’s PPG average be for this NBA regular season?
Over 35.1: -120
Under 35.1: -120

What will Kobe Bryant's highest scoring game be this regular season?
Over 64.5 points: -120
Under 64.5 points: -120

Will Phil Jackson be the coach of the Lakers at the start of the 2007-2008 season?
Yes: -200
No: +150

Clippers odds to win the 2006-2007 NBA Championship: 25/1
Clippers to win the 2006-2007 Western Conference Championship: 15/1
Clippers win more than 46 games: -115

Odds to win 2006-07 NBA MVP Award
Allen Iverson : 12/1
Carmelo Anthony: 8/1
Elton Brand: 22/1
Gilbert Arenas: 30/1
Kobe Bryant: 4/1
LeBron James: 3/1
Shaquille O'Neal: 15/1

Who will be the first NBA coach to be fired this season?
Jeff Van Gundy (Hou): 19/2
Mike Fratello (Mem): 8/1
Dwayne Casey (Min): 8/1
Bob Hill (Sea): 6/1
Mike Woodson (Atl): 5/1

It was 20 years ago yesterday when Mookie Wilson's grounder rolled through Bill Buckner's legs and effectively gave the New York Mets its last World Series title. Enough said.
It was 50 years ago this month -- Oct. 8, 1956 -- when Don Larson tossed the only perfect game in World Series history, Game 5 against the Brooklyn Dodgers.
All we've ever seen is that clip of the final strikeout where Yogi Berra leaps into Larson's arms and the Yankees run off the field.
A story in USA Today on Wednesday tells the story of sports film buff Doak Ewing, who has a companycalled Rare Sportsfilms, Inc., in Naperville, Ill., that sells copies of his collection. It's a company I discovered a few years ago and have bought a few things that I didn't even know existed.
Ewing has what's believed to be the only known telecast of Larson's perfect game. He's had it for the last 15 years but hadn't told anyone about it. He doesn't even sell it on his site. Copies of it from the networks that telecast it were either taped over or thrown away years ago. Read up more about the fascinating history of finding this film.
But the coolest part about the link to the story on USA Today is a three-minute clip from that game where Duke Snider almost breaks up the perfecto with a long drive to right that just hooks foul before he strikes out. it's amazing. Go back to that USA Today link and scroll down to PERFECT GAME PEEK.

Arizona Cardinals quarterback and former USC Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart was excused from practice Wednesday after attending the birth of his son at an undisclosed Southern California hospital.
Brynn Cameron, the 20-year-old USC basketball player out of Newbury Park High and Leinart's former girlfriend, gave birth to a boy, Cole, on Tuesday night. Further details were not available.
Leinart, pictured here not with Brynn, was expected to return to the team later Wednesday.
When news of the Cameron pregnancy became public three months ago, it was reported that the baby was not due until November.

KFWB-AM (980), which has been losing millions each year on its radio rights deal to carry the Dodgers games as it enters the fifth and final season of its contract with the team, has sent the first nasty indication that the end is approaching after it informed executive producer and key department head Tom Boman that his job has been eliminated for budgetary reasons. The station has decided to trudge ahead without anyone really in charge of the broadcast.
"I'm stunned, more than anything," Boman, who practically runs the entire Dodger radio network and oversees all programming, said Wednesday morning. "There's no logical reasoning behind this."
Boman had been running everything involved with the Dodgers' radio broadcast for the last four years, and the prior three years when the team was at 1150-AM.
Boman's involvement went beyond just getting the show on the air every night -- he coordinated many sales deals for the station and was generally the unsung player who'd smooth out all the rough edges that listeners would have otherwise not noticed. While Dodgers radio broadcasters Charley Steiner and Rick Monday are Dodgers employees, Boman was in charge of the team's radio booth, making all calls on what went out on the air. Any change in the broadcast teams over the last seven years started with Boman.
Boman said station boss David Hall told him at their meeting Tuesday that it had nothing to do with his performance, it was simply money. And if money's the issue, the Dodgers have to be looking elsewhere now to line up a radio home for beyond 2007.

We're not sure yet what's drawing us to any of the information being released about the creation of the Hollywood Fame, the newest team of the new and somewhat improved American Basketball Assocation. Everything that's ever happened to ABA teams in these parts have been a here today, gone later today experience.
Maybe the fact this organization has some B-list juice behind it -- Nick Lachey, Stacy Keibler, et. al. -- and seeing as how they'll all try to angle for the "Jack Nicholson" courtside seat once games begin next month.
Actually, the team begins (according to the schedule now posted on its website) with eight road games before playing for the first time at home -- the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium -- on Dec. 15 against something called the Big Valley Shockwave (based in that sports hotbed of Turlock).
The Santa Monica Civic -- known more for hosting flea markets, bead shows, pet conventions and the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra, as well as Bruce Springsteen concerts in 1973, '74 and '76 when he was eventually on his "Born To Run" tour -- is actually a palace compared to some of the "home courts" listed by a few of these ABA teams. The Fresno Heatwave plays at the Kastner Intermediate School. Many other teams play at a local high school gym. The franchise in Tijuana, Mexico, plays in something called the Municipal Auditorium. Perhaps, after the local cockfight matches are done.
Tuesday, the Fame announced its new coach -- Don Casey (pictured above), he of an 85-153 record overall with the Clippers (part of '88-89 and all of '89-90 season) and New Jersey (part of '98-99 and all of '99-00). The hiring was pretty easy for Fame general manager Mike Casey -- Don is his dad.
As for players, the site says the final roster will be determined on Halloween -- pretty scary -- and the list of names they've got to consider include former UCLA guard Billy Knight (pictured right, who also had a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters), former Pepperdine center Nick Sheppard, and a bunch of other names even the most astute hoops experts wouldn't recognize.
“I am looking forward to the journey at this stage of my coaching career,� Casey said in a press release. “This will be an interesting adventure and I hope to be a part of bringing the ABA back to a level where the players benefit by being in this league. This is an excellent forum for players that still have some juice left. Hopefully we can expose them and allow them to move on to the next level while at the same time playing good basketball.�
That's all anyone can hope at this point.

Trying to understand all that goes into deciding how this new NFL "flex" schedule works to benefit the TV coverage of the league as the season moves on may has well be explained to the masses by some monkey flexing in a mirror to amuse himself.
Better yet, here's NBC Sports chief Dick Ebersol, telling a bunch of reporters how he became giddy by the fact that he discovered Tuesday morning his network has swiped the Nov. 12 New York Giants-Chicago Bears contest for a 5:15 p.m. prime-time showing (after it was originally set for 10 a.m. on Fox from Giants Stadium):

"The league makes the final decision ... and said there doesn't seem to be any reason whatsoever not to go ahead and announce this a week earlier. There are going to be some weeks where we're going to want to hold all the way down to the 12-day margin on at least a few of these games when you're trying to figure out which of the games will have the most impact on the playoffs, have the most impact on fans across the country. In this case, the undefeated Bears vs. the NFC leading Giants, it seemed to be just a natural to go ahead, and follow their lead when they asked this morning if they could announce it at the start of their owners meeting this morning in New Orleans.

"The league put this policy into effect when they negotiated the television deals with CBS and Fox in the fall of 2004. Our deal wasn't made until April of '05 so we inherited flex scheduling. We're able to say to the league, 'here is a game that we would like to have, and here are reasons why we think this the most compelling game.' And then their television department and the commissioner make the final decision.

"The league did protect one game for us for each week of flex. The game was never formally announced; it couldn't be protected by the other networks. That's never been announced and the NFL asked us never to confirm what those games are. I will say that it's comforting some weeks to know there's a game, no matter what, if we want it, it's ours.

"There may be a week where we want 'X' game and there may be another game that the league rules equally or more compelling and they'll make the determination that that is the game that we're going to do. They have the final authority.

"All this stuff that gets written sort of makes it seem like this was come up with on the fly. This goes back to the negotiations they had with those two companies [Fox and CBS] back in the fall of 2004. They knew what they were buying into. Flex was created to make sure that there was the strongest possible primetime attraction, so you wouldn't end up with the kind of situation ... where the back end of the schedule was loaded with mismatches between teams whose hopes had fallen during the season. They were no longer playoff contenders and the games just did not look like the merited being on in primetime on a network. Flex was conceived by the NFL so if a team is really making an impact that wasn't expected, they may be able to play themselves onto the broadcast primetime package."

Oh, now we see. And thanks for allowing us to go ahead and plan our evening for Nov. 12.

They have the biggest roster of pseudo-recognizable owners, one that their roster of players will hardly ever match, but maybe one better suited for a bad reality show.
Tuesday, the ownership group of the new American Basketball Association team, the Hollywood Fame, will announce their new head coach (they say only that he used to coach in the NBA, so that could range from Larry Brown to Bill Fitch to Rudy Tomjanovich -- although Gary Coleman would have been a most inspired choice) at a press conference in Santa Monica.
Of the Fame's quasi-famous owners -- Geoff Stults, Stacy Keibler, Brady Anderson, Nick Lachey, Brian Vickers, Mike Hampton and Kyle Boller -- only the first three will be in attendance.
The team recently had tryouts at a health club in El Segundo and play to show off some of their new players -- Dennis Rodman anyone? Maybe only new ABA commissioner John Salley knows for sure.
Again for more info on tickets, sponsors or to leave an annoying voice message, try 866-599-FAME.

Describing himself only as "a former award-winning sports journalist" who covered college football and hoops, the NFL and golf "before 'retiring' to Florida to pursue a more leisurely lifestyle, which involves running a bed & breakfast, a restaurant and shaving his handicap index," the yet-to-be uncovered "BCS Guru" has launched a website recently by the same name that, this week, tries to explain why USC dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 in the polls without losing a game.
Yeah, the Trojans had a bye week. But then, didn't that always seem to help them in the past?
The Guru -- without giving away his identity, we'll vouch for his credibility -- explains that even with Michigan jump in the computers, it still has to face Ohio State in the last regular-season game, and if USC wins out, it'll take that No. 2 spot no matter who wins between the Buckeyes and Wolverines.
The Guru -- OK, so his name is Sam Chi, who was last at the Contra Costa Times -- also breaks down the polls, the contenders, the conferences and takes questions from readers. Check it out if there's any kind of stumper you can find.
Such as this question recently posted:
Q: Explain the Pac-10 tiebreaker. Cal could go to the Rose Bowl by beating USC or by Oregon beating USC?
A: The Pac-10 ditched the use of overall records this year, which means the loss to Tennessee won't hurt Cal this year. However, in the event of three teams tied at 8-1 in conference play, each having beaten the other, the team with the highest BCS ranking will go. So that probably won't be Cal. This little fine print trumps the one about the team that most recently went to the Rose Bowl would be eliminated.
Meanwhile, on Daily News USC beat writer Scott Wolf's blog today, USC coach Pete Carroll says the usual: What, me worry?

It really is one of the more bizarre things you'd ever want to put in your golf bag, and if I hadn't tried it out at the Southern California Fall Golf Show in Pasadena over the weekend, I'd dismiss it as another gimmick that'll have a short shelf life.
But I've been messing around with this new putter called A Tipping Point that I was sold on after talking to the creator, patent holder and builder, Carlos Barbosa, who's certified by Golf Smith as a Master Club Builder.
The face is pretty small -- 3 inches -- but how much do you need to putt a ball? There's no loft on it, and the sweet spot actually is spread out through the entire face, sanded and milled to grab the ball better for more spin and very little bounce.
Oh, and I almost forgot, the coolest thing: The bell-shaped head face is smaller than the width of a cup. So after you make the putt, you stick the club into the hole and the hollowed-out bottom picks the ball up.
Lazy? Tell that to your knees and back.
I'll test drive it for the first time at the TPC in Valencia on Tuesday morning. But consider this just a simple testimonal. Go to the website and read not just about the club, but of Barbosa and his story about coming over from Mexico as a teenager and knowing nothing about golf, but eventually getting into this business out of his machine shop in Baldwin Park.
The putters retail for $129 and can sometimes be found in pro shops, but more likely, it's easier to order on line. But if you find out, try it out. The brass and stainless steel have slightly different feels -- the former is softer, the later gives a firmer roll.
Here's Sunday's Daily News story on the golf show and my meeting with Barbosa.

By DOUG FEINBERG
Associated Press

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- On a rainy September day, coach Dave Magarity invited the Army women’s basketball team to his house — the one that used to belong to Maggie Dixon.

He wanted to be sure the players felt comfortable with him living in the home where they’d spent countless hours with their former coach, friend and mentor, who died April 6 after suffering heart arrhythmia at the age of 28.

To help ease their pain, Magarity took a suggestion from his wife, Rita — an impromptu backyard
memorial service.

The team read a poem, planted a flower bed and placed a stone, painted in Army’s black and gold, as a enterpiece.

It’s adorned with two words: “Maggie’s Garden.�

“It was something good to have as a remembrance and acknowledge the fact that she is gone and we miss her and wish she could be here,� said Micky Malette, a senior captain last season and now the team’s director of basketball operations.

Junior Cara Enright, the Patriot League player of the year last season, said she thinks the garden will help the team move on.

“I think it gives us a sense of closure and helps us to keep her in our hearts,� she said.

For more on how the Army team is coping these days with the loss of their coach who grew up in North Hollywood, read on ...

By JONATHAN LANDRUM Jr.
Associated Press

ATLANTA -- Ron Artest sat backstage with his entourage, wondering if the audience would approve of his upcoming performance.

He was prepared for extra scrutiny after being tarnished by his unpredictable, out-of-control behavior over the past few years in the NBA. And he knows that many already have stereotyped him as another athlete-turned-rapper such as Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant, who didn’t excel in the music industry.

Still, Artest believes he can prove the doubters wrong.

“I’ve got music to be heard,� he said. “Obviously, some people will judge me from my past. But I can make music. I want everyone to know about my life and relate to me, and see that I’m very approachable and easygoing.�

Artest is striving to gain more respect in hip-hop and give many a better understanding of himself on his new album, “My World,� which will be released Oct. 31. He raps about his personal experiences, world issues and partying in clubs, while also expressing his thoughts about participating in one of the worst brawls in U.S. sports history.

“When people actually listen to the album, they’ll say to themselves, ‘Wow, I didn’t know that he felt this way,’� Artest said. “It’s like I’m a totally different person on this album.�

Character issues have hurt Artest’s image around the NBA, but his bad-boy image might help in an industry that thrives on thuggish demeanor, a la 50 Cent and other roguish rappers. Growing up in a broken home and dealing drugs at a young age in New York City’s Queensbridge section, a neighborhood where drugs and gun violence are common, also might help him gain acceptance in the studio.

“People don’t understand that my street credibility is a whole lot bigger than most in the industry today,� Artest said. “If I had more push, then everyone will see the results.�

Need to read more? Go ahead ....

Would you have put down money back in March on a Tigers-Cardinals matchup in the World Series?
Neither would we. But that's only because we don't bet.
Nevertheless, we do predict. And when our bosses asked six of us Daily News staffers to forcast all the division winners, wildcard spots, league champs and eventual World Series title holder for our March 30 baseball preview issue, it must be noted that over here, we were the only one to at least have the Tigers in the playoffs, as well as having the Cardinals go all the way to the World Series.
We just dug that special section out today to see how we did on our picks.

Here's how we had the NL finishing:
NL East: Mets
NL Central: Cardinals
NL West: Padres
NL wildcard: Dodgers
Looks like four-for-four there, eh?

For the American League:
AL East: Blue Jays
AL Central: Tigers
AL West: Athletics
AL wildcard: Yankees
Not so good with that Toronto pick, but at least we had Detroit, which ended up as the wildcard as the Twins somehow won the Central.
But overall, to have seven of the eight teams in the playoffs .... no one else came close, my Kreskin-like friends.

As for the playoffs, we had the Yankees as the AL champs, facing the Cardinals in the World Series -- with St. Louis winning it all. Four of the six predictors have the Cardinals taking it all for that matter -- with the other two going with a Chicago White Sox repeat. We'll refrain from identifying those who had a bad case of Chisox fever. They know who they are.

None of the other five Daily News prognosticators had a four-for-four prediction going for them, either, in either league.

If you want even more perspective on how stupid predictions can be, note that 19 so-called experts at ESPN were asked at the beginning of the playoffs to forsee how the next three weeks would go.
They could have been better with darts and a blindfold.
None -- repeat, none -- of them had the Tigers and Cardinals in the World Series. None -- repeat, none -- had either the Cardinals or Tigers in the World Series. Most had the Cards and Tigers eliminated in the first round.
These are experts? For a better rant on this check out the site with our favorite name, FireJoeMorgan.com.

So how did your picks go?

All that doesnt' fit into the weekly Daily News media column about the Fox baseball coverage and KMPC's latest setback, ends up here in the place we like to call cyberville.

-- It'll only cost you a non-refundable $29.95 to receive tonight's 4 1/2-hour telecast (starting at 7 p.m.) of the "Mike Tyson World Tour" stop in Youngstown, Ohio, where the former psychotic champ is supposed to do a four-round exhibition (whatever that means) against former sparring partner Cory "T-Rex" Sanders. Word is the two may even wear head-gear for the "bout," so that shows how low-key this 40-year-old tired old Tyson may be taking this all. “I don’t miss it at all,� he said about pro boxing. “I realize that I’m retired and I’m just not into the game anymore.� Tyson last fought in June 2005, losing to the unheralded Kevin McBride when he quit after six rounds.
Following the pay-per-view bout, it might be more entertaining to head over to Comedy Central, where Damon Wayons has an hour-and-a half special (10 p.m.) where, according to the listing, he "lampoons rap singers, evangelists and Mike Tyson" from the Apollo Theatre.
ESPN Classic brings back the "real" Tyson from his glory days, with a block of programming Sunday from 3-to-5 p.m. that covers bouts in the mid to late '80s. Monday, ESPN Classic has the "SportsCentury" show on Tyson (1 p.m.) and Thursday (7 p.m.), ESPN2 has Tyson's stunning loss to Buster Douglas from Feb. 10, 1990.
You know, this whole Mike Tyson Tour could get rather bizzare. He's already said he's not against fighting a woman in the ring. Maybe Star Jones? Or how about Tom Jones? For real, the later has already agreed.

-- As SportsByBrooks.com reports and those involved have confirmed with us, KLAC-AM (570) will probably announce next week that a new morning show featuring LA Times columnist T.J. Simers, his daughter Tracy (moving out of their Sunday morning slot) to be joined byKNBC Channel 4's Fred Roggin, replacing the unlistenable syndicated Mancow in the Morning.

-- Arizona outfielder Eric Byrnes (UCLA) and recently fired Florida manager Joe Giradi joins Jeanne Zelasko and Kevin Kennedy on Fox's World Series pregame show. Byrnes will be in Detroit for all the games played there, while Giradi is in St. Louis.

-- If you come across Petros Papadakis guesting on the KTLA Channel 5 Morning News gabfest at 9 a.m. Tuesday, and trading pop culture barbs with Sam Rubin, don't be stunned.

--FSN West has added Don MacLean to its "Clippers Live" pre- and post-game shows. Although the Clippers were not one of the seven teams that the former UCLA and Simi Valley High star played for during his nine-year NBA career, he was Clippers property for about three months before playing in his first NBA season. Detroit drafted him 19th overall in 1992, then traded him to the Clippers in a deal for Olden Polynice. Before the regular season started, the Clippers dealt him to Washington for John Williams.

--Benny Parsons, the former NASCAR driver and current analyst for NBC and TNT, has announced that he has beaten lung cancer after three months of treatment. Parsons, who continues to be part of the NBC/TNT team doing the Chase for the Nextel Cup (including Sunday’s Subway 500 from Martinsville, Sunday at 10 a.m., Channel 4), is expected to remain on TNT telecasts for 2007; NBC gave up its rights to NASCAR events after this season, with ABC / ESPN taking over.

-- Since the New Orleans Saints are in a bye week, Fox has recruited running back Reggie Bush to join the group in the Hollywood studio for the NFL pregame show (Sunday, 9 a.m.)

-- Glenn Davis, Marcelo Balboa and Alan Hopkins have the call for ESPN2 of the Chivas USA first-round MLS playoff game against Houston (1 p.m. Sunday)

In what one employee at KMPC-AM (1540) "The Ticket" called "a bloodletting," Sporting News Radio president Clancy Woods flew in from Phoenix today, called a staff meeting at the Santa Monica offices and told everyone who worked on the local end of the station -- sales, promotions, update guys -- that their services would no longer be needed.

The cuts include station GM Roger Nadel, who said in an email late Wednesday afternoon: "As you know, two weeks ago, nearly all of the Sporting News assets (including Sporting News Radio Network) were sold to American City Business Journals. The three radio stations owned by Vulcan Sports Media were not sold in that deal, and remain for sale. Vulcan Sports Media has now decided that they want to focus their efforts on their affiliation with Sporting News Radio Network rather than local operations. Consequently, a number of positions involving purely local functions were eliminated today. KMPC remains a 24/7 sports station. The lineup that’s on the air today (much of which originates from our Santa Monica studios) is the lineup you will continue to hear. You will continue to hear local commercials and on-air show promos."

As of late December, however, the lease runs out on the station's office building, according to sources. The network execs, though, talk about possibly moving all their operation from Chicago to L.A.

This latest move essentially eliminates any local sports-talk shows as of Thursday -- as if any were left since Petros Papadakis quit last week, seeing the writing on the wall. The Sporting News Radio Network syndicated programming includes L.A.-based Tony Bruno and Mark Williard in the morning drive and Dave Smith , a former local-only host who had his show go national within the last few months, in the 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. slot. There could be a change there with Smith going to the 4-7 p.m. slot and Arnie Spanier moving to the midday.

It didn't help that the station continues to register nary a ratings point in the most recent Arbitron books, up against the programming of all-sports stations KSPN-AM (710), which is making large gains against KXTA-AM (570).

As SportsByBrooks reminds us on his website entry about the move, just a year ago, the station was riding a nice wave with USC football, a nice stable of local talent (Papadakis, Fred Roggin, Smith) and millions in adversiting revenue. As soon as the USC rights fees were lost, so went the lead sponsors, as well as many of the sales staff, to 710-AM.

Take it from Dan Edelson: There are many more pleasant experiences in life than getting blindsided in the men's room at Dodger Stadium.
But that's what the long-time Mets fan discovered first hand last week while wearing his New York jersey and cap to the third game of the N.L. Division Series game at Dodger Stadium and ended up getting roughed up by a so-called Dodgers fan while trying to take care business.

The version that ran in The New York Post's Page Six on Tuesday had it this way:
"Tommy Lasorda is making amends for lowlife Dodgers fans. While the Mets were dismantling L.A. two weeks ago, Daily Variety researcher Daniel Edelson, a Queens native decked out in Mets gear, was punched and pummeled by rowdy locals in a Dodger Stadium bathroom. When word of the attack reached Hollywood gossip legend Army Archerd, he jumped on the phone, and hours later, ex-manager Lasorda called Edelson to personally apologize and invite him to a game next season."

Edelson, a former L.A. Daily News librarian, relayed that story to a reporter friend at the Post. The North Hollywood resident tells us that while he was punched, he wasn't hurt physically, and was left bruised psychologically the most from the act of stupidity. And those "rowdy locals" turned out to be just one over-serviced patron.

Here's Dan's account:
"I was sitting in my brother's season seats in the reserved level, section 35. I was catching grief all game from fans around me, who were growing increasingly frustrated as the game went on. I didn't respond to them because I knew I was outnumbered.
"I got up to use the bathroom about the seventh inning. There we some guys in there yelling 'F- New York" and "Mets Suck." Again, I didn't say anything. I'm no fool. Anyway, I'm doing my business at the trough and one of the guys in question starts whaling on me from behind. A couple of guys saw what was happening and got the guy off me, but it was pretty scary for a moment.

"Now, I'm a big guy, so the fact that this idiot attacked me leads me to believe he was liquored up. Going to Dodger Stadium is quickly becoming like going to a Raider game at the Oakland Coliseum. The crowd is unruly and sometimes downright dangerous. I have season tickets at both Angels stadium and Dodger Stadium, and Angels Stadium is a much better place to see a game.
"Anyway, I told Army Archerd what happened and he was so upset, he called Lasorda. Lasorda then called me, and he apologized for the incident (he also said he thought the Tigers would win it all). It was very nice of Tommy to call, and I appreciate the fact that the Dodgers felt the need to do something.

"A PR person from the Dodgers called me later and said they would be contacting me in March 2007 to arrange for some tickets to a game. They also sent me a formal letter of apology."

Here's what Camille Johnson, the Dodgers' senior VP of communications had to say:
"From what we have learned, Dan never filed a report or asked for help in anyway from anyone while he was at Dodger Stadium. So we aren’t really sure what occurred, but I think the words 'punched and pummeled' are entirely inaccurate considering nobody here was aware of it – and he never tried to make us aware of it."

Says Dan:
"I didn't contact security because as far as I was concerned, it was over. I didn't feel like escalating things.
I just didn't want to inflame things....I am grateful that there were some good people there among the fans in the bathroom who helped me. Army was the person who was so upset. I just felt like it was one of those things that happened and just put it down to life's little experiences."

Josh Rawitch, the Dodgers director of public relations, adds: "The first we heard of it was when Army contacted Tommy, who made the phone call to apologize and offer him tickets to a game next year. I know that we followed up with a letter and we will be taking care of him for a game next year."

Back to Dan: "I think the ballclub has been very forthright in its actions, and I appreciate they recognized that this was a situation that had to be corrected."

There's that story Tommy Lasorda likes to tell, about how when he dies, he wants his headstone to have the current Dodgers' schedule on it so that when people come by to visit him in the cemetary, they could also see if the team was playing that day.

Now, with the MLB's approval, he can go one step further -- or six feet under -- on that desire.

Major League Baseball has started a creepy marketing deal with a company called Eternal Image. It'll put team logos on caskets and urns, starting next season, with the Dodgers among the first teams already included, along with the Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies and Cubs. It could eventually include all 30 teams.

Each urn will be stamped with a message saying Major League Baseball officially recognizes the deceased as a lifelong fan of that team.

"We have been receiving these requests either directly or through our clubs for several years," said Susan Goodenow, an MLB spokeswoman, told the Associated Press. "Passionate fans express their love of their team in a number of different ways."

The National Funeral Directors Association is meeting in Philadelphia this week and giving its members a sneak peak of what the urns will look like. Eternal Image says urns for the six teams should be available by Opening Day 2007, and caskets for those teams should be ready later in the year. The products have not been made yet and the exact cost has not been set.

Kurt Soffe, a spokesman for the funeral association, said the MLB caskets are part of a trend of trying to capture "the life and the passions of the person that has passed away ... More and more families are wanting to have something that respects the personalities."

Each urn will feature recognition of the deceased's passionate support, stamped with a message that says "Major League Baseball officially recognizes (person's name) as a lifelong fan of (team)."

It's a shame that these are only made for human remains. Who wouldn't want to see their Dodger Dog grinded up and saved in one of these things to put up on the shelf to impress friends and family members.

A friend of mine ran into Anthony Davis before the 2005 Rose Bowl -- actually, AD literally ran into him while he was trolling for free tailgate food and shaking his greasy hands with ga-ga fans in the hours before the game against Michigan.
My friend thought it would be cool if the former USC running back signed his Trojan cap.
AD, who wiped the chimichunga crumbs off his paws before grabbing a Sharpie, happily signed the cap and added the phrase "Notre Dame Killer" on the bill.
And there was no charge.
It appears now that was a bargain. Today, if you want an AD-signed anything, it'll cost a little bit.
Oh, for them good ol' days.

USC's Greatest Running Back of All Time -- that's how he's described on the postcard advertisement that was slipped into the drivers' side window of my car after a recent USC game at the Coliseum -- is offering "a piece of history" signed by him at his new website, www.anthonydavishof.com. The "HOF" reference in that address is because he was recently enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame.

(By the way, that phrase "Greatest Running Back of All Time" at USC ... considering that he's not even in the Top Five of USC running backs who actually won a Heisman Trophy -- he was runner-up in '74 to Archie Griffin -- maybe the "Greatest Kickoff Return Man in NCAA History" is something even AD could stomach ... or "Best Touchdown Celebration Knee Dance In USC History" would work for us ... But that's just a semantics thing. We know he's trying to sell things here, and you boast as much as possible in this case, right?)

Did you know: Davis was the first college or pro athlete to wear a Nike shoe and was the first to show up on the cover of Sports Illustrated wearing that shoe. We saw that on a plaque that's available in one of the several things available for sale... But we digress...

Just in case you don't realize just how great Davis was -- or at least want to see him single-handedly beat Notre Dame, 55-24, on Nov. 30, 1974, with Bud Furillo doing the color commentary -- there's a two-minute-plus video clip on his site to get you in the buying mood.

We rememeber a while back when we discovered a Rose Bowl ring that was reported to be owned by Davis up for sale on eBay, but Davis denied it. Anyway, the greatest running back to ever come out of San Fernando High and apparently needs a little cash on the side has these somewhat pricey items for sale if you're doing some early holiday shopping (or want something to prove that you're a personal friend):

-- A triple matted, mahogany display case with a signed photo, two USC pins and a horse-shaped decanter that's got some tricky lighting on it (only 100 are made): $795.
-- The same horse-shaped decanter (that's supposed to be from 1974, made of china), signed: $175.
-- A real-sized USC helmet, signed: $295 (In a glass or plexiglass case, it's $350).
-- A white USC football, signed: $95 (In a glass or plexiglass case, it's $150).
-- A mini-USC helmet, signed: $75 (In a glass or plexiglass case, it's $125)

Actually, we were looking for something related to his recenty gastric bypass surgery ... Do we check eBay for that?

So, what'll it be? Why not just buy something and have it sent to Ara Parseghian.

The Dodgers were playing a game in Houston in late April this season, and on the FSN Prime Ticket telcast, the camera caught a shot of former President George Bush giving his wife, Barbara, a smooch while on the "Kiss-Cam."
"Insert your own ad-lib here," said Dodgers play-by-play man Charley Steiner.
Short pause.
"Naw, I wanna keep my job," replied analyst Steve Lyons.
That was probably the last smartest thing he's ever said.

The latest from the Dodgers is that Lyons will keep his job. But only after some diversity training and double-secret probation guidelines, after this mess he created last weekend by getting fired from Fox for making an inane comment about Mexicans and wallets that made as much sense as the network actually canning him for it. Lyons will explain himself more later today on "The Big Show" on KSPN-AM (710), with Steve Mason and John Ireland in the 3 p.m. hour.

We'd be lying if we said we thought Lyons would have made it through this baseball season as a broadcaster without stumbling over his own walnut-sized brain. It was only a matter of time, based on his history of inane comments. Perhaps it's supposed to be part of this "Psycho" charm that he perpetuates, and a "Fox attitude" that the network seemingly has embraced, but in the end, it will be the downfall of his broadcasting career, if that's what you want to call what he's been doing the last decade.

Granted, this very misconstrued and mangled conversation he had with Lou Pinella in the booth during Fox's coverage of the ALCS Game 3 on Friday night doesn't seem to be enough cause to fire him -- another suspension, maybe. But you'd really have to be looking for an excuse to fire him to do so after something like this.
That said, considering we had the over/under on Lyons offending someone on the air this season at May 31 (including his on-air appearances doing Dodgers games for FSN Prime Ticket), we can only say we're just surprised this didn't happen sooner.

I'll admit, I listened to this game on radio and didn't see it on TV, nor did I TiVo it, but transcripts of what was said are all over the place. Even if you read it somewhat out of context, it still makes no sense -- which is par for the Lyons course.
Only this time, someone in the Fox hierachy took it to mean something about Hispanics and stealing wallets. That non-P.C. interpretation is what cost Lyons in the end, another naive, non-racist about his "habla-ing" comment. But add that to Lyons making an insensative remark about a blind fan's large glasses on a telecast a week ago, or about Shawn Green's Jewish heritage on a telecast two years ago (which drew a suspension -- and the game he missed and was replaced by Eric Karros was the day Steve Finley hit the grand slam to put the Dodgers into the playoffs over San Francisco), and Lyons' resume doesn't get any stronger season by season.

Lyons isn't a racist. He's an idiot. He proves that year after year.
Last season, it was a comment he made during a Dodgers broadcast when he said Joe Buck was the best baseball play-by-play man today -- conveniently overlooking Vin Scully, which Steiner tried to save him on and point that out to him. Before that, when he was working as a FSN anchor (for some reason), he did a line about a story on both Pat Riley and Steve Lavin, saying they had so much jell in their hair they'd make Richard Simmons straight -- or something to that affect.

For those reasons alone, he shouldn't be doing live broadcasts, and the Dodgers have to know this continues to be another accident waiting to happen should they invite him back for the 2007 season. There are plenty of smart, talented baseball analysts willing to work who don't sound like they know it all and don't start each sentence with "When I played ..." and then go on to cross the line of stupidity.

But there's Fox, coming off saying that he was fired "for making comments on air that the company found inappropriate." Which makes about as much sense as anything else on Fox's programming schedule, especially when you consider all the nutjob news analysts claiming to be "fair and balanced" on the cable side.

What Lyons hasn't learned as a broacaster, he could have gleaned from working with Vin Scully on the 1999 movie "Love Of The Game," where he played Scully's broadcast partner watching Billy Chapel (Kevin Costner) pitch his perfect game. According to a story Lyons told us long ago, Scully told him: Just let me do the call, and I'll bring you into the conversation.
That's the movies. In real life, Lyons couldn't get out of his own way.

In Monday's USA Today, Lyons tries to "defend his honor," according to the headline. His comments were misconstrued, and "it's my career we're talking about. I need to go find myself a job. That statement is going to follow me around. That's unfair."
That's a fair statement. But he's stuck his foot into his pie hole so many different ways, it's no wonder someone misinterpreted another lame joke.

Thankfully, he'll have plenty of time this offseason shake the dirt out of his pants on this one. Just as long as he doesn't do it in the middle of the street in full view of his neighbors.

Oh, and by the way...
The L.A. Times ran a correction today, related to its coverage of the Lyons story:
FOR THE RECORD:
Baseball: In Sunday's Sports section, an article on the firing of Fox commentator Steve Lyons misspelled Yom Kippur, Judaism's Day of Atonement, as Yom Kupper

Again, it's simple stupidity.

This was a press release that went out before Saturday's University of Miami-Florida International football game -- the one that somehow included a full-on kicking and helmet-swinging street fight-like brawl during the third quarter that led to 31 suspensions:

Join-a-Team, Not-a-Gang Program
The Miami-Dade Police Department and the University of Miami join forces.
Oct. 14, 2006

The Miami Dade Police Department kicked off their annual "Join-a-Team, Not-a-Gang program on Tuesday, October 10th. This program is a cooperative effort, which includes Miami Dade Public Schools, the University of Miami Athletic Department, and Florida Power & Light Company.

The program gives out a "Most Improved Student Award." Each hard working student will get a chance to visit a University of Miami football practice, a tour of athletic facilities, and a chance to meet the University of Miami football coaches and student-athletes.

Students are selected by their school and selection is based on improvement in academics, behavior, and attendance. The visits take place once a week and continue through football season. Winners and a D.A.R.E. officer from each school will be visiting the school once a week throughout the football season.

This Saturday, the Miami Dade Police Department will bring about 700 children to the Miami vs. FIU football game as part of the program.

And what did those kids learn? Yes, that you can join a team and a gang at the same time.

Tonight, we learned about the fine print included in Rule 1 of "The Challenge," the weekly sports quiz show that Fred Roggin hosts on Sunday nights on KNBC Channel 4.
And that rule states:

1. No purchase necessary. Void outside of KNBC terrestrial geographic viewing area and where prohibited. The Promotion begins on September 10, 2006 after the completion of Sunday Night Football on NBC during the KNBC show, "The Challenge," and ends on December 31, 2006 after the completion of Sunday Night Football on NBC, during the KNBC show, "The Challenge." (the "Promotion Period"). The Promotion Period consists of 15 Weekly Entry Periods; each Weekly Entry Period will take place during The Challenge show, which airs directly after Sunday Night Football on NBC and runs for approximately 30 minutes. The contest will be played in all 15 shows. There will not be a show on October 22, 2006, and December 24, 2006.

Which means, those who tuned in at 8:30 p.m., when the show usually airs, came in the middle of a live shot to Westlake Village where Roggin was interviewing Oaks Christian quarterback Jimmy Clausen and his coach, Bill Redell.
Which meant you were late.
Apparently, just because the show is slotted to air at 8:30 p.m. every Sunday night doesn't mean that's when it starts if the preceeding game runs short.

Here, we had no interest in watching the Raiders lose to the Broncos. So at about 8:20 p.m., we flipped on Channel 4 to watch the final minutes of what was a 13-3 Denver win. Except when the show came out of a commercial break, Roggin was all ready to ask Question No. 4. Our computer wasn't on, and all we could do was watch with frustration. Probably with a lot of others out there.

OK, we're big boys. If we can get over the fact we're watching this on DirecTV with a delay, we'll get over this latest glitch.
And by the way, we've now noticed in the rule listed for "The Challenge," there's this one, referenced No. 5d:

Television Transmission Delays

Depending on the contestant's TV service, i.e. cable, digital cable, over-the-air via antenna, or satellite, the reception of the transmission of The Challenge may reach particular households at different times. If contestants have a digital video recorder (DVR) hooked up to their television, they may experience a delay in receiving the transmission as well. Sponsors disclaim any liability and will make no allowance for delays in receiving the transmission of the show, and also disclaim any liability and will make no allowance for delays in a message arriving at "Sponsors" servers.

Yeah, we already know.

Anyway, we registered a whopping 70 points on the five questions we were able to play, good enough for a tie for 683rd place. Someone named J. Williams scored 310 to win this week. For the season, we've got 890 points, tied for 75th place. Patrick Alog still leads with 1,515 points, 75 better than the current runner up.

So, out of protest, we're boycotting next week. Then again, there is no show next week (the NFL takest off the Sunday night as to not conflict with the World Series, because it would probably get higher ratings and just embarass the heck out of baseball's heirachy). But if there was one, we'd skip it. Never know when it's gonna start anyway.

With that, here are Questions 4-9 that we were able to see. If anyone out there has Questions 1-3 with the choices, feel free to add them.

It's probably a good thing that Gene Keady was informed today that he'lll receive the John R. Wooden "Legends of Coaching" honor during the Wooden Awards ceremony slated for April 7, 2007 at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
That gives the retired Purdue basketball coach 176 days to enroll in the Hairclub for Men. Or, 176 shopping days to find just the right hairpiece.
You mean the dude doesn't sport a rug? What loser gave you that idea?
The Wooden Award , basketball's version of the Heisman Trophy ceremony, is an annual big-deal event, so Keady must look his best. He can't just show up and expect people to not snicker under their breath just because he had a 512-270 record in 25 seasons and was a six-time national coahc of the year winner. (Did he ever win a national championship? Uh, better not bring that up).
So it behooves him to look his best when he's there taking the lifetime "legends" achievement trophy, one that's already been given to the likes of Dean Smith, Mike Krzyzewski, Lute Olson, Denny Crum, Mike Montgomery (seriously?) and Jim Boeheim.
(And not Steve Lavin?)

By the way, did you know that Keady, a football player at Kansas State, never played the game of basketball at the high school, college or professional level? Someone found that in his bio on Wikipedia.

Anyway, we've dug up this David Letterman top 10 list from April 26, 2000 entitled "Top Ten Purdue University Basketball Head Coach Gene Keady Tips For Looking Your Best"

10. Shake head violently. If a single hair moves--keep spraying.
9. You can find some snazzy ties in the stadium lost and found.
8. Always comb with the grain, not against it.
7. Yelling at players makes your face purple -- that's sort of like having a tan.
6. Tight pants highlight the fact you're a member of the "Big Ten."
5. Don't be one of those guys with hair plugs -- I mean, who do they think they're fooling?
4. I live by one simple rule - try to look better than Dick Vitale.
3. On special occasions, I like to use a little eyeliner.
2. Never, under any circumstance, go to Letterman's barber.
1. Forget "six-pack" abs ... just go for the six-pack

My brother-in-law Mitch hadn't emailed for awhile during his latest Marine Corps tour in Iraq -- no cause for concern, he now says. He was busy instructing, and he's about to start another class next week, so he may be a little preoccupied again. Here's the group photo from the class he was instructing. That's him on the far left.

And here's his take on the sportsworld from the info he can get more than 11 hours away:

"Yes, I saw the Dodgers fall, but at least they made it to the playoffs. I also watched the overpaid Yanks collapse along with Big Al's heart. (Al is the big New York fan around the base). The Tigers look real good, solid pitching. Speaking of pitching: Can the Mets lose another one? Before you know it, their third base coach will be in the bullpen.

"Take care. Talk to you soon."

Here's links to previous blogs from Mitch:
From Sept. 19
From Sept. 11
From Sept. 9

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The University of Wisconsin has put its marching band on probation after receiving reports of severe misconduct during a trip to Michigan last month.
The school is not releasing details on what happened during the trip to the Sept. 23 game. But Chancellor John Wiley described it in a letter to the band's director as behavior "that can be seen as anything from boorish and offensive to patently dangerous and unlawful."
Wiley warned in the letter he would consider suspending activities and travel of the band or replacing its leadership if there were more reports of "gratuitous vulgarity, sexualized banter or joking, hazing, or other forms of demeaning conduct."
"I say this, you know, because I do not feel I have a choice: we either solve the problem now, and the band you have built to such legendary proportions survives, or we look at virtual extinction for a significant period of time," Wiley warned in the letter to band director Michael Leckrone.
Casey Nagy, Wiley's top aide, said the behaviors in question violated the band's code of conduct and were repeated despite previous warnings from the administration. He said some of the reports were from the bus trip home from Ann Arbor, Mich.
"If these behaviors recur, they are immediately at risk of losing travel to any postseason competition," Nagy said.

In an unrelated story -- or it is? -- it's been determined that Wisconsin has one of the highest rates of alcohol use in the nation, according to the state's department of health and family services.
And there's this story about how binge drinking led to the death of a Wisconsin-La Crosse student during their annual Oktoberfest celebration. The kid had a .32 blood-alcohol content -- about four times the legal limit.

Whadda say we all have a brat and a brew and we'll discuss the matter at a time that's convenient for everyone.

The other day, we were reading about how the Boston Red Sox were considering selling sponsorship for the 2007 season. Not for space on the Green Monster. They were selling the naming rights to the season.
Ingenious? Or just plain ignorant?
Before you hear the public address announcer at Fenway say, "Let's welcome your 2007 Red Sox, presented by Church's Fried Chicken," consider that the other Sox, the White ones, may have already one upped them.
Or, 7-Eleven upped them.

White Sox's weeknight home games will now start at 7:11 p.m. as part of a three-year sponsorship deal with the never-closed convenience store chain.
That actually makes some sense, in a minor-league promotion sort of way. Games at U.S. Cellular Field (or is it the new Comiskey Park?) already started at 7:07 p.m. anyway.
"We're just talking about four minutes, so it's not much of an inconvenience for the fans," said a team spokesman.
Get it? Inconvenience, from a convenience store promotion?
"Every time the media announces the game's start time it will be a gentle reminder of our sponsorship," store spokesperson Margaret Chabris said.
Well, there you go. From now on, we'll subtly forget to announce the start times for White Sox home games in our paper.

(And why is the store called 7-Eleven? Some say that once upon a time, it was open seven days a week, but closed at 11 p.m. Others say the hours were between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. Now it's 24/7. Makes you wonder why they even put locks on the door).

A 7-Eleven promotion sounds like big gulp for some to take, but imagine stretching the promotion even more. There can be a kids growth chart giveaway day -- just like that tape they put on the doorway at the 7-Eleven to show the height of a robber as he's leaving the store.
How about if the team scores, say, 1 run in the game, a free Slurpee for everyone.
Maybe Apu can throw out the first pitch some night.

But doesn't this open the door for other subtle changes?
You've already seen them around major league ballparks. The K-meter that shows how many strike outs a pitcher has registered at Dodger Stadium is sponsored by California Pizza Kitchen -- otherwise known as CPK. It might as well be sponsored by Circle K. Or would 7-Eleven protest?
We'd always hoped that when Fox owned the Dodgers, the team would go out and get second baseman Andy Fox and give him No. 11, so that it would say "Fox 11" on his back -- promoting the local Fox affiliate in L.A.
Got any suggestions? Bring 'em on.
There's some marketing guy trying to save his job just dying to hear 'em.

As you may have read already on Scott Wolf's blog, the official resignation from Petros Papadakis, our No. 1 pick in the 2006 "Best and Worst of L.A. Media" for sports-talk hosts, went to the 1540-AM officials today, almost a week after he'd stop doing his afternoon drive-time show on "The Ticket" and allowed Arnie Spanier to fill in.

"The last five years at the station have been the most fun in my life and I'm thankful for the opportunity, but I'm resigning to focus on my television career," Papadakis said, a reference to the fact he has six on-going TV projects, including the top analyst on FSN's Pac-10 football games, another season of "Pros Vs. Joes" on Spike TV, plus guest appearances on FSN's "Best Damn Sports Show Period," the "Gauntlet," "Total Football" and two BCS shows.

Papadakis' contract with the station was to run out at the end of this year. In the meantime, his work on TV has increased. Speculation is that Dave Smith, a two-time No. 1 guy in our annual poll in recent years, will fill in the afternoons on the 4-to-7 p.m. slot, in addition to his 10 a.m.-to-1 p.m. national show. Smith is already set to do that afternoon slot Thursday, according to a promo on the 1540-AM website, which at least still has an archive of the songs Papadakis created over the last few years on his show. Papadakis' bio on the site still calls him "the most refreshing television personality to his Southern California in years."

That's the official scenario. For those who tend to believe that this is all just reknotting the support ropes on the Hindenburg, read on.

It doesn't take much to read between the lines to know that the station's future isn't all rock solid, even by radio's shaky standards. The Sporting News Radio Network was just sold as part of a package last month, the KMPC station's lease is up soon at their Santa Monica building, and since losing the rights to USC football, it's almost impossible for them to generate any kind of ratings that appear in the Arbitron books used to show advertisers how much of a listening base is there. Fact is, the station has never registered an Arbitron number.

Station manager Roger Nadel told us last month after the sale was announced that anyone predicting the demise of 1540-AM was "misinformed and inaccurate," but even he had to know that Petros wasn't happy the last few months and the energy that made the show what it once was had slowly started to disappear. Nadel failed to respond to an interview request, but we've heard from several people at the station that he's not talking right now until an "internal audit" of this situation is complete. Whatever the hell that means. According to SportsByBrooks.com, the "next person out the door at KMPC is likely to be the member of upper management who was most responsible for Papadakis' untimely departure (not that anyone gives a damn, since Petros was the last remaning reason to listen to the static-prone, eternally unrated station).

Those of us -- including myself and Wolf -- who made frequent guest spots on Petros' show (that's me in the green shirt, right, in a photo taken by Don Barrett for his LARadio.com site that he posted today, back from a remote show that Petros did at the Palms restaurant last year) can attest that this is a disappointing blow to the sports-talk landscape in L.A. for someone as original, smart and pop culture-centric as Papadakis has been. It's just reinforcing the idea that if you hear something on L.A. radio that you like, don't get too attached, because it's likely to be zapped away at a moment's notice for whatever stupid reason.
An L.A. Weekly story on Papadakis last April has it right when it called Petros' show the "anti-sports show" that "defies all logic." KMPC tried to make his show national, but it wasn't the right feel for Papadakis, who fought any kind of watering down of the product, knowing there were enough Angelenos who understood the nuances of what he was doing every day -- keeping it real, while really going in all directions.

Of course, there's a chance he'll gravitate back to radio. There's always a possibility that eventually KROQ will reel him in for "Loveline" -- an opportunity that came up when Adam Carolla left the show a year ago, but a job that the KMPC bosses wouldn't let Papadakis pursue. As for another sports-talk show, it would behoove 570 and 710 to at least talk to him, especially the later because of his USC connections and the fact the pregame show in the hours just before kickoff is practically unlistenable.

USC's Galen Center opens Thursday, and FSN Prime Ticket has decided to bring more than just coverage of the Trojan women's volleyball match against Stanford (7 p.m.) as the first event. In a half-hour pregame show (6:30 p.m.) the sports network will take a handheld camera for a point-of-view perspective of the facility from the main entrance into one of the 10,000-plus seats. Lindsay Soto hosts it, with women's volleyball coach Mick Haley, USC athletic director Mike Garrett, and USC volleyball alumns Tim Hovland, Steve Obradovich and Jen Kessey.
As for the match between the No. 4-ranked Trojans and No. 6-ranked Cardinal, Jim Watson will do play-by-play with Karch Kiraly and Holly McPeak as the analysts.
Does the Galen Center look ready to you? Check out the Galen cam, which updates a picture every 10 seconds.

Just interested in asking. Because the Charles Atlas folks at Fox will determine it for you.
Because Game 2 of the ALCS conflicts with Game 1 of the NLCS on Wednesdasy night at 5 p.m. (PDT), Fox has decided to do a split-national telecast. Areas of "natural geographic interest" get the ALCS game on their local Fox affiliate, with the NLCS game on the FX cable channel. And then those who the NLCS game on Fox have to hunt for the FX channel to see the ALCS game.
Take a guess as what "natural geographic interest" Los Angeles falls into? Might as well be the National Georgraphic Channel.

LA will see ...

Can you guess? ....

We get the NLCS Cardinals-Mets game, along with 79 percent of the country. That's obvious, because Oakland is so far away, it's hardly a "national geographic" region.
For the dish owners, Fox has set up alternate channels to make sure you can see both games at once (even if you don't have FX?) On DirecTV, the NLCS game 1 is on Channel 246 with the ALCS Game 2 on 248. On Dish/Echostar, it's channel 136 for the NLCS and 137 for the ALCS.

Here is Fox's explanation for having two games on at the game time, rather than stagger the starts and put one of the (gulp) daytime::
"Far more people are available to watch television in prime time than in daytime. Among all persons age two or older, television usage is +90% higher at 8:00 PM than it is at 4:00 PM on Wednesdays in October. The difference is even more dramatic among the key demographics that drive a baseball audience. Among males age 18-34, viewing is +143% greater in prime time than daytime, +151% greater for men 18-49 and +152% for men 25-54."

Thom Brennaman, Steve Lyons and Lou Piniella have the Fox call on the ALCS; Joe Buck, Tim McCarver and Luis Gonzalez are on the NLCS.

Meredith Vierra?
Nope. Here's Kelly Tilghman. Not a man. A woman, who many golf bloggers find to be the sexiest female in sports broadcasting.
For what that's worth.
When the Golf Channel starts broadcasting PGA Tour events next year -- 43 events in all, if you'd missed the memo on that one, including the first three events of the season --Tilghman will be the first female, full-time play-by-play golf commentator in the history of television, working with Nick Faldo (who also recently signed on with CBS to do their golf events).
Her credentials:
-- A former LPGA Tour pro who has been with The Golf Channel since its inception and has worked her way up through a variety of roles, according to TGC press release.
The six-handicapper out of Duke, according to her bio, also finds Monty Python's "Holy Grail" as her favorite flick.
OK, she's in.
Which means, when the Golf Channel starts on Jan. 4 at the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Hawaii, Tilghman will have the call, Faldo is the lead analyst, Rich Lerner as the host/reporter/essayist, Mark Rolfing is at the 17th tower, and Dottie Pepper, Rocco Mediate and Jerry Foltz are course reporters. Peter Oosterhuis will also join the group at most events.
Every PGA Tour official event either begins or airs entirely on The Golf Channel. During early-round, Thursday-Friday telecasts, the network also will incorporate CBS and NBC broadcasters.
The Golf Channel, currently in about 90 million cable homes, will start a new 15-year deal with the PGA.

For those who didn't catch the latest indignant "intellectually honest" response to baseball's wild-card playoff system from Bob Costas on his two-hour syndicated radio show (which airs locally on 570-AM, Sunday nights), here's the text of it, courtesy of the Premiere Radio Network:

“I love, like all baseball fans, this time of the year. And I also concede that the wild card -- in this era of baseball, with economic disparities, with a shorter attention span on the part of fans, with expansion, so they had to pretty much go to three divisions -- the wild card does create some interest, and it does allow fans of more teams to believe that their club has a shot late in the season.

"What irks me, however, is that wild card proponents refuse to concede something that is not an opinion, but is a fact, which is this: The wild card is just as apt to undermine or eliminate the drama of division races as it is to add the excitement of wild card races.

"For example, the race in the National League Central this year, which developed late because the Cardinals nearly collapsed - that meant something and had some tension and drama because neither the Cardinals nor the Astros had a shot at the wild card. However, by the end of the year, the American League Central, with the Twins and Tigers, and the National League West, with the Dodgers and Padres, were just as close. But those carried no drama and virtually no meaning because the loser was going to be the wild card. Of all the teams that wound up in the wild card race, at the end of this year, in both leagues, the only team that would not have been in a close divisional race even if the wild card didn't exist was the Phillies.

"Now I'm not saying that the wild card doesn't have merit. I am saying that someone who is intellectually honest would concede that it is a huge trade-off. The Yankees and Red Sox were separated by a game last year and playing each other at Fenway Park, but since the loser was going to be the wild card, those games meant nothing. The last day meant nothing. In 1996, the Padres and Dodgers played on the season's last day, and they were tied for first place, and neither team started its best players. They were each content to rest players, rest their best pitchers and take their chances in the post-season.

"So, does the wild card create additional excitement: Yes. But it also undermines the high-end drama of the divisional races for first. It is impossible; not unlikely, impossible to have a meaningful race for first place among any of the three best teams in the league as long as you have a wild card. The wild card has its pluses. This is not a traditionalist’s argument. This is an argument based in logic. You know that you can't look forward to a truly exciting and climactic divisional race unless it involves teams not good enough to have a crack at the wild card.

"Now having said that, here's another drawback of the wild card once you get into post-season: The only round that is guaranteed to include the wild card and likely a weak divisional winner out of the three, the first round is the one that is best-of-five, so that's most likely to produce an aberrant result. And yet you play it best-of-five, you play it with weird scheduling; there's often an off-day between the first game and the second game, so if you have a good pitcher or two, you can use them a disproportionate number of times - the better team gets only the extra home game, which means something, but means much less in baseball than in football or basketball - and even that game is oddly scheduled, with both teams traveling back to the better teams' home field with no off-day for game five - scheduling you wouldn't even allow, for the most part, during the regular season - so this is why wild card teams are much more likely to make it through in baseball to the World Series than a wild card team in football is to make it to the Super Bowl, last year's Steelers not withstanding, because if you have the best record in football, you get significant advantages; a bye, home field throughout. A wild card team has to play extra games and go on the road: This respects its regular season. Baseball does not do that.�

Sorry, but you lost me at the line the started "What irks me ....."

A series-low 135 point finish (with five of the nine answers wrong) proved again that the sportswriter, especially when on vacation and his mind not properly challenged, is ripe for a whoopin' in Sports Trivial Pursuit, and that result in Sunday night's "The Challenge" hosted by Fred Roggin on KNBC Channel 4 was bad enough for a tie for 320th place (is that really possible)?

Guess there'll be no Universal Studios tickets for me this week as I begin week 2 of getting paid for staying away from anything work related -- except this blog, occasionally.

For the season, I'm at 820 points, tied for 51st. I really thought I'd be better at this. I'm ashamed to call myself a professional know-it-all at this point.

Patrick Alog, who we've found out is a recent graduate of Cal State Fullerton and does play-by-play partime on the Titans' volleyball, softball and women's hoops as well as other work on men's basketball and baseball, didn't have a great week either, finishing tied for 25th this week, but he still leads the season with 1,255 points.

Here's the breakdown of this week's Q-and-A. Again, if you were successful in beating me, drop me an email thomas.hoffarth@dailynews.com and I may have a kind word to email back to you.

So why would Sparky Anderson be picked to have a plaque with his name cemented into a sidewalk in San Pedro? Why not.
The San Pedro Sportswalk, which started almost 30 years ago by the Traini brothers to honor local athletes, has branched out into including all kinds of Southern California sports natives and local college and pro figures as a way to generate some notority for the seaport town. Anderson is among the next six to be honored at a ceremony Monday at 10 a.m., after a dinner at Papadakis restraunt tonight (Sunday).
After Monday's ceremony on Sixth St. between Palos Verdes and Centre, there's a lunch at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at noon (the public can join them at $40 a pop).
Anderson, a Dorsey High grad and former USC batboy for Rod Dedeaux, will be joined by (most notably) Chuck Knox, the former Los Angeles Rams coach; Lou Zamperini, the former USC track and field star, 1936 Olympic miler and World War II veteran and POW whose live story is been talked about being made into a movie starring Nicholas Cage; and Victoria Brucker, the former San Pedro Eastview Little League star player who became the first girl to play in the Little League World Series in 1989.
An interesting update on Brucker, now a 29-year-old mother of two and biology teacher at her alma mater, San Pedro High, ran in today's Daily Breeze.
Past inductees on the Sportswalk include John Wooden, Rafer Johnson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Tommy Lasorda.
For more info, call Tony Rodich at (760) 766-2002 or Bob Bradarich at (310) 427-3543, or the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce at (310) 832-7272.

It's like a scene from the old rags-to-riches-to-rags movie "The Jerk," where Steve Martin invents a new device that'll keep your eye glasses from slipping off your nose called the "Opti-grab," and everyone's cool with it -- until one day, there's this rash of people who's eyes become permanently crossed because of it, and he is wiped out by a class-action lawsuit.

Today's NBA is using a new Spaulding ball that has no "opti-grab.' Where once it seemed the league's marketing department was cool after introducing it, and this was going to bring the league a bunch more money in product development, now there's a rash of complaints by players who can't crossover dribble without it slipping out of their hands. Or they're saying that it's too sticky. Or that it just looks too funky.

Expect a class-action lawsuit soon.
It's as if David Stern's autograph was replaced by Daniel Stern, and the ball that once had a purpose now is a prop for a bad comedy flick like "Celtic Pride."

From today's Sports Business Daily comes a littany of complaints about the new ball, culled from a variety of different newspapers from across the country. Apparently, Shaquille O'Neal was the first to go public and gripe about it, but no one really listened. Then others started chiming in:

=Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas: “Once it starts soaking up sweat, it gets slippery. Guys are going to be turning the ball over like crazy this year because you can’t hold on to the ball."
=Suns guard Raja Bell: “It sucks. This ball isn’t even a cousin of the one we played with.� =Mavericks guard Jason Terry: “(The new balls) stink. I’ve worked out with it all summer long, and I’ve grown accustomed to losing the ball out of bounds a couple times.�
=Mavericks coach Avery Johnson: “It’s like a volleyball. It feels smaller than the other ball. But I personally don’t complain about that stuff. ... You got to adjust to change.�
=Suns forward Shawn Marion: “Everybody hates that ball. It seems like it’s more for an outdoor ball than indoor. It doesn’t even feel like a NBA ball.�
=Suns guard Steve Nash: “It’s almost like you have to relearn how to make your plays because this ball sticks to your hand.�
=76ers forward Chris Webber: “We’re going to have to do it like baseball, change, like, every five plays. Once it gets wet, it’s terrible.�
=Mavericks guard Devin Harris: “People going up for layups are having the ball slip out.�
=Bulls guard Chris Duhon: “It’s hard to catch, hard to shoot and hard to get some type of grip on it. I don’t think they tested it to when it was late in the game, everybody’s sweaty and (it) puts a huge damp on the ball.�

Here's what the old ball looked like. Sorry, we don't have scratch-and-sniff device here, or else you could get a better idea what the texture is on it. It's a grainy, pebble leather finish that absorbs moisture better. But the league wanted something that the kids could play with outdoors and still be the same as the indoor ball, so this genetically enhanced ball was created.

Unless this new ball improves the overall shooting percentage of every player on the court, expect more complaints in the coming weeks than were registered by last year's league-impossed dress code.

Amidst all this political correctness nonsense regarding the use of Indian nicknames for college athletic teams, the University of North Dakota is about to file a lawsuit against the NCAA regarding the school's use of the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo, according to the U.S. College Hockey Organization's website.
The NCAA said that the North Dakota's nickname and logo were "hostile and abusive" to Native Americans, even though UND doesn't have a mascot. Following that decision, North Dakota's State Board of Higher Education gave UND approval to sue the NCAA.
Meanwhile, what are the Fighting Sioux supposed to do for uniforms while this suit is taking place?
Reader Pete Hogensen sends along this "alternate" hockey jersey.

New York city taxpayers should know that, because of Joe Morgan, some of their finest police officers will be detained Wednesday, asked to form an escort for the ESPN analyst as he goes from the Dodgers-Mets telecast at Shea Stadium at 1 p.m. (PDT) to the Tigers-Yankees telecast at Yankee Stadium at 5 p.m. (PDT) because someone at the all-sports network decided America needs to experience as much of Morgan's fly-by-the-seat-of-his-pants commentary as possible during the baseball playoffs.
As if the guys who run the website FireJoeMorgan.com needed any more fodder.
Morgan works with Gary Thorne and former Mets GM Steve Phillips on the Dodgers-Mets game. If that starts to run long, he'll leave it before it's over, as any good analyst would do, so he can make it in time to join Jon Miller for Mike Mussina's first pitch at Yankee Stadium.
Two former Dodgers stars -- Orel Hershiser and Eric Karros -- are working for ESPN this postseason, but it seems the network is trying hard to keep them away from Dodgers games. Hershiser is held hostage with Chris Berman on the Padres-Cardinals series, while Karros is doing games 2 and 3 of the Athletics-Twins series.
Unfortunately, Fox is using Steve Lyons with Thom Brennaman on its Dodgers-Mets game 2 telecast Thursday (5 p.m.) Vin Scully will do the first three and last three innings on radio (KFWB-AM 980).

Last Friday night, Bob Miller said he took his brother- and sister-in-law, who were in town visiting from Wisconsin, down to Hollywood Blvd., to check out the space they had planned to lay in a terrazzo-and-bronze star with his name on it.
When the Kings' Hall of Fame broadcaster found the spot in front of the Hollywood Wax Museum near the corner of Hollywood and Highland, it was covered in plastic, with a barricade around it.
Nevertheless, Miller's sister-in-law wanted to take a picture of it.
Right about then, a woman with her grown daughter came up to the site.
"I wonder who's star this is going to be?" the mother said aloud.
Miller didn't want to give away that it was going to be his.
"I wonder if we know who the star is that's going to be here," said the daughter.
Miller finally said, "Actually, it's mine."
The woman said, "Yeah, right."
The Miller group stayed and took more pictures, and the woman and daughter walked away but made their way back again. Miller told them that if they came by at 11:30 on Monday, they could see his ceremony.
"Yeah, sure, we'll be there," the woman said in an unbelieving tone.

"Some of the best stories are the ones that are real," Miller said, retelling that one at Monday's Walk of Fame ceremony. "I don't know if they're here or if they're watching on TV, but if so, they're probably getting the shock of their lives if they are."
A few hundred Kings fans, four of Miller's former broadcast partners, and honorary Hollywood mayor Johnny Grant were on hand Monday for the unveiling of the 2,319th star on the Walk of Fame, honoring Miller for his 33 seasons doing Kings games in Los Angeles.
One of the curious surprises for Miller was that there was a TV logo in the star instead of the radio microphone that had been scheduled to be included. Miller said later he had no idea why that had happened -- Chick Hearn and Vin Scully had radio microphones on their star, and that's what he was told he'd get, too.
Ponder that while you take a look at a few more snapshots of the day's ceremony:

A series-best 200 points in the fourth week of Fred Roggin's "The Challenge" on Sunday night (KNBC-Channel 4) raised my expectations, but not my place in the standings.

It was only good for a tie for 45th place, far back from week 4 winner Patrick Alog (310 points), who won by 35 points over the next best finisher. Alog is the season leader with 1,040 points; I'm way back at 44th (685 points).

I must not have been the only one who thought this week's test got a bit easier than the first three, but not by that much. The harder, the better, I say, to weed out the weaklings. Like myself.

I scored on seven of the nine questions, but hesitated too much on a couple, which cost me. Of the nine, I had three right off the bat (and only got 35 points, again, because I play on DirecTV with a slight delay). I jumped too early on two questions, was wrong, and got locked out.

And by the way, I thought I earned two tickets to the UCLA-Stanford game, but even though I had a tie for ninth that week, Fred said I still wasn't in the top 25 of total scores. Go figure.
I doubt I'll get enough this week for the Kings-Wild tickets on Oct. 18, but I can only dream. Or, use my press pass to go to the game anyway.

Here's how the quiz show played out this week:

Hope y'all enjoyed watching the Chargers lose today. Somehow, we're finding it a guilty pleasure.

We asked for your opinions about whether you're tired of having the San Diego Super Chargers forced onto KCBS Channel 2 every weekend -- no matter how good or bad they are -- and be subjected to the NFL's blackout rules.

We posted the petition online, asking that you either sign it or give us your rebuttals.

As of Sunday morning, we've got a whopping 17 signatures. And we got these rebuttals:

Lou Filliger of Woodland Hills: "Count me as an L.A. resident who loves and follows the Chargers and is very grateful to have the games on every weekend. As far as this weekend's game (10/1), Chargers at Baltimore, it's a battle of two undefeated teams - numbers 4 and 6 in the NFL power rankings. So it also happens to be the best game on.
"In general, I wish the L.A. columnists and sports fans would get behind the Chargers a bit more. Billy Witz is the only columnist I know of who ever has anything good to say about the Chargers. Come on, L.A. NFL fans, it's not like there's another team here to root for...
"Having lived in both San Diego and L.A., there's this holier than thou attitude rampant in both cities that, frankly, ends up doing a disservice at both ends. We're all SoCal. Stop this petition drive. (First time I've ever petitioned a petition!)"

Douglas Graham Gillard of Palmdale: "This may come as a surprise to you and that clown from Simi Valley but thousands of Charger fans also live in Los Angeles county! It was bad enough when some nitwit at NBC decided that a Bengals-Browns game would be more desireable than a Broncos-Chargers game (this happened in the nineties) but now you miopic, local yokals are lobbying to deny me any games of my favorite team also! Don't give none of that best game possible bullshiot either! If a game between two first place teams that have outscored their opponents 137 to 27 is a good game then what is? I may be asking for two much but can you tell me why you have such a hard on for the SAN DIEGO CHARGERS and the city of San Diego?"

Jim Meser of Simi Valley (the reader mentioned in the previous email): "Obviously the Ravens/Chargers match up this week should be on the tube but last week's Titans/Chargers dreck should NOT have been. That is all I am trying to say. Personally, I have nothing against the city of San Diego. I just don't think the NFL should annex Los Angeles as part of San Diego. And they say George Bush practices nation building? At least the people in Iraq got to vote. When do I get to dip my finger in India Ink and cast my vote for NO MORE CHARGERS? ... As for his "clown" comment... Gosh, I haven't been called a "clown" since the nuns back in elementary school."