March 2007 Archives

Continuing our reviews of what's new in baseball media:

The book: "101 Reasons to Love the Dodgers," by Ron Green Jr. (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 120 pages, $14.95)

The windup: The title pretty much says it all. Lots of pictures, a few words of history.

The pitch: Don't infer any sort of tome by a beloved Dodger fan. Ron Green Jr., has also cranked out "101 Reasons to Love the Yankees" and "101 Reasons to Love the Cardinals," and his brother, David, did "101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox" and "101 Reasons to Love the Cubs." Roy Green Jr., is a native of North Carolina, a sportswriter for The Charlotte Observer and the author of two previous books in a series called “101 Reasons to Love." Somewhere, there's probably 101 reasons to love the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, but no one's got around to it yet. Don't assume there's any sort of ranking, either. Vin Scully is listed at No. 61 (with Jaime Jarrin at No. 62). Kirk Gibson's 1988 World Series homer is at No. 88 (coincidence?) It's as if they've taken much deeper researched books as "The Dodgers Encyclopedia" or "Illustrated History of the Dodgers" and condensed them into a children's book that apparently isn't intended for children. We'd love to give you 101 reasons to actually buy it, but you'd probably get all you're going to out if by thumbing through it in your local Barnes & Noble.

As part of the process of reviewing what's new in baseball media for this season, we'll take a tour of the local bookstores and video outlets for a sampling of what's worth the price of a DodgerDog and what should be left behind like a bad batch of nachos:
The book: "Dropping the Ball: Baseball's Troubles and How We Can and Must Solve Them," by Dave Winfield (with Michael Levin, Scribner, 224 pages, $25).

The windup: The Hall of Fame outfielder feels compelled to tackle some of the game's issues: Steroids, labor, the decline of African-American players, marketing and its future. "I want to share my observations about the current state of baseball, while the game appears by most standards to be in robust health but is in fact subtly declining in importance to Americans, especially African-Americans, and share my ideas for turning the trend around," he writes in the introduction. "If I don't say or do something soon, I'm afraid it will evolve into a sport and a business that I will not recognize, like, or even respect." The last seven pages are dedicated to his "Baseball United Plan," which includes: Offer rewards to local organizationsthat bring baseball to lower-income communities; Ownership should stop using the media as a tool for bashing the players prior to and during contract negotiations; Parents should commit to "cleaning up their act" in every aspect of youth sports and set a better example for their children; and kids should spend more time practicing their skills and less time playing computer games. "Start with a wall, a ball and your glove."

The pitch: Read the words of Winfield and listen if he's not channeling Bob Costas. Oh, wait. Costas gives it an endorsement on the back jacket: "Dave Winfield's genuine concern for the game he played so well and loves so much is evident on every page. Along the way he makes telling points and offers valuable suggestions for baseball's future." From Winfield, maybe the words cut deeper than if Costas was delivering these ideas (again). Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who in 1990 was banned from baseball by Commissioner Fay Vincent for paying $40,000 to a gambler named Howie Spira for derogatory information about Winfield, even endorses the book.

A comment: From someone named "Music Mogul" on Amazon.com: "I thought this was going to be another baseball bashing book focusing on the hot-button steroid issue. I was pleasantly surprised that Winfield discusses all the issues that we fans bring up on the various sports radio shows. It's nice to know someone on the 'inside' is listening. But the kicker is... he offers solutions -- from the grass-roots little league level to upper management. I was shocked to see George Steinbrenner's most flattering endorsement right on the cover. If these two can make peace, I suppose anything is possible."

Goodyear, the tire company that's probably more famous for having blimps, took a representative from UCLA, Florida, Ohio State and Georgetown up in one of their airships Friday not too far from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta to see who could make what would be called "the world's longest basketball shot."
Ohio State and Georgetown people did it. UCLA and Florida people didn't.
Before you check out the video at the Goodyear website, know this: UCLA (senior Chris Smith from South Lake Tahoe) and Florida (senior Alex Smith from Miami) were represented by guys; Ohio State (sophomore Stacey Freyer from Woodville, Ohio) and Georgetown (senior Jennifer Hanson from Turtle Lake, North Dakota, who's also a cheerleader) were represented by girls.
The way it worked: The four got up in the Goodyear blimp about 500 feet above a 100-foot goal, holding a regulation basketball.
"I thought it looked makeable," said OSU's Freyer. "When I shot it, we were way past the target, but it looked like it started out dead on. When it was good, we all started cheering. Everyone was excited even the pilots."
Said Georgetown's Hanson: "I thought I missed it by a mile. And then, while the ball was falling, it looked like it changed direction. I saw it hit that target and bounce up and then I knew I made it. I was surprised, but it was a good surprise."
For winning, the two girls got a prize package that includes travel, accomodations and tickets for two to any one of the sporting events where Goodyear will cover in the next 12 months. Also, video of their shots and the balls they used will be sent to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. for display and historical purposes.
Goodyear, of course, will be providing those dynamic areal shots above the Georgia Dome to show everyone what the roof of the building looks like during the Final Four and Monday's title game.

These T-shirts are hardly worthy of the NIT champions.
They say “West Virgina” -- without the second “i” before the “a.”
The Mountaineers wore them anyway after their 78-73 victory over Clemson on Thursday night, their first NIT title in 65 years.
WVU sports information director Shelly Poe told the Associated Press that the NIT printed the shirts. Calls to tournament officials were not immediately returned Friday.
West Virginia coach John Beilein was heading to the Final Four in Atlanta on Friday and could not be reached for
comment.

Here's Ria Cortesio. Get to know her. You maybe be cursing her out someday.

Cortesio became the first female umpire to work a major league exhibition game since Pam Postema in 1989 when she was on the bases Thursday for the Chicago Cubs' 7-4 victory over an Arizona Diamondbacks split squad in Mesa, Ariz., at HoHoKam Park before 12,917.

The Associated Press report says Cortesio hustled all over the infield and made her calls with an emphatic fist pump. Always in the right position, she did what every umpire hopes to do during a ballgame: She blended in.

Although she did draw attention.

"When I found out I had this game, my plan was to sneak in, work the game and sneak out and hope no one noticed," she said. "That didn't happen."

Working with major league umpire Mike Winters on the bases while another minor league ump, Jason Kiser, handled the plate, Cortesio was at first base for the first two innings before she switched across the diamond to third and then back again a couple of times. The moving around from side to side is standard for spring training games.

"I got a lot of, 'Hey Ria, where are you going to be this year?' That's the question. As of right now, I'm going back to the Southern League, but that's subject to change at any minute. As soon as a spot opens up at Triple-A, it's mine," she said.

Cortesio is the only female umpire in professional baseball. At 30, she is starting her ninth year overall and fifth in Double-A. Once she makes it to Triple-A, she'll be evaluated by major league umpire supervisors. If she's judged good enough, she would be invited to the Fall League, then to a full schedule of major league spring training games and finally to a spot as a fill-in in the majors.

No female umpire has ever worked a regular-season game in the majors. Cortesio obviously hopes to be the first.

"Absolute best-case scenario, we're looking at 2009 to get a couple of games," she said.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella, known for his run-ins with umpires over the years, apparently has her back and said so without putting his foot in his mouth.

"I think it's good. I really do," Piniella said. "I think there is a place for women in the umpiring ranks _ they're certainly as qualified as anybody else. I'm sure if they get the same opportunities, the same schooling that their male counterparts do, they'll do a really nice job."

Following up on Friday's Daily News media column that focused on the experiment the Angels are trying this year using Jose Mota on English-language TV games, we've got more where that game from:

=If only as a reference point to bridge last season to this one, you’d think Billy Packer and Jim Nantz would want to watch a replay of last year’s NCAA basketball title game between UCLA and Florida as part of the preparation for CBS’ coverage of the rematch game in Saturday’s Final Four.
Naw, not really.
“I’m really not into replaying games,” said Packer, ever the contrarian, who’ll be doing his 33rd consecutive Final Four, the last 26 for CBS. “I’ll review from the standpoint of statistics, but in my own mind, I’m more comfortable trying to better know these players. I don’t talk to coaches or assistant coaches before games to ask what they’re going to do. I think my job is to be prepared with as much without having a preconceived plan for what’s about to happen. That can lead to you getting your mind set on something that may not happen, and then you try to make that the story. My job is to figure things out as the game goes on.”
Nantz admits that in the time between now and the 5:47 p.m. tipoff, he will talk to the head coaches, the starters, attend today’s practices and, finally, when he’s in his hotel room “breaking away from the madness that can drain your energy, I’ll dust off last year’s DVD, pop it into my computer and maybe not watch it but have it on as background noise. That game is still fresh, but as I’m listening to it, I may hear some moment that’ll give me the opportunity to say, ‘What happened there?'”
What did happen, for those Bruins fans who’ve already put it out of their mind, is a Florida team that rattled off a 73-57 victory is back in tact to face a UCLA squad with six players (two starters) who get floor time in last year’s game.
Which may give UCLA more incentive, believes CBS studio analyst Clark Kellogg, in his 15th event for the network and an Ohio State grad who may be more distracted by the outcome of the other Final Four contest earlier in the day.
“When both teams have primarily their key players in place and everything’s close to even, the advantage psychologically goes to that team that lost the last time because you can’t manufacture that hunger in the team
seeking revenge,” said Kellogg. “You can’t drum that up that high pitch that’ll come from being an underdog with salt in its wound.”
“Not only did they lose that championship game but they got hammered,” added Packer. “UCLA was a much better team than the result indicated. It’s one thing if Florida eeked out a victory but when you get hammered with that personnel, that’s a heck of a motivating factor. This Florida team is obviously experienced and won’t go away. That’s what makes it such an intriguing matchup.”

Read on for more notes ...

Friday's sports media "Smokes and Chokes" gray box makes a segue from newsprint to the blogville this week:

WHAT SMOKES:
==The Dodgers have orchested what they're caling the "Home Base Network" -- basically, 25 local bars and restaurants where fans know they can go to see Dodger games all season long, especially with the season opener in Milwaukee on Monday at 11 a.m. Yankee Doodles in Woodland Hills is one of the primary targets, with former Dodgers third baseman Ron Cey scheduled to appear during Monday's game to help launch the program. Dodgers owners Jamie and Frank McCourt, along with Tommy Lasorda, are supposed to be at Barney's Beanery in West Hollywood. Other ex-Dodgers are also scattered around town, including -- and we're not making this up -- Steve Garvey is at the Hooters in Burbank and Fernando Valenzuela is at the Hooters in Pasadena. Maybe as the Dodgers continue their sponsorship deal with the restaurant banned by the airwaves during the NCAA basketball tournament, they can get the waitresses to wear outfits like this one. Wonder if Frank wanted the Hooters' assignment but had it shot down by the Mrs. For a list of all 25 locations, go to the Dodgers' website. The only other San Fernando Valley location (aside from Yankee Doodles in Woodland Hills) is appropriately named The Other Sports Bar, in Thousand Oaks.

==Is that Fox sportscaster Joe Buck we hear doing radio commercials on sports-talk stations in town expounding upon the beauty of the “MLB Extra Innings” package that’ll be available on DirecTV this season? Everything seems cut and dried to him that, despite all these Capitol Hill hearings on the fairness of the deal, the new home of the out-of-market pay-service for baseball games has definitely found a new home, no matter how many other cable operators or competing dish companies whine about it. Are we to assume then that Buck’s stop here means he’s next in line to offer testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation? Somehow, someone will tie Buck’s promos coincide with News Cor's announcement that David Hill, who had been the DirecTV Entertainment Group president, resigned to return fulltime at his position as chairman and CEO of Fox Sports. And in one of Hill’s first moves back, it was announced Thursday that he’s agreed to remove Buck from the “NFL on Fox” pregame, planting the program back from a road production to its Studio 2A home on the Fox Center in L.A. and giving the host chair to Curt Menefee fulltime. Buck, who got an Outstanding Studio Host Emmy nomination for his “NFL on Fox” work last year, remains the lead play-by-play man on the NFL with Troy Aikman, and on MLB with Tim McCarver. Hill said Buck was given a choice to keep doing the pregame or resume full-time play-by-play, and he took the latter as Fox will gear its 2007 NFL season toward the coverage of the Super Bowl in February ’08.

==Are the local sports-talk shows becoming the new platforms for presidental candidates to connect with the people? Wednesday, Petros Papadakis and Matt "Money" Smith had Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on their 570-AM afternoon drive show. Within hours, Steve Mason and John Ireland were talking war policies with Republican presidental candidate John McCain (pictured) on their 710-AM afternoon drive show.

== Before ESPN2 covers the opening of the Major League Baseball season with Sunday’s New York Mets-St. Louis contest (5 p.m.), ESPN will help launch the first Civil Rights game, Saturday at 2:30 p.m. when Cleveland meets St. Louis in Memphis, Tenn., home of the National Civil Rights Museum and at the stadium of the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate. The telecast, with Jon Miller, Joe Morgan and Peter Gammons, will include a five-minute documentary that Spike Lee did on the civil rights movement and the MLB. It’s part of ESPN’s coverage of the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the major league baseball color barrier, which will climax with coverage of the Dodgers’ home game against San Diego on Sunday, April 15.

WHAT CHOKES
==Former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson will be back as the Westwood One radio analyst for Saturday's Final Four -- including calling the game that his son, John Thompson III, coaches for the Hoyas against Ohio State in the first game of the doubleheader. The senior Thompson was tolerable at best while calling last Sunday's Georgetown overtime win over North Carolina, but the post-game celebration was hardly the kind of quality stuff you'd want to hear outside of the D.C. area.

==In George Solomon's farewell to ombudsmanship on the ESPN website, the former Washington Post sports editor admits he wonders "why ESPN still doesn't have an independent media reporter -- as many newspapers do -- to cover such stories as Ron Jaworski replacing Joe Theismann in the 'Monday Night Football' booth, the dismissal of Harold Reynolds and the departure of Michael Irvin? Such a reporter might have gotten a response from Theismann and his former boothmates, Mike Tirico and Tony Kornheiser, for the March 26 ESPN.com story, and ESPN TV reports, on Jaworski replacing Theismann." Because that would mean their independent reporters would get as stonewalled in trying to get a response out of the ESPN heirachy on any of those stories as the mainstream press, and it wouldn't look so good that the company was kicking one of its own to the curb -- or worse, exposing it for something it did really wrong. Solomon also says that the network "should be proud of reporters such as Bob Ley, Jeremy Schaap, Andy Katz, Tim Kurkjian, Rachel Nichols, Michele Tafoya, Buster Olney, Sal Paolantonio, George Smith, Tom Rinaldi, Mike Fish, Shaun Assael, Chris Mortensen, Jim Gray, Shelley Smith, John Clayton ..." Wait a second. Go back there a few names. Jim Freakin' Gray? Because, as he continues, they "subjugate their egos working and breaking news stories." Maybe it is time for Ol' Sol to hang 'em up. He's obviously not watching the same TV shows as I've been the last two years.

== And speaking of Theismann, it doesn’t take a Norman Einstein to figure out why ESPN has thrown Smokin' Joe for a loss on its “Monday Night Football” package, and it’s not because the network fears Jaws will scramble to another network. Theismann may go on the record as saying he was “shocked” by ESPN’s decision just days after they told him he was doing a great job, it again reinforces the fact that the former Washington Redskins quarterback didn’t see the blitz coming and now lies prone on the TV landscape without Lawrence Taylor standing over him in a panic. Sure there’s plenty of mixed signals when your boss, Norby Williamson, tells a group of reporters that Theismann was (and is) “a phenomenal game analyst” and “did everything we asked him do to” and “I don’t think we’re unhappy with him,” and then proceeds to make even less sense describing why Jaworski is a better fit with Tony Kornheiser and Mike Tirico. If anyone watching that threesome at home during a “MNF” game could figure it out, then way can’t Theismann? Now the greatest fear in all of college football is the idea that Theismann may take his employers up on their offer to join Brent Musburger in the booth for ABC’s Saturday night college football package. Those college football followers with access to blogs are already trying to sabotage any such occurrence. The fact remains that Theismann is still under contract with ESPN for four more years. He’s not going away without a loud, drawn-out, argumentative fight with someone.

== Jack Haley , after finishing talking over some highlights on Tuesday’s “Lakers Live” postgame show on FSN West, made the astutue move to toss it back to “Paul and Stu” for more on the contest. Since they had pre-taped their followup report, neither Joel Meyers nor Stu Lantz reacted to Haley’s mistake (a reference to Paul Sunderland, the former Lakers play-by-play man who was replaced by Meyers two seasons ago). Nor did Haley correct it.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Tucked away and forgotten for years, a plaque commemorating one of baseball’s darkest moments has been brought back to life.
A 175-pound bronzed memorial for Ray Chapman, the Cleveland Indians shortstop killed when he was hit in the head with a pitch in a 1920 game, was recently rediscovered after decades in storage.
Now refurbished, it will be displayed as one of the signature pieces in the new Heritage Park, a walkthrough exhibit beyond the center-field wall at Jacobs Field honoring Cleveland’s Hall of Famers and the Indians’ history.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” said Jim Folk, Indians vice president of operations, admiring the once-hidden treasure. “This was a lucky accident.”
Chapman was one of the Indians’ most popular players. “Chappie,” as he was known to everyone, was struck in
the temple by Carl Mays of the New York Yankees at the Polo Grounds on Aug. 16, 1920. Chapman passed away from his injury the next morning.
The beaning came before the advent of batting helmets, and the 29-year-old Chapman was hit so hard that Mays, a
renowned submariner and spitballer, thought the ball had come off Chapman’s bat. He fielded the ball and threw to first.

Read on ....

It's from "The Natural" -- Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs delivers a pitch in the scene at the county fair where he's about to strike out "The Whammer" (Joe Don Baker) and change the course of his baseball career. This publicity shot above issued by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to promote the new director's cut version of the movie (coming out April 3) has one small flaw.
But what's bigger, is that they've also used this shot on the DVD disc that you're looking at before loading it into the player.
The mistake? Yup, Redford is a left-handed pitcher in the movie. Not a righty.
Couldn't they have at least looked at the box from the last DVD release (left) of the movie that first hit the cinema in 1984?

Admit it, the most you've ever won in a California scratch off lottery ticket is the chance to buy more tickets and eventually lose all the spare single bills in your wallet. You should be scratching your head as to why you even wasted your time and hard-earned cash doing such a stupid thing ... and the next time you were at the 7-Eleven, you asked the guy behind the counter for another roll of 20 so you could hold up everyone else in line trying to buy a pack of cigarettes and a Monster Jolt cola because you had the right to pretend you were about to be an instant thousandaire.
Today, the Dodgers would like to help you take this illusion of riches to the next level.
The California Lottery Thieves have launched a $2 Major League Baseball Scratchers game. There's a chance to win $10,000, but they've also added gimmicks like having a chance to throw out the first pitch of a game, go on a road trip, have dinner with a former big-leaguer and win a chance to sit in a luxury suite with 20 friends. All well and fine. If you have the patience of the Kansas City Royals manager.
“Dodger Scratchers are a great way for us to offer fans the opportunity to win some memorable prizes,” said Dodger COO Marty Greenspun in a press release issued by the team. “It’s another fun way for our fans to get involved in Dodger baseball and give back to the California school system.”
Don't get us started about how much money actually goes to the state's schools. Or how the system that was supposed to use this money as a surplus to get things done like fix buildings and build new music rooms was abandoned because of Prop 13 lack of forsight.
Public education may get 34 cents for every dollar spent on the lottery, but that $1.28 billion given out from the sale of $3.58 billion in tickets during the 2005-06 school year is pretty much all the schools get now, since money they formerly received (without the lottery windfall) has been syphoned off into other state programs by our state legislature's haphazard spending. That's nice that, since its inception in 1985, the lottery has given schools $18 billion. Then why do the schools continue to suffer? Figure it out. The lottery money is the only thing supporting whether your fourth-grade kid gets a world history textbook.
“Now Californians can not only cheer for the Dodgers, but by purchasing one of the California Lottery’s new Dodger themed Major League Baseball Scratchers they’ll have the chance at prizes that baseball fans will truly love,” said Joan Borucki, California Lottery Director, in another statement. “By purchasing Dodger Scratcher tickets fans will have a chance to win once in a lifetime sports experiences; experiences they’ve only dreamed about can now become a reality.”
Dream big, my friend. As you can see, Nomar Garciaparra has been sucked into help promote this thing. Like he needs anything more in his wallet, except maybe the finances to suppliment the expenses for future nannies for his wife's pending twins.
It's the "second-chance" winners who'll get the opportunity to throw out the first pitch, etc. -- a big thanks to them for not only losing the first time, but having faith that they could actually win something if they just kept at it. That's the philoslophy, right?
Sorry for the somewhat sour attitude about all this, but it's a scam that just won't go away, and having the Dodgers and MLB be part of it perpetuate the idea that it's all about the public school kids and this will make their lives better. Nice promotion, nice effort, maybe not the right wagon to hitch your pony on.
Besides, what did you really ever win with a lottery scratcher, except get all that silver junk all over your shirt?
Read up more about this promotion on the lottery's website. And let's be careful out there. Even a state-educated grade-school kid can see through this one.

It took 10 weeks before Donald Trump was compelled to pull the trigger and banish three-time U.S. women's Olympic hockey team star Angela Ruggiero from NBC's "The Apprentice: Los Angeles" on Sunday's episode after the former Simi Valley native was the project manager on a task that fell so flat, Trump likened it to a hockey team getting thumped 7-0.
Ruggiero left the show in tears, the leader of her four-female Team Kinetic that couldn't generate as much money as the competing Team Arrow in a contest to sell admission tickets to Universal Studios.
From a starting field of 18 contestants, Ruggiero survived 10 firings before she was seriously in the line of fire. She had been on losing teams in the past but, as Trump admitted, she kept "staying under the radar."
Not this time. After Kinetic raised $24,000 in sales compared to $31,000 by Arrow, Ruggiero tried to claim Arrow's tactics were unethical and didn't represent Universal Studios as well as her team did.
She also tried to pin a "flawed concept" on new teammate Nicole. When Trump continued to ask her to make a case for her avoiding a firing, it wasn't compelling enough.
"My star, my Olympian, this is terrible," Trump said in the boardroom.
"I'm a scapegoat," Ruggiero said.
"I'm trying to keep you on as a great American," he said. "I feel guilty to have to fire you."
As Ruggiero wiped the tears away and entered the limo for the ride into the night at the end of the show, she summed up her experience:
"As an Olympic gold medalist, and a silver and bronze medalists, it always hurts to lose. Tonight, I didn't win. I learned so much in the process. And when you lose, you actually learn more about yourself. I won a gold, but I learned more and grew more when I won a silver and a bronze. So, I'm OK."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Gilbert Arenas was admonished by the NBA for making $10 bets with fans during the Washington Wizards' loss at Portland on Wednesday.
"We spoke to Gilbert and explained the issue to him," NBA spokesman John Acunto said Sunday. "And he assured us he wouldn't do anything like this again."
Arenas made the bets as he bantered with fans throughout the Wizards' 100-98 loss. He was booed during pregame introductions and whenever he touched the ball because he had promised to score 50 points against the Trail Blazers.
After the game, Arenas said he bet a fan $10 that he would make the game-winning basket. He missed badly _ throwing up a shot that fell short of the rim _ and finished with only 19 points.
"I owe somebody 10 bucks," Arenas said. "I bet a fan if I had a chance I would make the last shot."
Arenas later elaborated on his nba.com blog, saying that he made $10 bets with two fans during the game and had obtained their e-mail addresses so that he could pay them off. The NBA since has removed the references to the bets from the blog.
Arenas, who had 30 points in a loss to the Clippers on Saturday, was not available for comment Sunday, a day off for the Wizards during their West Coast road trip that takes them next to Utah on Monday.

Maria Sharapova celebrates her 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Venus Williams during the third round at the Sony Ericsson Open tennis tournament on Sunday. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)

Anyone care to elaborate?

CLEVELAND (AP) - LeBron James invited a buddy who has even more money than he does to watch him play. Billions and billions more.
Philanthropist and businessman Warren Buffett, wearing a black T-shirt with "Witness" glittering on the front, sat courtside as a guest of James on Sunday night for the Cleveland Cavaliers' game against the Denver Nuggets.
Though an unlikely pair, Cleveland's All-Star forward and Buffet are friends and mutual admirers. They first met a few months ago over a lunch of cheeseburgers in Omaha, Neb.
"He wanted a few tips on basketball and I wanted a little advice on money," joked Buffett, estimated by Forbes Magazine to be worth $52 billion. "We switch. He tells me what socks to buy and I tell him what stocks to pick."
Before tip-off, Buffett said he was eager to see his first NBA game in many years.
"I like basketball. I used to play when I was young _ not very well," said the 76-year-old Buffett, ranked by Forbes as the world's second-richest man behind Bill Gates. "Of course in Nebraska, they tend to identify with football."
Buffett said he has become a big fan of the 22-year-old James, who has built his own business portfolio. James signed a three-year, $60 million contract extension in July and already has endorsement deals worth an estimated $150 million.
"He's terrific," Buffett said. "I just want to be partners with him. He can probably buy the whole place."

If you've never pulled the strand cruiser out of the garage, thrown it in the back of the car and taken it down to Rosarito Beach for the annual 50 Mile Fun Ride that goes from the hotel down to Ensenada every April and September, there's added incentive this year.
The organizers of the event, in its 28th year, have decided to help out the "economincally challenged" families in that stretch of Northern Baja and will now collect cash donations for the local Red Cross of Rosarito Beach and Ensenada. With an estimated 7,500 riders, the added donations will be welcome.
"We encourage our riders to donate through our events," said Gary Foster of San Diego's Bicycling West, Inc. "A dollar or two from each of a few thousand people really adds up."
The event, which has a $35 pre-admission ($40 on race day), already generates over $10 million of tourism revenue each year for local Baja businesses. The Fun Run also collects bicycle donations for Baja residents, distributed through Mexico's family relief agency, D.I.F.
This year a new "elite start" will add to the competition from regional cycling clubs as well. Some 200 riders will try to beat the course record of 2 hours, 2 minutes, 8 seconds set last September.
The upcoming April 21 event starts at 10 a.m. in front of the Rosarito Beach Hotel and goes 50 miles south on Highway 1 to Ensenada. There are aid stations with purified water and Powerade, U.S. medical support, bike repair and a finish-line fiesta hosted by Corona with live music. All very safe and, most importantly, a great time.
For more information and registration, go to the race website (www.RosaritoEnsenada.com) or call (858) 483-8777. A company named Outback Adventures also offers transporation to and from the race, leaving from San Diego to avoid having to drive across the border for $75.

Herbalife has signed a deal reported to be almost $5 million for the next five years with AEG to slap its logo on the front of the new Galaxy jerseys, the Sports Business Daily reports today. AEG Sports President Shawn Hunter said: “This clearly sets a benchmark in MLS that other teams can shoot for.” It doesn't hurt that every picture of David Beckham in a Galaxy jersey will have an ad for the weight-management and nutritional supplement company staring the recipient in the face. The Galaxy isn't the only MLS team with an advertisement-friendly jersey. Real Salt Lake gets a reported $1 mil per year to have a patch for something called XanGo on their shirts. Many Euro kickball teams charge as much as $20 million-plus for ad space on their shirts. Herbalife also sponsors AEG's Amgen Tour of California bike race, the JPMorgan Chase Open tennis tournament, the Major League Lacrosse Riptide and has signage at the Home Depot Center. It'll also put its new headquarters in the L.A. Live complex next to Staples Center.

HBO's George Roy, left, and Ross Greenburg, right, pose with former UCLA coach John Wooden at Monday's screening in Westwood of "The UCLA Dynasty" documentary. Photo by Leroy Hamilton/HBO

The upcoming HBO Sports documentary, "The UCLA Dynasty," which debuts Monday and was reviewed today in the Daily News gave us cause to consider the premium channel's run of incredible sports documentaries over the last 16 years.
So we made up a Top 10 list of our favorites that helped set the standard for how sports TV documentaries have been produced:
1. “When It Was A Game” Part I (1991), Part 2 (1992) and Part 3 (2000)
2. “Reverse of the Curse” (2004)
3. “Arthur Ashe: Citizen of the World” (1994)
4. “The UCLA Dynasty” (2007)
5. “Nine Innings from Ground Zero” (2004)
6. “O.J.: A Study of Black & White” (2002)
7. “City Dump: The Story of the 1951 CCNY Basketball Scandal” (1998)
8. “Long Shots: The Life and Times of the American Basketball Association” (1997)
9. “Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer” (2006)
10. “The Curse of the Bambino” (2003)

==According to HBO's website, other air dates for "The UCLA Dynasty" after Monday (10 p.m.) include Wednesday March 28 (8:00 AM), Friday March 30 (9:00 AM and 7:00 PM) and Saturday March 31 (10:30 AM). It continues on HBO and HBO2 through the end of April and is on HBO On Demand from March 27 to April 24.

== "Wait'll Next Year: The Saga of the Chicago Cubs" is the HBO documentary nominated for a 2007 Emmy, according to the list that came out Thursday morning. If you're Emmy scoreboard watching, ESPN (26) and NBC (24) came out with the most nominees for the 28th Annual Sports Emmy awards. HBO (16), CBS (14), Fox (13), The NFL Network (11), ABC (10) and TNT (7) followed. Those who need to know more can go to Emmy's website at this link and see who's got the best chance to snuff out Bob Costas this time. Here's one mild (but pleasant) surprise: John Madden wasn't nominated for best TV analyst.

=For the first time, the Sports Emmys include a category for Outstanding Broadband Coverage. CBS Sportsline.com has two nominees, one for the March Madness on Demand and the other for Amen Corner Live during the Masters Tournament. The other nominees are Sports.Yahoo.com's Fantasy Football Live, Race2Replace.com and Discovery Communications on the Race 2 Replace, and TNT on NBA.com's "OverTime" segment on Charles Barkley in New Orleans.

According to the information provided by the Associated Press, this is Troy Dumais, competing in the men's 3-meter platform diving event at the World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia today. But it's creeping us out.

The gas grill offered for sale on eBay.com by Boston Red Sox outfielder Manny Ramirez was taken down from the auction website because it said he could not be verified as its owner and the listing violated company policy.
The seller’s contact information given to the Web site when the item was listed was not that of Ramirez, eBay spokeswoman Nichola Sharpe told the Associated Press.
The bidding began with a $3,000 minimum bid Tuesday afternoon, but reached $99,999,999 within hours. It was taken down from the site Wednesday.
EBay's problem was trying to verify ownership. Sharpe said the company support team called the phone number in the contact info and spoke with someone other than Ramirez.
“If it’s not officially from (Ramirez) it would disappoint his many fans," Sharpe said.
She suggested that if Ramirez is verified as the owner, he might want to list it on eBay’s charity program that allows proceeds to go to the charity of the seller’s choice. Which wouldn't be a bad PR move since he's in the
next to last year of a $160 million, eight-year contract.
One thing that tipped eBay into checking out ownership was that Ramirez told a Boston Globe reporter that the grill belonged to a neighbor in Weston, Fla.

By PAUL J. WEBER
Associated Press

RICHARDSON, Texas -- In the physics building at the University of Texas at Dallas, there’s a windowless office with two chairs and a wobbly table — more resources than most small suburban colleges would bother providing an after-school chess club.
But when it comes to chess here, Room 2.310 in Founders Hall is just the start.
At a school without football and a Division III sports program perpetually fighting obscurity, the chess team has evolved from being as relevant as a French club to an influential, brand-exposing billboard for UT-Dallas with a $109,000 budget — more than three times what the school gives to men’s basketball.
The financial blessing has made UT-Dallas, favored to win its third title in the final four of collegiate chess
that begins Saturday, a unique chess power that’s as internationally attractive to teenage chess masters as Duke and North Carolina are to prep basketball’s elite.
In 10 years, a club that began with occasional games run by a humanities professor now has a full-time director with a bigger paycheck than most head coaches on campus. The team also has a salaried instructor from the former Yugoslavia and a supply of full scholarships to use as bait in its year-round recruiting.
“For all the PR they get out of us, I think (the university) gets a pretty good return,” said Jim Stallings, the chess director whose prior marketing stops at companies such as Motorola are more valuable to his new job than his interest in the game.
A prominent engineering school with about 15,000 students, UT-Dallas hitched its wagon to chess with hopes of
making a board game often used as a nerdy punch line into a symbol of the school’s intellectual stature — even if, in the words of undergraduate dean Michael Coleman, “We don’t want to be snobs.”

Read on ...

A New York Times story sets an interesting timeline of how prep basketball phenom O.J. Mayo made initial contact and then agreed to play for USC basketball coach Tim Floyd, under rather unorthodox standards:

By Lee Jenkins
New York Times
LOS ANGELES — It sounds like a fairy tale.
A stranger walked into the University of Southern California basketball office one day last summer and asked to speak to the head coach. The stranger did not make an appointment. He did not call ahead. Tim Floyd, the U.S.C. head coach, cannot explain why he agreed to see him.
Nine months later, as U.S.C. prepares for the regional semifinal of the N.C.A.A. tournament, Floyd recounted his version of that conversation.
The mysterious man got right to the point. “How would you like to have the best player in the country?” he asked.
Floyd tried not to roll his eyes.
“Have you heard of O. J. Mayo?” the man asked.
Of course Floyd had heard of him. Everyone in basketball had heard of him. Mayo was first mentioned in Sports Illustrated when he was in the seventh grade. He was considered a future lottery pick by the time he entered high school. He once talked trash to Michael Jordan during a pickup game at Jordan’s camp.
Mayo was entering his senior season as a point guard at Huntington High School in Huntington, W.Va., but Floyd said he did not bother to call him. He did not even send him a U.S.C. brochure.
What was the point? Major universities had been courting Mayo for four years. Floyd had been at U.S.C. for fewer than 18 months. Besides, Floyd had only recruited two top-100 players in his life. He had no business going after Mayo, the No. 1 player in the country, especially being from a football college that was 3,000 miles away.
“O. J. wanted me to come here today,” the man told Floyd. “He wanted me to figure out who you are.” ...

Read on ...

Because that's what Sports Illustrated is predicting in its March 26 issue that hits the newsstands Wednesday. See the headline "Freeway Fever" down there along the right side? It means curtains for both Nomar Garciaparra and Frankie Rodriguez. Why couldn't the magazine just have predicted a UCLA-USC matchup for the NCAA national championship?
In its 1-to-30 overall team regular-season power rankings, SI actually lists the New York Yankees as the best team overall, with the Angels second, the Boston Red Sox third and the Dodgers fourth. But in their playoff scenario, the Angels beat the Yankees (again) in the ALCS, while the Dodgers win the NL West, beat Atlanta in the first round, then the New York Mets in the NLCS to reach the World Series.
At least if there's a cover jinx involved in this, it's going to drag down new Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka along with it.
Here's how SI determined the standings (with power rankings in parenthesis):

AMERICAN LEAGUE
East:
1. Yankees (1)
2. Red Sox* (3)
3. Blue Jays (9)
4. Orioles (24)
5. Devil Rays (28)

Central:
1. Indians (7)
2. Tigers (8)
3. White Sox (12)
4. Twins (17)
5. Royals (29)

West:
1. Angels (2)
2. Athletics (14)
3. Rangers (22)
4. Mariners (25)

NATIONAL LEAGUE
East
1. Mets (5)
2. Braves* (10)
3. Phillies (13)
4. Marlins (21)
5. Nationals (30)

Central
1. Cardinals (6)
2. Cubs (15)
3. Brewers (18)
4. Astros (19)
5. Pirates (26)
6. Reds (27)

West
1. Dodgers (4)
2. Diamondbacks (11)
3. Padres (16)
4. Rockies (20)
5. Giants (23)

*Wild-card team

The Kings' real men of genius who came up with the "Faith Night" promotion last week -- penalty minutes and fighting came optional -- are turning it up a notch for Wednesday's game at Staples Center.
Not only is the tiny Luc Robitaille jersey giveaway -- suitable for wearing if you're two feet tall -- but the Bud Light's "Real Men of Genius" are scheduled to perform a special hockey parody on the ice during the second intermission of the Kings-Stars game, according to the Kings' real men of PR genius.
Who out there does not appreciate the beauty of this promotional campaign, which actually started out as "Real American Heroes" in 1999 but then tastefully altered it to "Mean of Genius" after we found out there were some real American heroes who came out of the 9/11 attacks and sports, in general, stopped throwing around the word "heroes" so freely.
"Mr. Bowling Shoe Giver Outer" was the first "Real Men of Genius" radio spot.
Pete Stacker gives it the big-voice pompousity while David Bickler (pictured here), the former lead singer of "Survivor" whose voice is best rememberd on "Eye Of The Tiger," does the inspirational singing refrains that put the subtle dig into every commercial.
Budweiser actually has many of the 180 radio spots for sale on CD. The three CD set available on Amazon.com here goes for $60.
Well worth the price, my friend.
Usually we aren't this stoked about a beer commerical, but it's been Stacker and Bickler who are the men of genius who deserve to have their own night. The Real Men of Genius link on Wikipedia actually has the entire list of people who've been featured on the spots. We also found a site that does have mp3 recordings. It's astounding.
Bickler will also sing the National Anthem before the game, so get there early. Here's to you, tiny Luc jersey makers. And Stacker and Bickler. We salute you.

The Dodgers won't be blowing out of their Vero Beach, Fla., training facility for good until after 2008 spring training, where the plan is to set up the annual ritual of March in new digs in Glendale, Arizona in 2009. But for those buying T-shirts at the Dodgertown souvenir shops in Vero Beach these last few weeks, it's been kind of a geographically challenged experience. Note the Grapefuit League logo shirt.

CBS has released its NCAA basketball schedule of games for the Sweet 16 that start Thursday.
Here's how it falls together for the L.A. market:
Thursday:
Kansas vs. Southern Illinois in San Jose, 4:10 p.m. (Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas)
(Game we won't see: Memphis vs. Texas A&M in San Antonio at 4:27 p.m.)
UCLA vs. Pittsburgh in San Jose, approx. 6:40 p.m. (Enberg and Bilas)
(Game we won't see: Ohio State vs. Tennessee, approx. 7 p.m.)
Friday:
Florida vs. Butler in St. Louis, 4:10 p.m. (James Brown and Len Elmore) or
Georgetown vs. Vanderbilt in East Rutherford, N.J., 4:27 p.m. (Jim Nantz and Billy Packer)
(Game we won't see: UNLV vs. Oregon, approx. 6:40 p.m.)
USC vs. North Carolina in East Rutherford, N.J., approx. 7 p.m. (Nantz and Packer)

Bob Feller, the 88-year-old Hall of Famer from the Cleveland Indians, still makes the rounds for autograph signings and interviews.
During a Q-and-A with an Associated Press reporter on Friday in Winter Haven, Fla., Feller touched on these topics:
=On Pete Rose, who earlier this week admitted betting on the Cincinnati Reds to win every game while he was their
manager: “He’ll do anything to get his name in the paper or get attention. He’s a self-admitted liar. Great hitter, good fielder, pretty fair base runner, but an average manager. He’ll never get in the Hall of Fame. He’ll never get the votes.”
=On Iraq: “We should have gone in there with 450,000 troops — half with guns and half for support. We should have said, ‘We’re going to take your oil, we’re going to give you the going price and we’re going to set up martial law. You are going to do what we tell you, like we did in Japan after World War II. And if you don’t do what we tell you to do, you may not be around tomorrow.’”
=On President Bush: “We haven’t had good leaders in a while. I voted for Bush. He would have been a good president of a college, but that’s it. Instead of getting better, he’s got worse.”

LONDON (AP) — Toulouse’s Trevor Brennan was banned for life from rugby Friday for punching a fan. Brennan, who announced his retirement Tuesday, was also fined $33,250 and ordered to pay $6,650 in compensation to the fan. The ban was imposed by the disciplinary panel of the European Rugby Cup.
On Jan. 21, the former Ireland forward climbed into the stands and punched Patrick Bamford during Toulouse’s 28-13 win over Ulster in the Heineken Cup.
The 33-year-old Brennan later apologized but said he was provoked by a group of Ulster fans who had insulted his mother and poured beer on him.

Expanding on the Daily News media column in today's paper about all the maddening stuff going on this March duriing the NCAA tournament, it only makes sense to start with a video game that somehow doesn't include John Madden himself:

=If Florida, North Carolina, Kansas, and Ohio State are the No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tourney, only two will make it to the Final Four if you are to believe the Electronic Arts "NCAA March Madness 07" videogame that played out the 65-team tournament for ESPN.com. To watch how the computer decided it, go to this ESPN.com link. And for the EA Sports videogame simulations, you can click onto this link. For the record, EA had USC losing to Arkansas by five in the first round, UCLA losing by seven in the second round to Gonzaga and Long Beach State losing by 10 to Tennessee in the first round. Oregon, however, went all the way to the Midwest final (Great Eight) before losing to Florida.

=ESPN.com also reports that more than 3.3 million brackets were entred into its "Men's Tournament Challenge" contest, about 300,000 more than did it last year. Some of the trends reported there: More picked Kansas, Ohio State, Florida and North Carolina to reach the final four than any other team; Ohio State was picked to defeat North Carolina more than 60 percent of the time, as was Florida picked to knock out Kansas; a little more than half of them picked Ohio State to beat Florida in the title game, and only 26% of the entrants picked Virginia Commonwealth to defeat Duke. The Men’s Tournament Challenge entrant with the most points wins $10,000.

=ESPN, which threw on old boxing matches and replays of some figure skating events during the 9 a.m.-to 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.-to-9 p.m. windows against the NCAA tournament, does have its "College GameDay" crew analyzing the day's activites between 2-and-3 p.m. and again from 9-to-10 p.m. as it blends into the day's "SportsCenter."

= Starting Saturday, all 63 games of the women's tournament will be on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN Full Court fo the fifth year in a row. ESPN and ESPN2 have 48 first- and second-round games in 13 windows. ESPN Full Court has the out-of-market pay-per-view package.

Read on ..

Just stumbling around some of the minor-league baseball websites looking for promotions coming up in the 2007 season and found this nice event that the Lancaster JetHawks are planning for on April 26:
"Chucks Beer Bucks"
Get domestic draft beer for just $1 until the end of the 6th inning!
Sponsored by: L.A. Daily News
Bottoms up. And there's more of 'em on May 10, June 7 and 21, July 5 and 26, Aug. 2 and 9,

Also, on May 6, the Daily News will also sponsor:
Mullet Appreciation Day
Then, on June 10, the Daily News also sponsors:
Bald Is Beautiful Day.

Ready to phone it in for the NCAA basketball tournament? Your cell reception better be good.
Something that we hope we're never held hostage under, but a service that nonetheless probably gets the kids involved maybe unlike no other, is what Sprint makes available to customers wilth a bunch of interactive content beyond updated on scores and highlights.
More than 10 hours of stuff, covering about 300 shows, will provide up-to-the-basket updates on the Sprint Power View along with a handset-based tournament bracket tracker.
Among the things to scroll through in the "college hoops" folder part of the service:
"Insider's Bracket" -- coaches like John Calipari (Memphis), Billy Gillespie (Texas A&M), Rick Pitino (Louisville), Bo Ryan (Wisconsin), Bill Self (Kansas) and Gary Williams (Maryland) do one-minute shows talking about first-round matchups.
"Sprint Tournament Center" -- starts Thursday and is hosted by Fox Sport's Chris Rose in a studio-kind of production with coaches such as Perry Clark and Matt Doherty, and ex-players like B.J. Armstrong, Stacey King and Steve Smith who analyze the games and answer fan questions.
"March Madness Coaches Preview" -- available today, March 20 and 27. Weekly shows with coaches, some just eliminated from the tournament, providing more analysis.
Scores come every minute on the GameCenter application. Alerts come in real-time text messages as well, depending on the fans' needs. There's also a portal by texting "HOOPS" to 777* via the Sprint Vision/Power Vision Sports pages.
They've also got a bracket contest at no extra charge; just imput the choices on the phone between today and Thursday morning. And, of course, hundreds of ring tones, screen savers and victory songs that can be downloaded (for about two bucks a pop) just to annoy the heck out of your office mates at www.sprint.com/digitallounge

In all the filters we have to view the NCAA basketball tournament, the only thing closest to being in a Las Vegas sports book/casino watching every game on a big-screen TV and fighting for a chair and free cocktail is DirecTV's Mega March Madness. It's worth every cent of the $69 price tag for your individual ability to switch to the games you want.
Why didn't Congress throw a fit when this exclusive deal was renewed last January? It's the same thing as MLB's "Extra Innings," only better.
Maybe DirecTV fears that those using the free "March Madness On Demand" will cut into their territory, but it's a completely different ballgame. If you're home, especially on the weekends, this is the only way to watch (sorry, CBS, but we go beyond our market of local interest and the Pac-10 to see other games). At least this service is still available. Think of it as an upgraded buffet. Not the Hometown Buffet you'd get with CBS, but more of the one you'd get for $50 at the Queen Mary on a Sunday brunch. It's better food, the view is much nicer, and when it's over, you feel you got your money's worth. It's not just appeasing the ADD people of the world. This is just exercising your right to know what's going on at every corner of the bracket no matter what game CBS feels you need to be seeing instead.
And, for those with hi-def sets, you're all set.
This DirecTV service has been around for awhile; it's in its eight year. And it keeps improving. The mix channel is a must, especially to see four games at the same time (except what CBS is showing locally). Just make sure you got the big screen to fit it (we learned that during the NFL's "Sunday Ticket" package). The interactive bracket element allows you to plug in your picks and track them. That's stuff Vegas can't offer. But there's no automatic gambling element or a reward for winning.
Doesn't matter. You've already won with Mega March Madness. Just be aware that you'll see more Dick Vitale ads for DiGiorno's pizza than a stomach can handle.

On the radio, the NCAA basketball tournament jumps around on Sporting News Radio AM -1540 in Los Angeles (except for USC games on 710-AM and UCLA games on 570-AM). But the real fan stuck doing a lot of driving during the day on business trips may want to invest in Sirius Satellite Radio for the tournament -- it has every single game. Sirius is the only radio broadcaster to have this, and this is the third year they've done it, with no blackouts and no extra charge to customers.

Games air on channels 119, 122, 125 and 126 with host Steve Torre as the traffic controller.
For full bracket schedule, go to the service's website here or see below:

Play-in game
Tonight; 4:30 PM: #16a Florida A&M vs. #16b Niagara -- Channel 123

First round
Thursday:
9:20 AM: #4 Maryland vs. #13 Davidson -- Channel 125
9:25 AM: #7 Boston College vs. #10 Texas Tech -- Channel 126
9:40 AM: #6 Louisville vs. #11 Stanford -- Channel 119
11:40 AM: #5 Butler vs. #12 Old Dominion -- Channel 125
11:40 AM: #3 Washington St. vs. #14 Oral Roberts -- Channel 122
11:45 AM: #2 Georgetown vs. #15 Belmont -- Channel 126
Noon: #3 Texas A&M vs. #14 Penn -- Channel 119
1:55 PM: #6 Vanderbilt vs. #11 George Washington -- Channel 122
4:10 PM: #6 Duke vs. #11 VCU -- Channel 125
4:10 PM: #1 Ohio State vs. #16 C. Connecticut St. -- Channel 119
4:20 PM: #8 Marquette vs. #9 Michigan St. -- Channel 126
4:25 PM: #2 UCLA vs. #15 Weber St. -- Channel 122
6:30 PM: #3 Pittsburgh vs. #14 Wright St. -- Channel 125
6:30 PM: #8 BYU vs. #9 Xavier -- Channel 119
6:40 PM: #1 North Carolina vs. #16 E. Kentucky -- Channel 126
6:45 PM: #7 Indiana vs. #10 Gonzaga -- Channel 122

Friday:
9:15 AM: #4 Virginia vs. #13 Albany -- Channel 122
9:25 AM: #7 UNLV vs. #10 Georgia Tech -- Channel 126
9:30 AM: #2 Memphis vs. #15 North Texas -- Channel 119
11:35 AM: #6 Notre Dame vs. #11 Winthrop -- Channel 125
11:45 AM: #5 Tennessee vs. #12 Long Beach -- Channel 122
11:50 AM: #7 Nevada vs. #10 Creighton -- Channel 119
11:50 AM: #2 Wisconsin vs. #15 Texas A&M CC -- Channel 126
1:55 PM: #3 Oregon vs. #14 Miami of Ohio -- Channel 125
4:10 PM: #1 Kansas vs. #16 FL A&M-Niagara winner -- Channel 126
4:10 PM: #5 Virginia Tech vs. #12 Illinois -- Channel 122
4:20 PM : #8 Arizona vs. #9 Purdue -- Channel 119
4:25 PM: #4 Texas vs. #13 New Mexico St. -- Channel 125
6:30 PM: #8 Kentucky vs. #9 Villanova -- Channel 126
6:30 PM: #4 S. Illinois vs. #13 Holy Cross -- Channel 122
6:40 PM: #1 Florida vs. #16 Jackson St. -- Channel 119
6:45 PM: #5 USC vs. #12 Arkansas -- Channel 125

If you haven't figured out that you really need to reserve a spot in the rotation for the March Madness On Demand feature that CBS Sportsline.com runs for the NCAA, make it a point to do so ASAP.

As we noted in Friday's Daily News, this year's version of the service launched last year includes a bigger monitor to view games, better quality picture, more audio options (not just the CBS announcers, but the Westwood One Radio call so you can listen to one game and watch another) and that popular "Boss Button" that allows you to put a fake spread sheet up on your computer to make it look like work is getting done. Surely, this won't help if you're watching on a wifi laptop in your American Lit class, but the teacher should expect such hijinx from college students interested in how they're about to lose their lunch money.

Joe Ferreira, the VP of Programming and Executive Producer of CBS SportsLine, told us one of his favorite new features is the original halftime shows -- which kind of defeats the purpose of switching around to another game in progress.

"We used CBS' halftime stuff in the past, and that was OK, but w needed to take it to the next level with our own live halftime show with Jason Horowitz along with multiple coaches helping out like Norm Roberts and Bobby Gonzalez. We're looking to have conversation about that games that are going on. It won't be like TV, but more of a discussion about what's going on in the locker room, things like that."

About 265,000 signed up for the free VIP passes -- which allows you to get right into the games due to heavy traffic instead of waiting around for a spot to open. Eventually, 1.3 million used the free service. CBS SportsLine announced this morning that they've already taken 400,000 registrations and have extended the deadline for VIP passes until Wednesday at noon. They originally wanted 400,000 to be the cutoff point, but they reached that on Monday.

"As the current registration numbers would indicate, our users are definitely starting to recognize the significance of obtaining VIP status for MMOD," said Steve Snyder, Chief Operating Officer, CBS Interactive. "The year-over-year pre-registration growth we are seeing with MMOD is a great indication that this service is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated live events on the Internet."

More stories on the service:
http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3664656

The philosophy of CBS when it comes to bringing games to each market during the NCAA tournament is 1) a team of local interest (UCLA, USC, Long Beach State), 2) a conference of local interest (Pac-10) and 3) the best game otherwise. Since the Pac-10 has six teams in, and three locals, it's a pretty easy schedule to figure out.
So if you're just going with the regular, good ol' over-the-air CBS feed, here's what the L.A. market will get -- that is, games in their entirety, unless there's a blowout and they switch -- for the first round:

Thursday:
9:40 a.m.: Stanford vs. Louisville at Lexington, Ky. (with Gus Johnson/Dan Bonner)
11:40 p.m.: Washington State vs. Oral Roberts in Sacramento (with James Brown/Len Elmore)
4:25 p.m.: UCLA vs. Weber State in Sacramento (Brown/Elmore)
Approx. 6:45 p.m.: Indiana vs. Gonzaga in Sacramento (Brown/Elmore)

Friday:
9:25 a.m.: UNLV vs. Georgia Tech in Chicago (with Jim Nantz/Billy Packer)
Approx. 11:45 a.m.: Long Beach State vs. Tennessee in Columbus, Ohio (with Tim Brando/Mike Gminski)
(Note: This means L.A. market may only see the end of Oregon vs. Miami of Ohio from Spokane since it is in the same CBS window as LB State-Tenn. but will tipoff at about 2 p.m. and end after the network cuts away for a break)
4:20 p.m.: Arizona vs. Purdue in New Orleans (with Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery)
Approx. 6:45 p.m.: USC vs. Arkansas in Spokane (with Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel)

Also, College Sports TV (CSTV) will have:
Thursday, approx. 1:55 p.m.: George Washington vs. Vanderbilt (with Brown/Elmore)
Friday, 9:15 a.m.: Virginia vs. Albany (with Brando/Gminski)

From the USA Today website today:

By Travis Hubbard
The (Huntington, W.Va) Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Huntington High school basketball star O.J. Mayo, committed to attending USC in the fall, was one of four young males cited for misdemeanor possession of marijuana late Friday night, according to Cabell County Sheriff's Deputy Doug Adams.
Adams, who was working in a Cabell County Sheriff's drug task force unit assigned to serve a search warrant at a house on the 2200 block of 10th Avenue, said a suspicious car was pulled over with Mayo inside.
"This was unrelated, but the car kept circling the area and was stopped," Adams said. "Along with Mayo, there were three other people in the car. The driver had a small amount of marijuana on him, and in the back of the car in a spare set of shoes was more marijuana."
Inside the car were three adult men and one juvenile. Mayo, the 19-year-old Huntington High senior hoops star, was seated in the front passenger seat of the car that Adams described as a Cadillac.
Adams said all four individuals were cited with simple possession because none of the passengers claimed ownership of the marijuana. Adams did not recall the names of the three other passengers but said they were not Huntington High basketball players.
Mayo was not arrested or taken into custody. He will have to appear in Cabell Magistrate Court, but the date for his appearance could not be confirmed.
He transferred to Huntington last August for his senior year from North College Hill in Cincinnati, where he had been since spring of 2003.
The Huntington native had transferred in 2001 from Huntington's Cammack Middle School to Rose Hill Christian in Ashland, Ky., before the transfer to North College Hill.

The (Huntingont, W.Va) Herald-Dispatch is owned by Gannett, USA TODAY's parent company
Contributing: Wire reports

By EDDIE PELLS
AP National Writer
HESPERUS, Colo. -- The waist-length pigtails are gone, replaced by a layer of dusty blonde hair so short it doesn’t need a brush. Those ‘80s tennis skirts are history, too. In their place, a black nun’s habit belted with a band of white rope that her dogs like to chew.
One constant: Sister Andrea Jaeger isn’t quite who everyone might think she is.
Even when she was a teenage tennis star — all backhands and braces — she knew she wouldn’t last long in that
world, though hers was not a typical tale of burnout or overbearing parents. She succumbed to an injury early. When it took her off the court for good, she felt a sense of relief, because it allowed her to pursue her real passion — helping children.
Through all that, she built a profound relationship with God, one that gave her direction at first, then the strength and motivation to navigate the good and bad times that came later.
A few months ago, at age 41, Jaeger became a Dominican nun — the next, but not final, step on a journey hardly anyone could have envisioned in the ‘80s while she was perfunctorily dispatching women twice her age on
the tennis court en route to No. 2 in the world.
“I didn’t do anything according to a formula people were used to seeing,” said Jaeger, still trim and fit even though
she rarely plays tennis anymore.

Read on ...

This story that finally hit the wire services Friday afternoon about the well-respected Stanford swim coach who decided that the best way to get back at a few of his ex-athletes was to delete their records from the Cardinal media guides didn't violate any NCAA regulations. It was just a really slimey thing to do.
The indefinite suspension that the school eventually levied on coach Skip Kenney once someone discovered that the marks were erased may only be the start of things.
But for those who follow Cal State Northridge sports, it's worth reading between the deleted lines here.
Sure, it's the draconian Kenney, whose teams have won the last 26 Pac-10 championships, who's ultimately responsible for expunging the records of the five world-class swimmers who once competed for Standford. The athletes contend it's his way of trying to get back at them for defying some of his wishes about off-season swim training.
And it's Kenney who issued the lame apology: "I wish to apologize for a serious mistake in judgment on my part. To exclude these five student-athletes from our media guide was an error, and it will be corrected immediately."
Athletic director Bob Bowlsby acknowledged "the intentional omissions'' were directed by
Kenney, but he also said that former media relations representative Bob Vazquez, who produced the media guide, was "equally responsible for a tremendous mistake in judgment.''
Vazquez ... Vazquez .... Where have we heard that name?
Oh, he's now the associate athletic director for media relations at Cal State Northridge.
He says he accepted the revised list of best times that Kenney gave him for the 2006-07 media guide even though he was aware that some times were omitted.
"Because the coaches pay for their media guides (out of their own sports' funds), they have control over all the editorial content,'' Vazquez said in the San Francisco Chronicle. "In the records section, this is the top-15 list he wanted used. I didn't ask why some of the times were different" from previous years.
Was Kenney being vindictive in editing the lists?
"I don't know what to say because I didn't know Skip's motive at the time,'' Vazquez said. "It was my first year of doing swimming. Looking at it today, I probably would have questioned it."
Speaking from the Pac-10 men's basketball championships at Staples Center, Bowlsby told The Chronicle, "This is not editorial content. This is fact-based information. You don't selectively edit fact-based information. (Vazquez) should have gone to someone else in the department and found out what (was) the appropriate thing to do.''
We'll let you draw your own conclusions about how information comes out of CSUN's athletic department these days with Vazquez in charge of the delete key.

According to a poll on NBA.com:

10. Doris Day
9. Arsenio Hall
8. Leo DiCaprio
7. Penny Marshall
6. Denzel Washington
5. Andy Garcia
4. Ice Cube
3. Flea (Anthony Kiedis) of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
2. Dyan Cannon
1. Jack Nicholson
(Did Jack actually get into a game once?)

The pannel who picked 'em are:
=Gail Goodrich, the Basketball Hall of Famer out of Poly High in Sun Valley, the 1961 City Player of the Year, UCLA star guard on their '64 and '65 NCAA title teams, and leading scorer on the Lakers' 1972 NBA Championship team (with West and Chamberlain)
=Andrew Bernstein, the team's official photographer for the last 20 years.
=Bobby Colomby, the drummer from Blood, Sweat &Tears and a long-time Lakers season ticket holder.

So who's gonna tell Michael Clark Duncan he didn't make the cut? Let Snoop Dogg do it.

Who else missed the list: Britney Spears, shown below leaving Staples Center during a recent Lakers game (before her hairdo change). They had just put her face up on the giant scoreboard screen and the fans reacted with a chorus of boos:

There'll be no reference from Dick Enberg about the DVD release of "Borat" or the new season of "South Park" during his call of Saturday's Pac-10 Conference basketball final (Channel 2, 3 p.m.). It's just not his style. Some say that's why he may not connnect as well with today's younger audience, but for those ADD viewers, they're missing out on a treat when Enberg calls a college basketball game. Following up on our story in today's Daily News about Enberg's preparation for March Madness, where he'll be paired with Jay Bilas on the NCAA Tournament coverage, we allow the professor to expand more on a couple of things:

Before the Bruins' loss Thursday, on UCLA's chances past the Pac-10 tournament: "I saw a lot of the Bruins on the local telecasts," said Enberg, who lives in LaJolla and covered the UCLA-Arizona game from Tuscon recently. "I think they're as good as last year (when they went to the final and lost to Florida), maybe better. I love watching (Darren) Collison. I think UCLA is one of 30 teams that could win it all. Maybe that's not an exaggeration. The selection committee can't even decide on who the four No. 1 seeds will be -- there's probably nine candidates. I do love how coach Howland has UCLA playing defense, and I'm sure John Wooden would echo that statement. There was a long stretch between Wooden and today's team that they had terrific players but forgot to play on the defensive end. Now Howland has brought it back and for that I applaud his efforts."

On the Sunday Selection Show (CBS, 3 p.m.): "Going back to how we'd do it at NBC, I think our version had maybe two cameras set up in a high school gym somewhere, Al McGuire would be taking a catnap and Billy Packer would be taking a shower trying to work out who'd be playing whom. And that was all our preparation. I know the reason it's become so big is because it cuts such a beautiful swatch across America. Everyone has a rooting interest. Either your team is from your geographical area, or you know someone who went to some school, or you just love the underdog -- and we're bound to have another George Mason be a team that makes it into the final 16 or final eight again."

One more thing about McGuire: The one-act play that Enberg wrote last year called "McGuire" will be performed in Atlanta on the Sunday between the Final Four and the championship game. "There are so many that can still relate to him," said Enberg of his former broadcast partner and successful coach at Marquette. "With so many people in town Sunday looking for something to do, this will be really special."

Read on for more notes ....

AP photo by Jae C. Hong

Lester Murray, left, and his wife Lesley, of Fort Collins, Colo., cheer on Colorado State during its game against San Diego State during the first half of a Mountain West Conference basketball tournament game at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Thursday.

AP photo by Rich Pedroncelli

Actress Eva Longoria, left, shows the engagement ring she received from San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker, to season-ticket holder Vikki Mitchell, right, before the Spurs' game against the Sacramento Kings Thursday night in Sacramento.

By JOE LAPOINTE
New York Times
NEW YORK — Security at sports arenas has been tightened in recent years, but it is still possible for an oddly dressed bearded man to walk into a major event at Madison Square Garden with a long rifle and not be questioned or searched.
That was what happened Wednesday night and Thursday night at the Big East Conference men’s basketball tournament. The man was Mountaineer, the mascot for the University of West Virginia. He is also known as Brady Campbell, a senior majoring in wood science and technology.
He carries the rifle, which was not loaded, as part of a costume that includes a buckskin frontier suit, moccasins and a coonskin cap.
Did Campbell, who was not the mascot last season, expect to be more closely observed by security personnel in the heart of Midtown Manhattan?
“They should have,” he said.
Bobbi Mohrman, the spirit program coordinator for the university, said that previous mascots had been searched when entering the Garden. Last year, she said, the police thoroughly examined the Mountaineer and his rifle before allowing him in.
Madison Square Garden issued a statement Thursday night that said: “The Garden is in communication with the University of West Virginia with regard to the rifle prior to the tournament. It gets checked. We know it’s not loaded. We understand it is a part of his costume.”
Campbell does not bring gunpowder to road games. But he carries it in his costume’s pouch to home games and uses it. He does not shoot projectiles, he said, only gunpowder.
Campbell said that the mascots stopped bringing gunpowder to shoot at road games because universities had become more conscious of security since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
“All the schools jumped on the bandwagon,” he said.
Mohrman expressed concern that the publicity would lead to the banning of the rifle from the Garden. She said that universities like Rutgers still celebrated touchdowns by shooting a cannon and that the rifle was a
“home-team advantage.”
Campbell said that the rifle was a .45-caliber and “not a musket.” It is more than 4 feet long and made of curly maple and brass. Although the gun shoots only powder, there have been mishaps, Campbell said. In the early 1970s,
he said, a mascot lost fingers in a firing accident.

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) -- Freeda Kirkpatrick Thorpe, the second wife of Olympic and professional athlete Jim Thorpe, has died. She was 101.
She died Friday at Willow Springs Care.
Thorpe divorced her famous husband in 1941 after 15 years of marriage, but continued to field calls about their life together into the late 1980s. They had four children together.
Jim Thorpe won Olympic gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in 1912, but the medals were stripped from him after it was determined he had played professional baseball. The medals were reinstated by the
International Olympic Committee in 1982. He also played professional football. He died in 1953.
Freeda Thorpe told the Yakima Herald-Republic in 1996 that she met Thorpe while she was working in Ohio for the manager of a baseball team Thorpe played for. Born in Edicott, Va., she had worked as a secretary. It was the second of three marriages for Jim Thorpe.
Survivors include three sons, William Thorpe of Texas, and Jack Thorpe and Richard Thorpe, both of Oklahoma; a sister, Margaret Obenaur of Missouri; eight grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren. At her request, no
services will be held.

By WILL GRAVES
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Henry is grumpy, in one of those “I don’t care what you want, I’m not coming over” kind of moods. So no matter how many times one of the greatest thoroughbreds is offered a treat, he ignores it. Maybe
he’s not hungry. Maybe he sees a cameraman from the corner of his eye. Maybe he’s just playing hard to get.
Doesn’t matter. He’s simply not moving.
John Henry, horse racing’s elder statesman and twice the Horse of the Year, turns 32 on Friday.That’s the human equivalent of 96. But don’t think that because his coat has grown long and shaggy that time has mellowed him. John Henry remains as grouchy as ever.
The caretakers at Kentucky Horse Park’s Hall of Champions have been waging a daily battle of wills with John Henry for more than two decades, and losing.
“If he doesn’t try to kill me at least once a day, something’s wrong,” said Cathy Roby, the manager of the Hall of Champions, a small barn John Henry shares with a handful of other racing legends, including Cigar.
Read on ....

The Hole - video powered by Metacafe

It first appeared on Deadspin.com a couple of weeks ago, but now the national wire service has finall caught up:

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - When John Cornwell graduated from Duke University last year, he landed a job as software engineer in Atlanta but soon found himself longing for his college lifestyle.

So the engineering graduate built himself a contraption to help remind him of campus life: a refrigerator that can toss a can of beer to his couch with the click of a remote control.

"I conceived it right after I got out," said Cornwell, a May 2006 graduate from Huntington, N.Y. "I missed the college scene. It embodies the college spirit that I didn't want to let go of."

It took the 22-year-old Cornwell about 150 hours and $400 in parts to modify a mini-fridge common to many college dorm rooms into the beer-tossing machine, which can launch 10 cans of beer from its magazine before needing a reload.

With a click of the remote, fashioned from a car's keyless entry device, a small elevator inside the refrigerator lifts a beer can through a hole and loads it into the fridge's catapult arm. A second click fires the device, tossing the beer up to 20 feet _ "far enough to get to the couch," he said.

Is there a foam explosion when the can is opened? Not if the recipient uses "soft hands" to cradle the can when caught, Cornwell said.

In developing his beer catapult, Cornwell said he dented a few walls and came close to accidentally throwing a can through his television. He's since fine-tuned the machine to land a beer where he usually sits at home, on what he called "a right-angle couch system."

For now, the machine throws only cans, although Cornwell has thought about making a version that can throw a bottle. The most beer he has run through the machine was at a party, when he launched a couple of 24-can cases.

"I did launch a lot watching the Super Bowl," he said. "My friends are the reason I built it. I told them about the idea and hyped it so much and I had to go through with it."

A video featuring the device is a hit on the Internet, where more than 600,000 people have watched it at metacafe.com, earning Cornwell more than $3,000 from the Web site.

Cornwell said he has talked to a brewing company about the machine, but right now only one exists. Asked if he might start building some for sale, he said: "I'm keeping that option open, depending on interest."

When Cornwell was a student at Duke he participated in the engineering school's robotic basketball contests, said mechanical engineering Professor Bob Kielb. He said students tried to build a robot that could retrieve a pingpong ball and toss it into a small hoop.

"He always did well in it," Kielb said. "He came up with completely unique ideas."

Now that Sports Illustrated has officially acknowledged global warming, that is.
The issue that comes out Wednesday features Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis up to his knee kick in flood water. Hurricane Katrina? Nope, this is the prediction by Al Gore and his cast of the Academy Award winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" that melting icecaps will eventually flood Florida, San Francisco and New York to a point where you'd better have a good set of scuba gear if that's where you want to live.
The Sports and Global Warming edition of SI, which can easily be turned into mulch when you're finished, covers these issues:
-- Full-court flood: Scientists project up to a one-meter increase in sea level by 2100, which will alter the shape of the land and swamp well-known sports venues in low-lying regions of the U.S. including San Francisco Bay and South Florida.
-- Getting Up to Par: Once criticized by environmentalists for their casual treatment of resources, golf courses are now places where biodiversity is encouraged, wetlands created, water purified – and a round can be played guilt-free.
-- China Cleans Up: The race is well under way to clear the air before the 2008 Olympic Games get started.
-- Muddy Slopes: With less snow falling and warmer temperatures making artificial snow an expensive alternative, World Cup races are being canceled and ski resorts from the Alps to the Poconos are suffering.
-- Arena of the Future: The next generation of sports facilities will be powered by alternative energy, incorporate parks into the designs, rely on mass transit, conserve water and be built with reusable materials – but don’t ask about ticket prices.
Maybe we can see followup stories about stadiums that ban styrofoam cups and teams that used recycled left-handed relief pitchers.

Yes, there was a night last year when Steve Mason, the KSPN-AM (710) sports-talk host, had captured the attention of everyone in attendance at Dodger Stadium just to hear him sing.
They all stood, took off their caps, and listened. Because they had to.
You can get that same feeling of false superiority.
The Tuesday night, April 10 Dodger game against Colorado -- the second home game of the season, following Monday's 1 p.m. game -- could be yours to sing the National Anthem if you're good enough to win the "Oh Say Can You Sing" contest sponsored by Movin 93.9 radio.
Fill out the form available at the Fan Forum link at Dodgers.com, submit a CD, VHS or cassette tape of the anthem -- your own, preferrably -- and get it done before March 21. Finalists will be determined on March 31.
Mail it to:
Dodgers/KMVN ‘Oh Say Can You Sing’ Talent Competition
Special Events Department
Los Angeles Dodgers
1000 Elysian Park Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Credit to SportsByBrooks by way of Awful Announcing, which led us to tracking this down on the PRNewswire website : A "different" apology issued today by HBO boxing announcer Jim Lampley about his recently settled domestic dispute case.

After Lampley pleaded no contest last month and was handed a sentence of some community service and a rehab program, he issued the statement:

"The thing that I am most guilty of is choosing (the) wrong woman."

Apparently that wasn't good enough for Candice Sanders.
Hence, this apology in full:

SAN DIEGO, March 6 /PRNewswire/ -- The following is being released today from the Law Office of Patricia A. Gregory:
On behalf of James Lampley his attorney has authorized the release of the following apology to Candice Sanders:
"It is with considerable regret and deep embarrassment that I acknowledge having overreacted to a household dispute with Candice Sanders on New Year's Eve. As a result of my anger, our dispute has become a matter
of public discussion and speculation and I accept responsibility for that. To bring closure to this process, I am offering my full and unconditional apology to Miss Sanders and her family, as well as to all my friends, family and professional colleagues who have been unwarrantedly damaged by the events of that night. Miss Sanders feels very deeply and sincerely, as do I, about the rights of women and children. She will be a powerful symbol on their behalf, and I will thoroughly support and encourage her organized efforts in this regard. At the same time, I would encourage all to look favorably on Candice's efforts and contribute wholeheartedly to the advancement of this cause."
SOURCE Patricia A. Gregory Law Office.
Where do we go from here?
Celebrity boxing on Fox.

Latest blog posting by our most favorist down-and-out media guy in town concerns actual begging for an entrance pass into this weekend's Pac-10 basketball tournament at Staples Center.
And we quote from his last blog item:

"Still trying to get a press credential for the Pac-10 tournament. Tickets, at $130 are a bit steep for me right now. Hopefully, by Thursday, I’ll find a way in. See you then."

Does this mean that he'll actually accept a press credential even if he's not there as a working member of the media just to avoid paying for a ticket?
Man, this crap just gets more and more sad by the minute.

It reminds us of that episode of "The Three Stooges," where the boys were trying to get into a horse race. They noticed all these guys going into this one entrance flashing a button and saying, "Press!" as they passed the guard. The guys go into the bathroom and see the water faucets have the word "Press" on them. So they get an idea. The next scene, they're going up to the guard. "Press" says Moe, flashing the water faucet button. "Press" says Larry, doing the same. "Pull" says Curley, before he realizes he took the wrong button.

Watch Arbo try to get in with the button: "Flush."

OK, enough. Anyone willing to contribute to the "Get Pete In The Building To Root On USC" fund, we'll check with the USC Credit Union about establishing a foundation ASAP. Stay tuned for further updates on where you can mail your non-tax-dedictable contributions. And why hasn't his billboard booster come through for him yet? Dang it. At least the guy could get Pete a better sign to hold.

Did you know (or, do you care): Former UCLA star Marques Johnson, who has appeared in several movies (such as playing the hoodlum in "White Men Can't Jump") played the part of Hartford in the Michael Keaton-Geena Davis romantic comedy "Speechless."
If only ...
Aside from the fact we'll be listening to Petros and Money call Thursday's USC-Stanford game (see previous blog entry below) because Johnson and Steve Physioc are calling the game on TV for FSN, here's how the rest of FSN's coverage falls into line:

Wednesday:
6 p.m.: Cal vs. Oregon State (Barry Tompkins, Dan Belluomimi, with Jim Watson on the sidelines)
8:30 p.m.: Washington vs. Arizona State (Steve Physioc, Marques Johnson and Watson)
Thursday:
Noon: Oregon vs. Arizona (Tompkins, Belluomini, with Lindsay Soto on the sidelines)
2:30 p.m.: Cal-OSU winner vs. UCLA (Tompkins, Belluomini, Soto)
6 p.m.: USC vs. Stanford (Physioc, Johnson, Watson)
8:30 p.m.: Washington-ASU winner vs. Washington State (Physioc, Johnson, Watson)
Friday:
6 p.m.: Semifinal Game #1 (Tompkins, Belluomini, Watson)
8:30 p.m.: Semifinal Game #2 (Physioc, Johnson, Watson)

Since KLAC-AM (570) owns the radio rights to the entire Pac-10 men's basketball tournament that starts Wednesday and concludes with Saturday's final (3 p.m., Channel 2), they thought they'd add a little twist to the coverage of USC's first-round game Thursday against Stanford.
Over on KSPN-AM (710), the Trojans' flagship station, Rory Markas and Jim Hefner will do their call. But on 570-AM, Matt "Money" Smith has play-by-play duties and Petros Papadakis will be the colorman for the 6 p.m. tipoff at Staples Center.
The anti-broadcast? Oh, no. They're taking it seriously.
"Don Martin (the station's program director) considered flying me out to Washington D.C. last month to do the Lakers-Wizards game because Spero Dedes was missing it due to taking a job as international play-by-play man for the Super Bowl, but instead Don hired someone he knew out there to fill in," said Money. "I thought that guy was terrible, so in talking to Don about it, we thought, well, we're not on the air this week (after Monday's) show and this one falls right into our time slot (the "PMS" runs from 4-to-7 p.m. Monday through Friday, when there's no Lakers broadcast), so why not give the kids something to tune into.
"The best part is that basketball may be Petros' worst base of sports knowledge, so it'll be fun listening to him break down how the Lopez twins are playing until the wheels come off."
The tournament starts Wednesday with two games -- Oregon State-Cal (6 p.m.) and ASU-Washington (8:30) -- before Thursday's four contests that include Oregon-Arizona (noon, with Isaac Lowenkron on play-by-play), and then top-seeded UCLA and second-seeded Washington State taking on the winners of Wednesday's games (depending on how the seedings go).

The scorching temperatures this week remind us that we skip spring and go right to summer, which also means that the summer pro beach volleyball tour begins next month.
The AVP Crocs Tour schedule came out today with 18 stops, up from 16 last year, and $4 million in prize money (up from $3.5 million last year).
Aside from the regular spots in Manhattan, Hermosa and Huntington beaches, they've added new events in Long Beach, Miami, Dallas, Glendale, Ariz., Louisville, Tampa, Charleston, Boston and San Francisco.
Someday, maybe the San Fernando Valley will get a stop. Zuma Beach anyone?
Here's the schedule:
April 13-15 – Miami, FL
April 19-22 – Dallas, TX
May 3-6 – Huntington Beach
May 10-13 - Glendale, AZ
May 17-20 – Hermosa Beach
May 24-27 – Louisville, KY
May 31-Jun. 3 – Tampa, FL
June 7-10 – Atlanta, GA
June 14-17 – Charleston, SC
July 5-8 – Seaside Heights, NJ
July 19-22 – Long Beach
Aug. 2-5 – Chicago, IL
Aug. 9-12 – Manhattan Beach
Aug. 16-19 – Boston
Aug. 23-26 – Brooklyn, NY
Aug. 30-Sept. 2 – Cincinnati, OH
Sept. 6-8 – Las Vegas
Sept. 14-16 – San Francisco
Every event will either be on FSN or NBC. All finals will videostream live on AVP.com as well.

Turn on tonight's Angels-Colorado Rockies exhibition telecast on FSN West and make the prediction to anyone in the room: I'll bet we see a triple play in this game.
Collect your money and wait until the third inning.
With runners at first and second and none out, the Rockies' Steve Finley will hit a liner off Angels right-hander Dustin Moseley that first baseman Casey Kotchman catches just inches from the ground. Kotchman will toss it to Moseley covering first base to retire Garrett Atkins for the second out, and then Moseley will throw to shortstop Erick Aybar, who will step on second base to force out Kaz Matsui and complete the rare feat.
(The game was played this afternoon. It is being shown on FSN West at 7 p.m. tonight. That's a secret no one needs to know.)

By JEFF SHAIN
Miami Herald
PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Get used to it.
With a sense of resignation, that was the overwhelming sentiment from PGA Tour Honda Classic entrants one day after a fan’s camera flash prompted John Daly’s injury withdrawal.
“I don’t know how you can regulate it,” defending champion Luke Donald said Friday.
“You’d just think spectators would have the common sense to take photos in the practice rounds and not during the
tournament. This is where we make our money.”
Daly, a top fan draw anywhere, hurt his shoulder and rib cage Thursday trying to stop his swing after the flash went off. His stay lasted just three holes.
Although fans are free to take photos during practice rounds and the pro-am, cameras are banned on competition days. The woman who took the photo was escorted off the grounds, officials said.
“Like the rest of us, she is devastated that her use of a camera resulted in an injury to John,” said Ken Kennerly, the Honda’s executive director.
Fans this week have been subject to security wands at primary entrances around the Champion course. But the woman, a nearby resident, had walked onto the course from her subdivision.
“I don’t know what you can do,” said Joe Ogilvie, one of Daly’s playing partners. “People can just come from their homes.”
Many tournaments have tried to step up policing as an answer to a rise in camera and cellphone interruptions. The Royal & Ancient Golf Club recently banned cellphones at the British Open. Ogilvie said the camera that sent Daly out was the fifth one they spotted in 2½ holes.
That’s why so many believe they’re in a losing battle.
Said Davis Love III: “I’ve learned from Tiger Woods — you’ve just got to deal with it. It isn’t going to go away.”

DirectTV has finally acknowledged an agreement with Major League Baseball to become the sole TV distributor of the sport’s out-of-market package, telling the Federal Communications Commission that the deal will benefit consumers.
“Consumers will receive a better product, with more content and more features,” DirectTV president Chase Carey (pictured) said in a seven-page letter Friday to the FCC, a copy of which was released by Edelman, the company’s public-relations firm.
Company spokesman Robert Mercer said later Friday that the letter was incorrect and should have said that it was a "proposed agreement. There is no agreement as yet,” Mercer said.
The package also has been available on cable television in recent seasons through iNDemand but will be available solely on DirecTV and MLB.com under the new agreement. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) released a letter last month disclosing that the FCC was investigating the deal.
“MLB’s proposed deal with Direct TV for the Extra Innings package is stunning in its disregard for baseball
fans,” iNDemand president Robert Jacobsen said in a statement. “The cable industry offered MLB a non-exclusive deal — with better overall terms than the DirecTV offer — that would allow baseball fans across the country to watch their favorite teams regardless of whether they were a satellite, cable or telephone customer.”
Carey said in his letter that an estimated 5,000 subscribers to the "Extra Innings" package would not have access to DirecTV, noting there were 230,000 subscribers to the package last year outside of DirecTV. He also said DirecTV would make The Baseball Channel available when the network launches in 2009.
“Congress did not prohibit all exclusive arrangements,” Carey wrote. “It only restricted exclusive arrangements that
were the product of market power abuses — those between dominant cable operators and cable-owned programmers.”

By STEPHEN WADE
Associated Press
BEIJING -- Peter O’Malley first came to China in 1980. Since then, the former Los Angeles Dodgers
owner has built a stadium in the country — the first used only for baseball — and he’s suggesting another milestone could be reached very soon.
“Japan, Korea and Taiwan all have filled the major leagues with players,” O’Malley said Friday. “China is going to come along, and when China does they are going to blow by everybody else — they’re going to knock them over. My guess is there are several players here who are ready to be signed after the Beijing Olympics — I’ll predict that.”
The Dodgers have deep roots in world baseball, with training camps in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and pitchers such as Fernando Valenzuela (Mexico) and Hideo Nomo (Japan) making their mark.
The 69-year-old O’Malley built the China baseball stadium — named Dodger Stadium — in the coastal city of Tianjin in 1986. Lights have been added recently.
“That has helped so much the growth of baseball in China,” said Cai Jizhou, a retired former
vice president of the Chinese Baseball Federation — and a longtime friend of O’Malley’s. Cai said the facility is one of about 10 baseball stadiums in China.
Combing abroad for sports talent is common now in the United States, but it wasn’t in 1956 when O’Malley joined the defending World Series champion Brooklyn Dodgers on a 30-day goodwill tour of Japan.
“We played the Tokyo Giants with Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese — the great team of the ‘50s,” O’Malley said. “I was a young man, and I was thrilled and amazed to see baseball in another country. Later as the owner, I wanted the Dodger team in Los Angeles to reflect the makeup of the city, and L.A. has people from all over.”
O’Malley, who sold the Dodgers in 1998, made the trip to Beijing to attend the International Baseball Federation congress that elected Harvey Schiller IBAF president. Baseball is being dropped from the Olympics after the 2008 Beijing Games, and Schiller’s top priority is to restore it for 2016, when it could be held in Los Angeles, one of the top candidates to hold the Olympics that year.
“China in my opinion has the brightest future of any country in baseball,” O’Malley said. “But we’ve got to get it back in the Olympics, and it’s going to be tough. We must get recognized by the IOC again, because that’s important to the
development of baseball in China and around the world.”

There's no way you're getting up at the crack of dawn Sunday to watch the 22nd L.A. Marathon on KNBC-Channel 4, is there? Not even if there was the guarantee of the winner slipping at the finish line and hitting his (or her) head on the pavement?
After we considered that option in our media column that appeared in today's Daily News, we challenge you to make it through this obstacle course of notes that may or may not have you asking for a cup of water to wash it down:

-- The new L.A. Marathon course that starts at Universal Studios in Toluca Lake and ends at 5th and Flower in downtown L.A. presents a whole other list of logistical nightmares for Roggin Productions, which is doing the race for KNBC-Channel 4 starting at 7:30 a.m. Sunday. "With a point-to-point course rather than a loop, everything we do is doubled and tripled," said Phil Olsman, the show's producer. "We used to do it from one central place (near Staples Center). Now everything multiplies." Adds Fred Roggin, who'll handle the play-by-play: "Getting the telecast on the air may be more exciting than the race itself." The microwave antennas that transfer camera pictures from the ground to the air and back to a studio truck could go haywire. The weather could also present a problem, although the forcast is for temperatures in the 70s by the finish.
"With six helicopters, 26 cameras and 140 people on the crew, a lot can go wrong," said Olsman. "We just try to limit that. Our philosophy is: We'll make mistakes, we just want them to be new mistakes. We get angry when we keep making the same mistakes. We live with it and build on it." The production had to add a new production truck at the beginning and at the end of the course, more communications systems and supplementary transportation to move the broadcasters from Point A to Point B. The route change was forced the production team to start planning for the 2007 race just 60 days after last March's race.

-- Those at home, and with a wifi along the course with laptops, will be able to follow the race online with videostreaming at www.NBC4.tv. but the sophisticated GPS system that was in place for the recent Tour of California bike race from San Francisco to Long Beach isn't quite in place for this event yet. "The GPS has revolutionized the way we televise marathons," said Roggin. Olsman said the goal by next year is to have expanded GPS coverage on the digital tier of channels that KNBC will have available. "We've added it to the webscast access with real-time stats so people at home can read the differentials, but the GPS is an incremental growth thing. With the new course, we're going to keep it as direct as we can and maybe next year expand it more for the home viewer. It's all baby steps. Nothing is simple. Or cheap."

= Read on for more...

By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Craig Robinson believes you can tell a lot about a guy by how he plays basketball, which is why he liked Barack Obama long before the Democrat decided to run for president.

Recalling a pickup game the two played in Chicago some 15 years ago when they were first getting to know each other, Robinson remembers that Obama was confident in his game without being arrogant. He took shots when he was open, but wasn't overly selfish. And he didn't show off his Harvard Law School pedigree.

"He never wore that on his sleeve, and you can tell the camaraderie that he'd have on the court with people who he didn't even know," Robinson said. "You knew that this guy had the ability to win people over."

Basketball and Obama are subjects Robinson knows well.

The first-year coach of the Brown University men's basketball team is also Obama's brother-in-law, a familial tie that's afforded him intimate access as Obama has ascended from a political novice to a U.S. senator waging a high-profile bid for the White House.

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