May 2007 Archives

There are 19 contributions to the new book, “Game of My Life: Memorable Stories of Dodgers Baseball,” by team historian Mark Langill ($24.95, 256 pages, Sports Publishing LLC), but the two that strike deepest most may be from the media members, Hall of Fame broadcasters Vin Scully and Jamie Jarrin. Scully’s choice would hardly be one anyone could have guessed: May 13, 1952 at Ebbets Field, when the Brooklyn Dodgers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 14-8. Larry Miggins homered that day for the Cards. Miggins was Scully’s classmate back in the early 1940s at Fordham Prep school in New York, and the two of them shared a dream one day about both being in the big leagues one day – Scully as a broadcaster and Miggins as a player. And, as Scully said, “miracle upon miracles” happened that day as Miggins homered in one of the two innings that Scully was calling that day. Scully also has a tie-in to Jarrin’s story about the 1990 All-Star Game at Wrigley Field, which came only a few months after he had suffered a bad traffic accident in spring training and nearly lost his life because of internal injuries. He was still having trouble breathing because of the pain in his chest and wasn’t sure how he’d do climbing the stairs at Wrigley Field to do the Spanish-language broadcast. Scully was there also for the CBS Radio. And while Jarrin was only able to do three innings, he took a picture with Scully in the press box and “that picture tells me I was probably reborn on that day … that’s whey my life in baseball started again,” Jarrin said.

On that theme, a new book called “Through A Blue Lens: The Brooklyn Dodgers photographs of Barney Stein, 1937-1957” ($27.95, 162 pages, Triumph Books) by Dennis D’Agostino and Stein’s daughter, Bonnie Crosby, pulls together some 200 rare black-and-white prints that the long-time team photographer took over the years and tell the story of the team up until the franchise moved to Los Angeles 50 years ago. Scully provides some personal remembrances and captions some photos (including some of him) and perhaps the most poignant are those of the final game and then destruction of Ebbets Field, and a public auction of items from the stadium, between Februrary and May of 1960. Crosby started to organize her father’s photos upon his death in 1993 at age 84 and eventually put up a website (www.barneystein-photography.com) to display his prints of that time. “Barney Stein is symbolic of the dedicated photographers whose work formed lasting pictorial histories of their generations,” Crosby wrote in the introduction. “The photographs in this book are his legacy to his family and to all Brooklyn Dodgers fans of many generations. They are also a loving testament to a time, and a team, from the best father any two daughters could ever have.” One of Stein’s top pictures ove the years was in 1951, after the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World,” when he snapped a shot of Ralph Branca in the Dodgers clubhouse despondent after giving up the game-winning homer to Bobby Thomson. As it turned out, Stein was the official wedding photographer for Branca and his wife just days later.

Apathy may be the prevailing attitude in other cities where Barry Bonds travels these days, about to break the major-league baseball career home-run record, but insults will be in full affect tonight when the San Francisco Giants face the New York Mets at Shea Stadium.
The front-page story in today's USA Today spells out how Mets fans came locked and loaded for the series opener Tuesday, only to see Bonds sit, until he made a 10th-inning appearance as a pinch hitter, only to walk.
He's set to be in the starting lineup tonight. Which makes those behind the organization BoycottBarry.com all the more happy.
"Driven by the goal of keeping steroids and illegal drugs out of baseball, BoycottBarry.com will descend on Shea in force to focus critical attention on performance-enhancing drug use in baseball and increase awareness about the dangers of these abuses," according to a press release sent out by the organization, co-founded by Daniel Kramer, who is the son of Robin Kramer, the chief of staff for L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former chief of staff for Richard Riordan.
At 6 p.m. tonight in New York, the BoycottBarry.com volunteers plan to be "at multiple stations" handing out a "Bondsfold," a blindfold that fans are supposed to wear every time he steps to the plate "to demonstrate their desire for authetic records and an even playing field."
"We're excited about promote our core believe in the greatest baseball town in the world," said Kramer.
The group was formed last season and says it has "quickly grown to be the leading voice behind the popular movement to ban Barry Bonds from Major League Baseball's record books."
After whatever happens in New York tonight, there are more stadium protests planned for the rest of this season at "Boycott Barry Nights."
"If no one else will, then fans will act to protect the game so many have grown up to love," the release ends.
ESPN2 is not covering this game; it has Cleveland-Boston instead, while ESPN leads into the Utah-San Antonio NBA playoff game later tonight. ESPN's "Baseball Tonight" isn't scheduled to start until 10:20 p.m. tonight.

You really can't pass up on the opportunty to find more photos of Ashley Judd celebrating her husband's Indy 500 victory on Sunday.
The rain. The tears of joy. More rain. Wet dress.
She's acting as if Kentucky just knocked off Louisville for the NCAA basketlball title. Except this time, it's closer to home. Dario Franchitti, her husband of six years, was declared the winner, and ABC's cameras did all they could to capture her reaction to the rain-shortened, disappointing finish to the event.
How can anyone be happy that it didn't go the distance?
At least one Scottsman can, and these pictures prove it...

Linking back to the "Writing On (and off) The Wall" column in Sunday's Daily News, here are some of the websites you can find that offer fair trade sports equipment or information about it:

== Fair Trade Sports: fairtradesports.com
Fair Trade Sports, Inc. donates all profits after taxes to children's charities, both domestically and internationally. Using the business model of the Newman's Own brand, Fair Trade Sports expects to reach profitability in late 2007. Until then, it is donating $1,000 annually to the organizations that benefit at-risk children worldwide.
Offices: 321 High School Road NE, Suite D3, #208; Bainbridge Island, WA 98110; 206-855-8222.
Fair Trade Sports products can also be found on eBay.com and at Amazon.com links.

==Y FOCUS-Ottawa: http://yfocus.ncf.ca/fairtrade/product.htm
Y FOCUS is the service club of the YMCA-YWCA in Canada and is a member of an international service club movement working with the YMCA in over 72 countries. The only criteria for membership is to be an idealist who wants to help others. The Fair Trade Sports program is a way to help build a more peaceful world in line with our national theme of "Building a Culture of Peace". Proceeds from the sale of sports balls will be used to fund peace building projects around the world.
The site also has a detailed explanation about what "fair trade" means and its ramifications: http://yfocus.ncf.ca/fairtrade/fairtrade.htm

Both Fair Trade Sports and Y FOCUS offer products made by Talon, a company based in Pakistan:
==Talon Fair Trade: TalonFairTrade.org
With a home office in Pakistan, and satellite offices in Temecula (covering the U.S.), England and Sweden. Pakistan supplies around 70 percent of the world’s soccer balls, with an estimated 44,000 men and women stitchers in the Sialkot region of Pakistan involved in the production of 35 million balls every year. International campaigns in the 1990s have succeeded in virtually eliminating child labor by gradually moving production away from home-based stitchers to independently monitored stitching centers and providing constructive alternatives for children such as basic education and skills training. The centers are operated by the main factories or by subcontractors and are segregated by gender to comply with religious and cultural values. However, low pay and a lack of social benefits remain issues for workers in the industry.

==The Emancipaton Network: Emancipationnetwork.com, and its products link: http://shopping.netsuite.com/madebysurvivors
T.E.N. Charities is a local and international response to the human rights emergency of human trafficking - the modern practice of slavery. It offers a way to become involved in the struggle to end slavery, and give the tools and support to mobilize your friends and your community. There are 27 million people around the world are believed to be enslaved, according to UNICEF. This is more than at any other time in history.

==Fairtrade Foundation: http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products_sportsballs.htm
Based in the UK.

==Ethletic sneakers: Ethletic.com and No Sweat Apparell: NoSweatApparel.com
Both offer shoes that look an awful lot like the old Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars (now owned by Nike). But they're not. And they have to tell you that. Otherwise, they feel the same and perform the same. Good enough for Wilt Chamberlain in his day.

==Educating For Justice: http://educatingforjustice.org/
EFJ is an Asbury Park, N.J.-based non-profit that develops, produces and distributes justice-oriented programming and content to the educational marketplace. Through research, online resources, digital filmmaking, and grassroots educational events, EFJ seeks to raise awareness about issues of justice and spark efforts for social change. It started in June, 2000, as the Olympic Living Wage Project to raise awareness about the labor abuses of Olympic apparel sponsors to athletes competing in the 2000 Sydney Games. As an experiment, two Americans lived in Indonesia on $1.25 a day, the income level of local factory workers, and brought the truth of that reality to Sydney through a major media campaign focused on these starvation wages paid to Nike and Adidas factory workers. Their documentary, "Sweat," is seeking funding to finish post production.
Thursday, Nike released a press release about resuming production of soccer balls in Pakistan with Silver Star Group, committed to new stanards in worker's rights.

This is a video clip of a story ESPN did on Nike sweatshops, provided on the Educating for Justice Website:

ESPN: St John's and Nike Sweatshops

Add to My Profile | More Videos

==World Centric: worldcentric.org
World Centric is non-profit organization working to reduce economic injustice and environmental degradation through education, community networks & sustainable enterprises.

By TOM DAVIES
Associated Press Writer
INDIANAPOLIS -- Jim Nabors never planned to perform “Back Home Again in Indiana” at the Indianapolis 500. In fact, when speedway owner Tony Hulman first asked him to sing on the morning of the 1972 race, Nabors thought he was being tapped for “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
The band director set him straight, then asked with some concern whether Nabors knew the words to “Back Home Again.”
“I said, ‘Well, I think I know part of it,’” Nabors said. “I wrote down the song so I wouldn’t screw it up — wrote it down on my hand.”
Thirty-five years later, Nabors has become as much a part of Indy 500 tradition as the song itself.
Both are a bit unlikely for the role: Nabors is an Alabama native who never has lived in Indiana, a performer best known as the TV character Gomer Pyle. And the song, which waxes poetic about new-mown hay and candlelight through the sycamores, is an example of musical thievery, lifting liberally from the mostly forgotten official state song, a somber ode about the deaths of a mother and sweetheart.
While an illness will keep Nabors from taking the microphone at Sunday’s race for the first time since 1986, loud applause from the thousands filling the grandstands that surround the 2½-mile oval has greeted him for years.
“I’ve never thought of that as relating to me,” Nabors said of the crowd’s reaction. “It’s always relating to the song and to the race. It is applauding for the tradition of the race and the excitement.”

Dancing off into a Memorial Day weekend with the media column and notes from today's Daily News, we have more to offer before settling in to see which of the three female drivers in Sunday's Indianapolis 500 will take each other out of the field:

==Back to today's story on Keyshawn Johnson's future at ESPN/ABC and Thursday's story about his retirement, Tony Kornheiser said it on Wednesday's "Pardon The Interruption" when Johnson was mention in the "happy trails" portion because of him leaving the NFL: "Personally, I'm of the opinion that Keyshawn would be outstanding in the booth on 'Monday Night Football,' but better than, oh, I don't know, me ..."

==Jamie Little, interviewing Dale Earnhardt Jr., above, before a recent NASCAR race at California Speedway in Fontana, is one of two female reporters (with Brienne Pedigo) working the pits on ABC's Indianapolis 500 coverage, as we wrote today. She handicapped the chances of the three female drivers in the race:
"The best part is that all three earned their way in. Danicamania has changed a bit from when she was a rookie two years ago, but this is probably Danica Patrick'sbest chance this year to win. Danica (pictured here) has a great car and great equipment. There's no reason for her not to do well. I'd put her in the top six if she doesn't win it. Sarah Fisher is also a great driver, but she's never been given the opportunities as Danica with her equipment. Maybe she's a top 12 finisher. Milka Duno (pictured below) is the real questionmark. She doesn't have any high expectations as a rookie. We'd just like to see her finish. She's passionate about the sport and was very impressive in Kansas (during her first Indy race) staying out of trouble."
Little, who has been covering motorsports since was 15, has gone to five racing schools and got her licence two years ago. But there's little chance Little would ever want to jump into an IndyCar field.
"Maybe some late-model racing if someone wanted to give me an opportunity," she said. "I just do it for run. I don't think ESPN would appreciate it much if I did it. They don't pay me for that. I ride a lot of dirt bikes, but I've changed my mentality of that over the years. ESPN has given me a great opportunity and responsibility, and I now think twice about doing stupid things that could get me hurt. I don't get paid for that."
For more on Little's career both on and off the track -- including shots of her on the cover of FHM magazine -- check out her website at this link.

==Jed Drake, the ESPN senior VP and executive producer, on the fact the Indy 500 is finally being televised in high-defintion: "The idea of doing it in HD has been with us for some time. Those who saw all of our qualifying coverage (the last two weekends) obviously saw what a difference HD makes for this event. When you have objects flying off the track at the speeds the cars can get to, you can always use a higher level of definition. The cars are easier to recognize, both on the track and in the pits, and from the sheer ratio aspect of going from 4x3 to 16x9, you see the vastness of the Indy excitement. Like everything, it was a financial consideration before we were finally able to use this. A track this size, using 44 cameras plus the on-board cameras, is enormously expensive and a major undertaking. We're thrilled we've finally made it a reality. We're more than ready for this moment." And the option of seeing Little and Pedigo in high-def has us ready to finally switch out satellite dishes.

We got more ....

Based on our test-drive of the Dodgers' eat-everything-in-sight right-field pavilion deal last year, you've already seen our opionion.
Here's another angle, supplied by the Associated Press' Beth Harris, as to how it's going so far as a regular promotion:

Luis Serrano is working on his second Dodger Dog and the game hasn’t even begun.
“On a good night, I’ll eat seven,” he said, smiling.
That’s how it goes in the new all-you-can-eat seats way out in right field at Dodger Stadium, where fans wolf down as many Dodger Dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn and soda as their bellies allow for one price.
“You get your money’s worth, for sure,” said Serrano, a slender 33-year-old from Glendora who likes to bet his
buddies how much they can chow down. “I’ve won almost all of them,” he said, balancing a paper tray loaded with two more Dodger Dogs, nachos and peanuts on his lap.
His friend, Michael Latta of Alhambra, chomped on a mustard- and onion-slathered Dodger Dog in the right field pavilion, sponsored by, naturally, a chain of convenience stores.
“We’re more prone to eating more since we’re in here. We wouldn’t have done this over there,” Latta said, gesturing toward the rest of the stadium.
There’s another eat-up-a-storm section in this venerable place — the Dugout Club behind home plate. But at $400 a seat, which includes traditional fare delivered by a wait staff and a high-end buffet — it’s out of reach for many in the bust-a-gut section.
Launched officially this season, the outfield eat-a-thon opens 90 minutes before the first pitch and lasts until the start of the seventh inning. Ticket prices range from $20 for group sales to $40 for day-of-game walk-ups. Some games are $25 during designated promotions.
“The fans love it,” said Marty Greenspun, Dodgers executive vice president and chief operating officer.
“It was an isolated area that we could really focus and test. No one has done this big of a seating section for this price in all of professional sports. It’s been a hit since day one.”

By PAUL NEWBERRY
Associated Press
ATLANTA -- Spike Lee always has been an avid sports fan. Growing up in New York, he eagerly flipped past the front pages each morning, searching out the elegant musings of Red Smith or another abrasive rant from Dick Young.
But Lee wondered why a bunch of white guys were charged with shaping the viewpoints of people such as himself, an impressionable black kid eager for a balanced debate on such burning issues as: Who was the better player, Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays?
Mantle was white, Mays black.
“I would read stuff from people telling me Mickey Mantle was better than Willie Mays,” Lee remembered. “I was like, ‘Whoa, wait a minute. Noooo way.’ They would say, ‘Well, what if Mickey didn’t get hurt when he ran into that drain thing and tore his knee up?’ Yeah, well what about Willie Mays losing a year and a half to the Army?”
After Lee grew up to become one of the country’s most acclaimed directors, he noticed the increasing disparity between those who played the games and those who wrote about them. More and more athletes of color were starring on the court and between the goal posts, but the press box remained largely the domain of white males.
It’s a playing field that Lee hopes to level through a new sports journalism program at his alma mater, historically black Morehouse College near downtown Atlanta.
Lee, pictured here with Rutgers University women's basketball coach Vivian Stringer during a panel discussion regarding the black athlete held at Moorehouse College on May 7, has raised some $1 million to get it going, and insists this isn’t some trivial matter in the greater cause of diversity.
From Jesse Owens to Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali, black athletes often have steered America to a more accepting view of race.

There was a story in Playboy magazine, maybe 20 years ago, that featured interviews with many of the top male pro beach volleyball players of that time, focusing on their wild, parting lifestyle.
The last quote of the piece came from the tour's perfect spokesman at the time, Tim Hovland , who provided the punchline: "The only thing we're sure about is that someday we'll all die from skin cancer."
Today's pro beach players on the AVP Tour may not be laughing as much.
It was a fairly overcast day Saturday in Hermosa Beach -- the days we call June Gloom, except it was making a miserable May appearance.
"Overcast days are the worst," said men's ranked AVP player John Hyden. "That's when people think the sun isn't out. It's not true."
Eventually, the sun crept through, and it was a beautiful beach day by 11 a.m. Tour sponsors Banana Boat and SolarSafe were handing out their products, for free, at their booths, amidst the festive atmosphere.

Following up to our story in today's Daily News about the increasing results of sun exposure on a sport that sells the sun as one of the cool, hip things about its lifestyle, we have more Q-and-A from others who've talked about their brushes with skin cancer:

If you saw our story about the first Dodger Stadium sleep-over promotion last season and were interested in taking part this year, the Dodgers have announced that Friday, July 27 will be the date to save this year.
The twist this year is that it won't be after a Dodgers home game. Instead, you'll be able to watch the Dodgers play Colorado from Coors Field on the Diamondvision board (a 6 p.m. start) and then have a movie, the latest remake of "The Sandlot," afterward.
For that, we give it an even bigger stamp of approval. One of the not-so-cool elements of last year's event was having all that garbage from the previous Sunday afternoon game left sitting in the stands all night, and then the cleaning crew showed up at the crack of dawn to start banging around and sweeping it up, causing a whole other racket.
This way, the stadium's quiet and clean from start to finish.
Having it start on a Friday and ending Saturday should work much better, too, for those who had to get up Monday morning and head to work last year.
“Last season’s sleepover event was a tremendous success and the feedback confirmed that we should bring the event back this year,” said Dodger Chief Operating Officer Marty Greenspun said in a statement released by the team. “Dodger Stadium is a great place to create memories and we are excited to continue cultivating unique opportunities like this.”
The price of the event is $200 per adult, $100 per kid. There's also a $500 package for two adults and two kids 14 and under, which includes a goodie bag, dinner, buffet breakfast and a Dodger pillow.
The first 500 who sign up by July 1 will be admitted.
To register: www.dodgers.com/sleepover
And to revisit our experience, here's a link back to the blog entry from last July

On Buck Martinez' XM Radio "MLB Home Plate" show Friday morning, guest Tim McCarver had an interesting idea: Why not raise the height of the pitcher's mound.
Why?
“I’ve been lobbying baseball unofficially for the last decade and a half to have the mound raised back to its initial 15 inches," McCarver said. "To me, it’s an easy sell. You would have fewer arm injuries because pitchers are pitching down a slope instead of from a flatter surface. Trying to keep down, you leave yourself open to arm injuries. I think that’s one of the reasons baseball has had so many pitchers on the disabled list over the last 10 to 15 years…plus, the pitching in the majors is just horrible now. Middle relief is horrible on almost all teams.”
We're sold. Surely, Bob Gibson would attempt a comeback, too.

Men with sticks stick together.
Which is why you need to be warned: If you're going to Sharkeez bar in Manhattan Beach on Saturday morning, May 26, bring a weapon.
The L.A. Riptide, our local Major League Lacrosse affiliate, is having a "viewing party" at the place for the NCAA men's lacrosse national semifinals. Doors open at 9 a.m.
Players and coaches from the Riptide will be there to explain to curious onlookers just what the heck is going on.

Will Calvin Borel be able to steer Street Sense on the rail again to win Saturday's Preakness (3:15 p.m. posttime) and give the NBC viewers another good cry?
How many times will Barbaro's name resurface? (Odds are good that the over/under is seven). Does NBC dare show last year's tragedy again? (Not if it wants a heap of criticism).
There's only eight other thoroughbreds to scoot around the Baltimore track this week for Street Sense, and a potential Triple Crown winner is always a good enough angle to get eyeballs on the TV for a least two minutes.
In addition to the stuff we shoveled into the Daily News column and notebook for Friday, here's other pieces of news, not much in stable condition, but with a pulse:

== ESPN and ESPN2 has nine additional hours (to NBC's two hours) of the Preankess, including the Black Eyed Susan Stakes (today, 1 p.m., ESPN2) and five hours from the race starting at 9 a.m. Saturday (ESPN), hosted by Kenny Mayne and Rece Davis. Also, NBC2GO, a channel on the Verizon Wireless V Cast Mobile TV service, will do first-time live streaming of an event from the Preakness. "NBC Sports is committed to bringing our content to fans wherever they are, so we're excited to launch our first live mobile broadcast with the Preakness Stakes," said Perkins Miller, Senior VP Digital Media, NBC Sports and Olympics, said in a statment. NBC2Go, part of the FLO TV ™ service from MediaFLO USA, Inc., is available to Verizon Wireless V Cast Mobile TV customers in 30 markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Las Vegas and Atlanta. For a complete market map, check out www.verizonwireless.com/mobiletv.

==The NBC analysts have their picks for the Preakness:
Bob Neumeier: 1. Circular Quay 2. Street Sense 3. Curlin. "I like Circular Quay to bounce back after a disappointing Derby. He was coming off an eight week layoff, and I think he needed the conditioning of that race. That's not a knock against Street Sense; he could easily win the Preakness. Curlin had a bit of a bad trip in the Derby, I think he's going to run well on Saturday. I don't like Hard Spun this week. I think there are other front speed horses like Xchanger and Flying First Class who might soften him up near the lead."
Mike Battaglia: 1. Hard Spun 2. Street Sense 3. Curlin. "It's a flip of the coin - I thought Street Sense got such a great trip in the Derby, if he had had even a little bit of trouble, Hard Spun would have won the race. Also, Hard Spun is the better price, so there is more value."
Gary Stevens: 1. Street Sense 2. Hard Spun 3. Circular Quay. "I have no reason to shy away from Street Sense after his Derby win last week, but it won't be a walkover for him. Pimlico plays a little more favorably to speed horses, but Street Sense will be tough to catch. Todd Pletcher has never had a Derby starter run in the Preakness, but Circular Quay was coming off of an eight week layoff, and the Derby could actually work as a prep race for him for the Preakness."

Read on to saddle up with more notes ...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Bob L. Head wants your vote.
Robert Leroy Head of Maquoketa, Iowa, was selected as one of three finalists for a minor-league baseball
promotion that will immortalize a real Bob L. Head with a bobblehead.
“I never put it together until they sent me this letter,” Head said. “My wife and I thought it was a joke.”
The Portland Beavers, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, sent letters to every Bob L. Head they could find, including Roberts and Robertos.
The team explained its promotion, then asked the Bobs to submit an essay explaining why they should be cast as a miniature, head-bobbing figurine.
On the line was a trip to Portland, and of course, a personal bobblehead.
The team narrowed the list down to three, and now fans can vote for their favorite Bob L. Head: The aforementioned Robert Leroy Head of Iowa; Bob Louis Head from Vallejo, Calif.; and Bob Lee Head of Evansville, Ind.
Bob Louis Head’s campaign slogan: “No matter what the score, I am always a Head.”
The team will give away the bobbleheads to the first 2,000 fans who attend the Beavers’ game against the Las Vegas 51s on Aug. 18.
Fan voting for the best Bob L. Head opened Wednesday on the Beavers’ Web site, www.portlandbeavers.com. It closes on May 31 and fans can only vote once.
An hour after the three finalists were announced, already 230 fans had cast their vote, said Chris Metz, communications director for the Beavers. The runners-up will receive consolation prizes for their effort.

The Dodgers' press notes for tonight's game includes this fact:
-- In Randy Wolf’s last start on Friday, Nomar Garciaparra did not record a single putout in a complete nine-inning game.
He is the 24th first baseman in Major League history ,and first player in Dodger franchise history, to accomplish that feat.
(Question: Is it an accomplishment when you don't do anything?)
The last big leaguer this happened to was Raul Ibañez on April 18, 2005, who played eight innings in the field that day, as did eight others on the list.
But Garciaparra is one of just 16 first basemen to play nine full innings without recording a putout in a big league game.
Other former Dodgers to share the record: Dolph Camilli, Bud Clancy, Gary Thomasson, Bill Skowron, Frank Robinson, Len Matuszek, Franklin Stubbs, Fred McGriff and Greg Brock, though none actually did it in a Dodger uniform.
(Point in fact: I believe I saw Olmedo Saenz play one full inning without recording a putout, despite the fact there were three ground balls hit to infielders. Their throws, maybe an inch wide of first base in each instant, pulled Saenz off the bag, resulting in a throwing error. The result, of course, is Saenz didn't record the putout...
OK, we're making that up... Sorta)

It helped that Wolf, not known for inducing ground balls, struck out 11 in his seven innings, plus two more by two relievers. That made for 14 other outs to be made. Six were flyballs to the outfield. Five were popouts to the infield. Three were fielder's choice outs made at second instead of throws to first. And the team gave up only five hits. Imagine how many outs were made at first in a game like the 20-strike out performance Roger Clemens had way back wiith the Red Sox, when there was the opportunity for only seven outs to be made elsewhere.
Just for those (like us) who are curious, here's how the 27 outs that the Dodgers recorded Friday against the Cincinnati Reds were made:
First inning: Strikeout; flyout to center; fielder's choice (grounder to short, flip to second to get the runner).
Second inning: Strikeout; flyout to center; strikeout.
Third inning: Strikeout; flyout to right; flyout to left.
Fourth inning: 3 strikeouts
Fifth inning: 2 strikeouts, lineout to left.
Sixth inning: Strikeout; two popouts to second.
Seventh inning: Flyout to left, strikeout; popout to short.
Eighth inning (Broxton pitching): Popout to second; strikeout; fielder's choice (grounder to third, flip to second to get the force)
Ninth inning (Saito pitching): Bunt popped out to the catcher (after first two runners got aboard); fielder's choice (grounder to third, throw to second for the force); strikeout.

Before you pack away another one of those Dodger Dogs, consider the moral ramifications.
Something called the Animal Legal Defense Fund has sent a letter to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt, urging him to stop selling the Farmer John brand of meat by-products because of shabby treatment they say is happening to the pigs who give up their lives for our pleasure.
ALDF sent out a press release to the media Monday (although it has yet to post it on its website) along with a link to a story it has about a lawsuit filed against a company called Corcpork, Inc., and a copy of the letter it sent to McCourt this morning that reads:

Dear Mr. McCourt:
Dodger fans have a lot to be proud of in the recent renovations and upgrades at Dodger Stadium. Most would be shocked to learn, however, that the mustard-crowned Dodger Dog-the stadium's top-selling concession-is a
frankfurter with a shameful secret.

Sincerely,
Stephen Wells, Executive Director

UPDATE:
Dodgers spokesperson Camille Johnston said Tuesday: "Farmer John has assured us that they are meeting all of the standards for animal welfare."

In Dec. 2004, Vernon-based CloughertyPacking Co., which owned Farmer John, was sold to Hormel Foods Corp., makers of, among other things, Spam.

More links:
To our story on the death of Arthur Smith, the creator of the Dodger Dog, in June, 2006.
To our story on how someone wants you to slap some avocado on your next Dodger Dog in Sept., 2006
And to our story about the all-you-can-eat Dodger Stadium right-field pavilion experiment that started in Aug., 2006

I guess I'm lucky to have a mom who, on every Mother's Day, wants to go see either the Dodgers or Angels play -- whoever is in town. It takes a lot of the guess work out of shopping.
Sunday, it was a trip to Dodger Stadium.
It was all she could have asked for: A couple of hot dogs. A bag of Cracker Jacks. A glass of white wine. A Dodger victory, after they trailed 5-3 on a Ken Griffey Jr. homer that she predicted, by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth. And sticking around to the end to make sure it was a done deal.
How'd y'all spend your Mother's Day?
(There were some more pix I could have put up here -- mostly, a couple with me and my dad. But they were blurry, out of frame, red eye ... geez, wonder who took those?)

"Sports Fan 101: Score The Balance In Your Relationship" is what Jimmy Fallon should have given Drew Barrymore in the movie “Fever Pitch.” It’s what Steve Guttenberg should have given his fiancé in the movie “Diner” before that make-or-break trivia quiz about the Baltimore Colts, before she flunked the Alan Ameche question, causing him to announce: “The marriage is off.”
Charlie Sheen could have used it before his marriage to Denise Richards started going south a few years ago, when the actor eventually revealed on a David Letterman appearance in 2005 that he’d been such a jerk watching so much live games on TV that it was an “epiphany” that made him realize catching the highlights on an ESPN “SportsCenter” is “for parents, people that should be spending more time doing more important things.”
Craig Bender, a Granada Hills High grad (class of '91), said he was watching his Dodgers face Boston in an interleague game one day and began to feel so bad for all the pain and suffering those Red Sox fans must have been suffering for 80-plus years of no World Series.
"I figured they must have miserable relationship problems," Bender said. "I started thinking about my own relationships, and how miserable others must have been with my sports fanaticism over the years. Maybe if Jimmy had just book to give to Drew, it would have helped solve a lot of their relationship problems."
But then there'd be no movie. But there is a book, thanks to Bender's tenacity.
As a pharmaceutical rep for an Abbot Animal Health, a pet medicine company based in Pacific Beach near San Diego, Craig knows all about taking care of dogs. His dad, Dr. William Bender, founded the North Valley Veterniary Clinic in Granada Hills in 1983. His mom, Stella, worked at the clinic before recently retiring.
All contribute to the book in their own way, as does Craig's brother, Todd, with a poem about what makes "The Perfect Fan." Imput from Dr. Drew Yellen, a family friend and Granada Hills-based sports and family psychologist, and Steve Hartman, the Taft High and UCLA grad who's made a name for himself on KLAC-AM (570) and KCBS Channel 2/KCAL Channel 9, has also helped Bender through this book journey.
A recent lunch with Craig at Jerry's Deli in Encino produced the following Q-and-A, in addition to the column on page 2 of today's Los Angeles Daily News:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - O.J. Simpson won't take legal action against a Louisville restaurateur who booted from a steakhouse on the eve of the Kentucky Derby after all, Simpson's attorney said Saturday.

Simpson and about a dozen guests were asked to leave the upscale Jeff Ruby's Steakhouse on May 4 by owner Jeff Ruby, who has said he asked Simpson to leave because "he continues to torment the family whose lives he's already ruined 15 years ago."

Simpson, the former USC Heisman Trophy winner and NFL star, was acquitted in 1995 of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman, but was found liable in a civil trial that followed.

Simpson's lawyer, Yale Galanter, said Ruby is using the episode for publicity.

"If we had our druthers, this would have died that night and been over," Galanter said from his Florida office. "We are not pushing it."

Last week, Galanter had said his client's ejection was about race, and that he intended to pursue the matter and might go after the restaurant's liquor license.

"He screwed with the wrong guy, he really did," Galanter said of Ruby a few days ago.

Ruby said he went to Simpson's table and said, "I'm not serving you." Ruby said when Simpson didn't respond, he repeated himself and left the room.

Ruby said Simpson soon came up to him and said he understood and would gather the rest of his party to leave.

"It was the first time since 1994 he has ever shown any class," Ruby said. "He showed it that night in the restaurant" by leaving quietly.

"I didn't want that experience in my restaurant," Ruby said, later adding that seeing Simpson get so much attention "makes me sick to my stomach."

By JOEDY McCREARY
Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. -- For Jon Pritchett, reviving AstroTurf has been like raising the dead.
The brand name synonymous with artificial grass fell on hard times in 2004, when the company that made a surface that added “turf toe” and “rug burn” to the sports lexicon went bankrupt. It was even declared DOA on a
headstone in an advertisement run by industry leader FieldTurf.
Pritchett is trying to bring AstroTurf back to life.
“Everything you know about AstroTurf is history,” he said.
His company, GeneralSports Venue LLC, acquired the North American rights to the AstroTurf name late last year. His challenge is to level the playing field in the sports-surfacing game, turning “AstroTurf” from a reviled brand to one that represents the new technology of artificial playing surfaces that look, play and feel like real grass.
“There’s a legacy there. There’s a legacy of being the original innovator, creating the category,” Pritchett said. “There’s also a negative association in that because it’s such a strong name and the technology didn’t change for so long.”

Read on ....

Following up on today's media column in the Daily News, dealing with Fox's coverage of "Sounds of the Game" as well as NBC's plans for this weekend's The Players event in Florida, we've got a few more stray drives if you're interested:

== One of the sidelights to The Players PGA Tour event in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., is that NBC produces the Golf Channel's first- and second-round coverage Thursday and today. Meaning, new analyst Nick Faldo has the first two rounds with the usual Golf Channel crew, and Johnny Miller picks up the last two rounds for NBC.
A CBS press release this week trumpeted the fact that, in Sports Illustrated’s May 8 issue that contained the sixth annual PGA Tour player survey, Faldo (82 percent), who also works for CBS, outpolled NBC's Miller (18 percent) when 71 players were asked the question: "Which TV analyst do you prefer, Nick Faldo or Johnny Miller?”
Asked about the poll, which was covered in Wednesday's USA Today, Miller, who has been at NBC for about 18 years compared to Faldo's not-yet-completed first year as a TV man, replied Wednesday: "If I was playing, I'd vote the same way. But I'd like to see a poll of viewers. Faldo is a good friend. When he first took the job, he said he was 'going to make Johnny Miller sound like Mary Poppins,' which didn't bother me. I thought it was kinda funny. As far as players go, make 'em answer to the piper. So maybe that's where they're coming from."
NBC golf producer Tommy Roy added: "We're here to serve the viewer first, not the players."
For whatever else it's worth, Golf Digest’s TV Golf Survey in its Feburary 2007 issue named CBS' Faldo, Jim Nantz, Gary McCord and David Feherty as four of the top five golf announcers in TV -- with Feherty at No. 1.
The bottom line for us, and others who may be hard of hearing: Miller is easy to understand. Faldo, as well as Feherty at times, get so bloody Britishy mumbly babbly that you need to rewind the TiVo to clarify what you missed.
(Case in point during Thursday's first-round: After Trevor Immelman knocked down a birdie putt on the third hole, his recent loss of 25-plus pounds because of a medical condition came up, causing Faldo so say: "Poor guy ... I've seen more meat on a butcher's apron." At least, that's what we were able to translate).
The fact Feherty isn't on the main 18th hole tower, but a darn good course reporter who has become the official Tiger Woods' Q-and-A man, gives him an edge of not being so overexposed and acting like the class clown (or village idiot, depending on your preference). As a Scotsman, Feherty's tendency to say everything as if he was asking a question also makes him more entertaining; Faldo must understand that maybe closed captioning is the only way regular viewers will pick up his insights.
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated reports that the Golf Channel will have Faldo cover the weekend rounds of next month's LPGA McDonald's championship, a tour major, instead of the PGA's Stanford St. Jude Championship. Hope that's not too dreadful for him.

We got more ...

The Arena Football League, in an effort to honor all moms on Mother's Day this weekend, will use a ceremonial pink Spaulding game ball starting Friday and ending with the Monday night Dallas Desperados (9-1)-Chicago Rush (8-1) game on ESPN2 at 5:30 p.m. Each participating team will present pink balls to unsuspecting mothers in attendance while also auctioning off autographed balls on www.arenafootball.com. Non-autographed game balls and micro footballs will also be on sale online. A percentage of proceeds from the auctions and sales will benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research. The Avengers will use them in Saturday's Staples Center game against Tampa Bay (7:30 p.m.)
Likewise, Major League Baseball will allow players to use pink Louisville Slugger bats during games Sunday. More than 200 players have signed up to use a pink bat, twice as many that participated in 2006. Select game-used bats, as well as team-autographed bats from every club, will be auctioned on MLB.com at a later date, with proceeds benefiting Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Fans can also purchase their own personalized pink bat for $69.99 at MLB.com, or www.slugger.com, with Major League Baseball donating $10 from the sale of each bat to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Among the 12 Dodgers who've asked to use the bats in Sunday's game at Dodger Stadium against Cincinnati are Among those Dodgers looking to be involved are Wilson Betemit, Brady Clark, Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Jeff Kent, Mike Lieberthal, Russell Martin, Ramon Martinez, Juan Pierre and Olmedo Saenz.

HBO not only replays Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s 12-round split-decision victory over Oscar de la Hoya on Saturday at 10 p.m. but also Sunday at 8 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday at 11:30 p.m. on HBO2.
For those who need to know the financials, HBO reported Wednesday that a record 2.15 million pay-per-view buys and $120 million in pay-per-view revenue was generated from the less-than-spectacular bout, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. It broke the PPV record of 1.99 million for the ’97 Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield bout on Showtime PPV, getting 1.2 million from cable systems and 925,000 from satellite homes. De La Hoya now has participated in the top six non-heavyweight pay-per view events in history -- including the 1.4 million buys for the Felix Trinidad fight in Sept. 1999; one million buys for the matchup with Bernard Hopkins in September 2004; the Sept. 2003 rematch with Shane Mosley, which generated 950,000 buys; and the Sept. 2002 showdown with Fernando Vargas and the May 2006 encounter with Ricardo Mayorga, both of which registered 935,000 buys. De La Hoya also becomes the highest-grossing boxing attraction in PPV history with $612 million in 18 PPV bouts.

As part of a ceremony Tuesday morning in the L.A. County Board of Supervisor's chambers that included a proclamation and scroll presented to longtime Southern California sportscaster Tom Kelly, a group of nurses from around the county were honored for devoting their many years of work to their profession beforehand.
When it came time for the voice of USC sports to receive his honor, first by supervisor Michael Antonovich (above, with Kelly's wife, Danuska and his daughter, Kathy), and then with supervisor and chairman Zev Yaroslavsky (pictured, right), Kelly couldn't resist bringing up an old phrase from the past.
"I 'm reminded that I have been known to use the phrase, 'Oh, mercy nurse!' to describe a dramatic moment in a game, but after today, I think it has new meaning," Kelly said as the audience laughed.
Kelly, the Encino Hills resident who spent five decades doing local sporting events -- most notably USC -- also exchanged barbs with Yaroslavsky, a UCLA graduate, who recalled the 1965 USC-UCLA game as memorable for him because, as he was sitting in the Coliseum listening to Kelly's call of the game on his radio, Kelly was relaying information about how to order Rose Bowl tickets -- assuming USC was going to win. UCLA came back from a 16-6 deficit to win 20-16 on a Gary Beban touchdown pass to Kurt Altenberg with four minutes left.
Kelly, however, got the last word. He asked the commission if they had any sort of clout, maybe they could have a new elevator installed at the Coliseum so "older folks of the young generation" would have an easier time getting up to the press box. More laughter.
We can only hope.
A replay of Tuesday's board meeting can be seen on KLCS at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

Saturday night's black-tie affair at the Galen Center to honor the latest class of USC Athletic Hall of Fame members gave some cause to pause and reflect on who's in and who isn't.
The case we tried to make for the inclusion of former football coach John Robinson in today's Daily News column semed pretty straight foward.
There are, of course, many first-team All-Americans, Olympians and other coaches who aren't in yet, whose candidacy would take a little more debate. But not much.
We could make similar cases for:
Stan Wood: Golf coach from 1955-79, with a career record of 462-37 (.926) and 14 conference championships, recruiting Al Geiberger, Dick Stockton and Craig Stadler.
Pete Beathard: 1963 Rose Bowl MVP (pictured)
J.K. McKay: 1975 Rose Bowl hero with Pat Haden
Jeff Cravath: USC football player and coach, introduced the T-formation.
Doyle Nave and Al Krueger: Heroes of the 1939 Rose Bowl victory and in the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame.
Any other suggestions?

Things can get pretty sophisticated when it comes to tinkering with your golf game. Along with it, maybe the price for improving your performance can get out of hand. Try justify some of it your wife, and it gets pretty lame with your excuses for needing to spend more just to get your score under 100.
It comes to mind when I'm thinking about the GolfTEC method, which provides all levels of instruction to pros as well as weekend hackers with a state-of-the-art digital video system, biofeedback technology and motion-capture computers.
Getting a lesson with GolfTEC involves wearing a harness with sensors that measures key movements of your swing. A coach then crunches the numbers and compares you to a database of 150 top PGA Tour players, so you get some instant feedback. You get follow up lessions with drills and notes provided through the GolfTEC website.
“We find that setting up a schedule of lessons that are then reinforced by home review of the specific tasks, drills or recommendations for that week really speeds up the learning process,” says Dewayne Sode, co-owner of GolfTEC. “Our students can access the data and videos from anywhere in the world. Improvement not only shows on the data we store from the first lesson onward, but clearly on the course as well.”
The key may be the web-based Web Lesson and a conditioning program that helps improve flexibility, strength and balance.
If it's something you might be interested in, check it out an open house that GolfTEC chain company will have at its Sherman Oaks studios (14382 Ventura Blvd., at the corner of Beverly Glen and Ventura on the second floor of the Oakridge Plaza) on Thursday, May 17 from 6-to-9 p.m. For more information on the programs offered from one-time evaluations to a 52-week membership, go to the website or call (818) 386-0643.
The company has been around since 1995, founded by PGA members Joe Assell and Mike Clinton.

Last week, Time magazine ran a story with the headline: "Will the De La Hoya-Mayweather Fight Save Boxing?"
This week, Sports Illustrated came out with its cover piece previewing the bout with the headline: "The Fight To Save Boxing."
Someone, save us from ourselves. Yes, the two magazines are printed by the same company. Maybe all it took was a week for one periodical to convince the other that it needed to remove the question mark.
Perhaps you've caught wind of this bout in Vegas. It's already set a record for live-gate ticket sales ($19 million), and it could be one of the highest grossing fights in history, nearing the $100 million mark (with $25 million to De La Hoya and at least $10 million to Mayweather, depending on the pay-per-view buys) but maybe not reaching the record $112 million that the 2002 Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis bout drew. HBO expects some one million purchases of the pay-per-view event at $54.95, which would still fall short of the nearly two million buys from the 1997 Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield fight.
To date, the largest fight for De La Hoya in number of buyers (1.4 million) and total gross ($71 million) was his 1999 battle with Felix Trinidad.
Anyway, to follow up our Daily News media column about Harold Lederman, here are more body blows disguised as media notes:

==Internet rumors have spilled into the mainstream media that HBO is ready to drop the crumugenly Larry Merchant soon after Saturday's broadcast of the De La Hoya-Mayweather and replace him with the boistrious Max Kellerman. The 76-year-old Merchant, who has been at HBO for 29 years, has not yet renewed his contract (which expires at the end of June), and talks are still going on, HBO sources say. Merchant is still scheduled to do the May 19 Jermain Taylor-Cory Spinks fight for HBO.
After Merchant, unofficial judge Lederman has the next longest tenure in HBO on-air boxing talent.
Lederman had been juding pro fights since 1967 and knew Ross Greenburg, HBO's executive producer who was then doing the boxing telecasts. Lederman explains how they hooked up:
"One day at home, I was watching a fight, and what the commentators were saying and what i was watching were two different things. The next Monday, I called Ross and said, 'You oughta get a judge on the telecast to say what's going on. Commentators don’t go to seminars on judging, so little things like rule changes or other subtlies may not be known to them.' Ross thought it wasn't a bad idea, and two weeks later, he asked me to come on the telecast for Pinklon Thomas and Trevor Berbick.
"Thomas, at that time, was the WBC heavyweight champion and a 7-to-1 favorite to beat Berbick. Many thought he'd win in a first-round knockout and it'd be over. Little did we know that Berbeck hired Eddie Futch to train him -- just for that fight. Berbeck ended up winning a 12-round decision, and everyone liked what I had to say. I told Eddie later that I owe my whole TV career to him. Berbick, of course, in his first defense lost to Mike Tyson, and that started Tyson's run."
On that first Lederman broadcast, Barry Tompkins did the blow-by-blow, Merchant was the analyst and Sugar Ray Leonard was the guest analyst.

== The final episode of the “De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” documentary / preview series which HBO debuted Thursday, will reair today (9:30 a.m., 9:30 p.m.) and Saturday (11:30 a.m.). The four episodes will also reair in sequence tonight at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. leading into the 6 p.m. pay-per-view coverage from the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas.

==While many wonder if De La Hoya-Mayweather will save boxing, maybe the real thing to investigate is whether Ultimate Fighting Championship should be ruled the new kind of pugilism. UFC televised events have outdrawn boxing events by 73 percent so far this year (including the UFC 70 event last month that had 2.8 million viewers versus HBO’s Ricky Hatton- Juan Urango last January that had 1.5 million). Last year, the most watched UFC fight (Tito Ortiz-Ken Shamrock) outdrew boxing’s biggest fight (Winky Wright-Jermain Taylor) by 800,000 viewers.

Read more if you're able to see how many fingers we're holding up ...

The voice of John Facenda was used maybe 13 total seconds in a 22-minute NFL Network program in August, 2006 on the making of the 2006 John Madden NFL video game. But that was 13 seconds too many for John Facenda Jr.
The famed NFL Films narrator's son, who says he has a written agreement that gives the NFL full use of his announcing work except when it comes to product endorsements, is allowed to seek damages against NFL Films Inc., and NFL Properties because of that show, according to a federal judge's ruling Thursday in Philadelphia.
John Facenda has been dubbed "the voice of God" for his barritone narrative of NFL Films productions until his death in 1984.
The NFL plans to appeal the decision, saying the program was a documentary, rather than a promotional program for the video, as Facenda Jr. contends. He cites the NFL's licensing agreement with the game's makers, Electronic Arts, to support sales with promotional material.
Only three Facenda lines were used in the program that aired on the cable channel. “Xs and Os on the blackboard are translated into imagination on the field,” Facenda is heard saying at one point.
Facenda did most of his narration work for NFL Films under an oral agreement “that he would be paid a certain amount for each program,” the judge said in the order relayed by the Associated Press. However, Facenda signed a written agreement with NFL Films a few months before he died.
There is precident for this, somewhat. Facenda Jr. previously settled a lawsuit against the Campbell Soup Co. for using a Facenda-soundalike in radio and television ads.
“He does not want to wake up one day hearing his father’s voice advertising condoms,” said his lawyer, Paul Lauricella.
Pimping Madden video games is bad enough.
"The Madden game’s a great game,” Lauricella added. “We just think if it’s going to be advertised (with his voice), it deserves to be compensated."
So how do you pay a dead guy?

Following up on the entry about how former WWE wrassler/actress/ "Dancing With the Stars" loser / ABA Hollywood Stars co-owner Stacy Keibler was going to make an appearance during the women's qualifying for this weekend's AVP event in Huntington Beach, we must report: She didn't go far. But she didn't embarass herself too much, either.
While she did have a good tan going, and demonstrated an impressive high-five technique with partner Jessie Cooper (above), the duo lost lost 21-7, 21-11 to Montana Curtis and Juliana Evens in their match Thursday morning that lasted about a half hour. They would have had to win three qualifying matches Thursday to advance to Friday's main draw as one of the eight wildcard teams against the top-seeded 24 who are given an automatic spot.
The PR stunt was well worth it for both her and AVP. And for whatever beer company that had its logo across her chest.

By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- If O.J. Simpson picked it, here’s how the Kentucky Derby would end: Tiago at the wire.
“I’m just loving Kentucky this week,” Simpson said on a rainy Thursday morning on the backstretch. “It’s just a great
time.”
The NFL Hall of Famer and Heisman Trophy winner out of USC made his fourth straight trip to Churchill Downs since being acquitted of murder charges in the June 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. Simpson made several visits in the 1970s and said he used to think about owning a Derby horse.
“I used to be in the horse business a little bit with (billionaire horse owner) Wayne Hughes,” said Simpson, who chatted while he checked out Philadelphia-bred Hard Spun. “We had some horses together back in
California.”
Simpson said he was friends with Tiago jockey Mike Smith, and that the horse’s bloodlines make him a favorite pick. Tiago is the half brother of Giacomo, the 2005 longshot winner.
“I’m kind of going with him right now, even though I like Hard Spun,” Simpson said. “He’s been training well.”
Simpson might run into a familiar face when he’s at Saturday’s race: Queen Elizabeth II.
OK, the two have never really met. But Simpson played Officer Nordberg in the “The Naked Gun” movie that featured a plot to assassinate the queen at an Angels game. The plot was foiled by dimwitted police detective
Lieutenant Frank Drebin, played by actor Leslie Nielsen.
“We kind of treated her bad in 'The Naked Gun.' I think she’ll be treated a little better here,” Simpson said,
laughing. “I think I better avoid her.”
The real queen will attend the Kentucky Derby and a state dinner with President Bush on this week’s trip to the United States.
“I don’t expect a lot of us are going to see her,” Simpson said. “I think she’s going to be well insulated.”

Stacy Keibler, who her handlers refer to as an actress and model (as well as "Dancing With the Stars" contestant) has decided to give beach volleyball competition a shot when she takes the court Thursday as part of the double-elimination qualifying matches for this weekend's AVP Cuervo Gold Crown event at the Huntington Beach pier.
The 5-foot-11 amazon, who also made a name for herself on the pro (fake) wrestling circuit, surely has some athletic ability.
So if you're on the south side of the pier on PCH, warmups start at 7:30 a.m., qualifying begins at 8:45 a.m. Admissio is free. There are 86 men's and women's teams trying to qualify for the main draw of 32 teams that lead into Sunday's finals.
What AVP fans really want to know: Will she make the same trademark entrance into the volleyball court as she has done in the WWE ring?

UPDATE:
Keibler and Jessie Cooper lost 21-7, 21-11 to Montana Curtis and Juliana Evens in their match Thursday morning that lasted about a half hour. They would have had to win three qualifying matches Thursday to advance to Friday's main draw as one of the eight wildcard teams against the top-seeded 24 who are given an automatic spot.

Just when it seemed any verbal jousting between syndicated sports talk host Jim Rome and ESPN soccer analyst Eric Wynalda had ceased, Wynalda fired another ridiculous salvo while appearing on a Washington D.C. local radio show Tuesday.
According to the blogspot AwfulAnnouncing.com, radio host “Elliott in the Morning” was making a point about how Rome disliked soccer, even though his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara, won the national title last year. Wynalda said he invited Rome to that game, but Rome declined, saying he was more proud of his school’s 1978 national water polo title.
“That’s why I call him ‘Kim Rome’ now,” Wynalda said. “He’d rather watch a buy of guys in Speedos.”
This comes about a month after Wynalda served a suspension from ESPN for stating in an Internet blog interview Rome could perform a sex act upon him because of Rome’s distain for soccer. Wynalda eventually appeared on Rome’s show to apologize for that first statement.
Rome, who might just want to invite the Westlake Village native Wynalda to his annual “Smack Off” competition Friday, told me he has not responded to the latest Wynalda shot on his daily morning radio show this week because “I have better things to concern myself with than what Eric Wynalda is doing or saying. I will say this, the guy came on my show, apologized to me personally, in front of a few million people and then issued a similar apology which was read on ESPN – and obviously didn’t mean a word of it.
"Soccer, as ridiculous as it ever was.”

What's playing out as some sort of scandalous media sex brawl got some clarity today when the accused, Philadelphia TV reporter Alycia Lane, (left), explained her side in sending bikini-clad photos to NFL Network anchor Rich Eisen that were intercepted by his wife, USC football radio pre- and post-game reporter Suzy Shuster.
Lane said in today's Philadelphia Inquirer, in an interview labeled "exclusive," that she was "mortified" that the story came out in the New York Post on Monday and the photos were "harmless" banter between "two old friends."
In fact, if there's someone at fault, maybe it's Eisen?
Lane said she and Eisen had corresponded frequently since they met nearly 10 years ago when she worked at a local station in New York and Eisen worked in Bristol, Conn., for ESPN. "There was never any more than friendship," said Lane, who said she last saw him at the media cafeteria during Super Bowl week in Jacksonville, Fla., in February 2005.
It became apparent to Lane after she received Shuster's e-mail that Eisen had never mentioned their acquaintance to his wife.
In an Inquirer instant poll that asked readers: "Do you think it was out of line for Alycia Lane to send photos to a married man?" 917 (64 percent) out of 1,422 said yes, so far.
This all started as an item on Page Six in Monday's New York Post and, frankly, should have died long before it got there. If there were any three people you don't need to know about their personal lives, here's the candidates.